Hello, I just finished reading The Nature of Personal Reality. I truly enjoyed reading it and it clicks.
I’m struggling with social anxiety issues more than thirty years. It all culminated with the burnout and addiction this year. Right now I’m on a path leading through Zen, fear acceptance and now Seth teachings.
I feel that the root issue is I’m not feeling worth despite so many life achievemnts (family, finance, work). And beliefs in artificial guilt are planted. General anxiety, procrastination and “self-doubting voice” during conversations is the result.
I felt so much better last days while still reading Seth and I felt like I’m really directing my experience. I’m practising past restructuring, belief affirmation (I started with simple core one: “I love myself”) and imagination daily now.
The issue is that my analytical mind starts to doubt this will work - as everything else before. And I’m getting back to negative thoughts and moods…
Seth’s own advice to Rob and Jane often encouraged daily walks outside and to spend time doing enjoyable physical things. It’s important not to spend too much time ‘in your head’.
I have personally found practicing one-pointedness meditation helpful for quieting a self-abusive mind and creating a point of gentle, open contact with your soul, or greater self. This allows your Self to have more input in creating your life and it’s relatively effortless. Except for learning how to still your mind. That part is hard but 100% worth the time. The stillness is an immense relief for those of us used to an anxious existence.
We all have our struggles. I think it’s great you’re reaching out for support. Everything you’re learning, even the horrendous bits, is a part of the lesson your soul desired. You are worthy and doing your part. Keep going!
Dear Martins - That book changed my perspective permanently and has made it better every day (and I first read it soon after it was published). I have learned that Buddhist philosophy and practice, including Zen, go hand in hand with Seth’s teachings. And, practicing and learning as a member of a Buddhist sangha (community) offers opportunities to connect with others who (with open minds) are also seeking to understand reality, and to live better lives. Friendship and mutual support are so important. Keep up your good efforts!!!
Seth points out that you can USE your analytical mind to change beliefs. You have an entire collection of beliefs, in different areas, and some contrary to each other (quite common/normal), you focus on different sets at different times.
You have surely had successes in your life where you “doubted it would work”, and then it still worked, or turned out better than expected. This is already evidence and belief you do hold that you can use to cast doubt on the … well, on the doubt itself.
A very important initial point Seth makes in the actual practice of his advice is that you must first separate out feeling. You say to yourself, “I may feel like such and such (negative thing) is true, but that doesn’t mean it IS true.”
In my own personal life I have found it extremely beneficial to repeat the following to myself:
“Emotion is a result not an assessment.” You have feelings. You have thoughts. Your identity isn’t either. These flow through you, but the feelings are not feedback in regard to “the state of things”, emotions are feedback regarding the state of your thought.
This is incredibly easy to prove to yourself, just by remembering those times where you’ve for instance felt dumb, yet you know you aren’t dumb. Or felt like you failed at something, that you didn’t fail at at all. You’ll find many examples in memory.
