Acknowledging Our Issues
Life is really one great teacher. If we can surrender and allow it to flow unhindered and without manipulation, taking us along with it, it gives us all the lessons we need to learn and grow, and become wiser people. In the early stages of “awakening” to our inner power, carefully chosen gurus, spiritual teachers, meditation techniques etc can be very helpful in clearing the way. When we reach a certain point, however, and we can see from a more aware perspective, there is no further need for anything other than our own inner knowing – our intuition. When that is strongly connected and acting as our main guide, we then no longer need to depend on outer advice and guidance, as we have it all coming from within. You get to the point of being able to see what there is to learn in everything that happens. And there is always something to learn! That takes a certain level of humility. Every situation, person, and circumstance is a teacher when we are looking at things in a surrendered and mindful manner.
You can do all the training in the world, but if you’re not prepared to look at your own issues and face your own demons, it’s all in vain. You can carry on, burying the pain of past trauma and heartbreak, and covering it up with busyness, addictions, shopping, and various other distractions, but the issues will still be there, needing to be acknowledged, released and healed if we want to move on from that old stuff and make the best of ourselves. We all need to do our own inner work. Everyone. Even self realised people – those who have realised their true nature as One with all. There is always more to uncover – like peeling the layers of an onion. No-one is perfect – we all have our “stuff”. The more inner work you do, the more aware and conscious you become, the more your inner light shines, and the happier you will be. Our natural state is joy, but for most people this is covered up by layers of pain and discomfort from past issues and trauma, and societal conditioning. Awakening is an ever deepening process, and we never get to the bottom of it – there’s always more. There is nothing so amazing, satisfying, painful, and wonderful, as finding, acknowledging, and healing all those different parts of ourselves and gradually becoming whole, centred, well balanced people. It's what we are here for - to learn, heal and grow.
This inner work is necessary if we want to live life free and unencumbered by fears and doubts. That old held pain holds us back in life. It creates fear of being “not good enough”, and stops us taking steps that could lead us into greater and more fulfilling adventures. It’s difficult to realise your full potential if you are suffering from self doubt, neediness, low self esteem, guilt, shame, rage, and other toxic feelings caused by an unhappy childhood, abuse or past trauma.
The gong work is a gift of the highest order. It gives us the ability to see ourselves as we are with no frills, if we allow it. It open us up emotionally and enables us to release past trauma and pain in the safety of the Gong Space without having to go back into the experience itself – usually we get just the feeling of it passing through to be released and healed. The gong sounds appear to work on the subconscious where we store our emotional pain from the past, and bring it up in small doses to be released. This can be a little uncomfortable initially, but it’s short-lasting, and we never seem to get more than we can cope with. After this clearing has happened, people report feeling lighter and able to move on with their lives as never before. We have countless reports of people taking crucial steps forward on their life path following experiences with the gongs. For some, attending a gong session is literally life-changing.
So the gongs are just one tool that can be used to gently bring up, acknowledge and clear our inner issues, to enable us to move forward. The gong is not the only way of course. There are many ways in which we can heal, and life has a way of presenting us with the best solutions at the right time, as well as the situations, people and circumstances that will trigger the things we need to recognise, acknowledge and learn from. We just need to stop for a moment, and be silent. Watch and listen. And be guided by that inner knowing as to what would most benefit us at this time.
Sheila Whittaker 2.1.19
