Admitting mistakes

The meditation process unravels many mistakes we make in our mind and heart. It is a process of unraveling knots, uncovering denials, facing dissonance and uncomfortable truths, freeing us from subjectivities, conceptions, and mindless reaction patterns . . . a nearly endless list, which prevents having a purified mind. The ego is a product of our construction. When we identify our self as this construction, we devise ways of defending this shaky self. Freud’s most valuable contribution to understanding this mess were the ‘ego defenses’: projection, rationalization, and compensation being our favorites. But they all start with repression; our denial of a truth which leads to lying to ourselves and to others.

Meditation and non-attachment slowly clean up our mental mistakes, but shining a light on our ‘shadow self,’ the denied self, also requires mindfulness during the day. One of the easiest practices is to admit mistakes, to our self and to others. Life is a series of mistakes, and it’s such a minor case of being truthful, so why isn’t it done more? Acknowledging uncomfortable truths about self is basic to the inner-work. Sort it out.