There is a great lie being told.

And we have all believed it at one time or another in our lives. Many people believe it right now.

Once we recognize the great lie, and realize the truth, our lives will begin to change dramatically. The great lie that we are told is that we are flawed and imperfect. Let’s think back for a moment to the time when we were children. We moved through life with joy, freedom and ease. We knew nothing of guilt or shame. We did not feel regretful or guilty about what happened yesterday.

We were not worriedly anticipating tomorrow. We were happy and playful. We were living expressions of pure love. Can anyone look at a child and say that they are not perfect, innocent and pure? And we all began our lives this way, as innocent children.

We all began our lives as expressions of pure love.

Children are wonderful teachers. They have not yet lost or forgotten their connection to their innocence and their perfection. Let’s pay attention to these teachers. They still know who they really are. They still innately know the truth; that they are perfect.

We were all once children, living from the purity of our souls. So how did we forget that we were perfect?
At an early age we may have been told that we were bad if we did something that was considered wrong. And we learned to feel shame.

We began to internalize the message that there was something wrong with us. We began to change little by little. Our joy began to be replaced with insecurity and fear as we grew older.

Our pure loving natures began to be overwhelmed with fearful and insecure personalities. We slowly began to feel shameful and fearful. We were beginning to believe that we were bad.

The lie began to take root in us.

In school we were taught that if we didn’t conform and perform to the standards of the institutions of education, there was something wrong with us. Our grades then determined whether we were good or bad and whether we were acceptable or not.

We found out whether we were considered intelligent or not. While at school, there was a secondary determination of our worth. Did we comply with the standards of being socially acceptable? Did we fit in with our peers? Were we popular or not?

Typically, we were also sent to Church where we then learned that we were sinners. Religion taught us that we were innately, hopelessly flawed. In fact, we were potentially condemned to hell if we did not comply with the rules of the Church. The compulsory admission and confession of our unworthiness could possibly bring us the hope of our “salvation”. We could possibly hope to be saved from everlasting torment if we would only admit that we are flawed, imperfect sinners who need saving.

And this great lie is taught to us as children. No wonder we find ourselves unhappy and frustrated as adults. We have forgotten our goodness. And worse yet, we were taught to forget our essence, our perfect souls. We began to believe the lie, that we were bad.

So what can we do about all of this?

How do we reverse the damage that has been done? How do we remember and recapture our purity and our innocence?

First we can become aware of our false beliefs and remember that we are perfect souls. From there we can forgive ourselves for believing that we were flawed in any way.

We can also forgive anyone who taught us to believe we were less than perfect. We can spend time remembering our true natures. We can remind ourselves every day and all day ,that our souls, are perfect. We can remember that there is a part of us that is pure and whole.

We can spend more and more time in our soul remembrance with a practice of yoga or meditation. We can remind ourselves that it is not our personalities , or the money we have or the things that we own that make us whole. We can remind ourselves that it is not our education or our looks that make us acceptable. We can remind ourselves of our true perfect nature, our soul.

We all have one, we have only forgotten it. Can we handle the truth of our soul’s perfection? If we can realize the truth, our lives will begin to change. As we begin to realize our innate goodness, we will begin to see our shame replaced with joy. We will begin to see our fear be replaced with love.

Realizing the truth will eventually set us free. Our lives will then begin to reflect the truth of our perfection. We will gradually become the living expressions of the love that we are.

And that is the truth.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

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Apprentice Editor: Brenna Fischer / Editor: Renee Picard

Photo: Mike DeMicco at pixoto