is that what you think you have to think?

sometimes, at a superficial level, we tell ourselves what we should and should not think, what the enlightened thing would be to think, and to a degree we convince ourselves that this is actually what we think.

what can lie underneath are motivations and belief systems that we're not prepared to acknowledge because they wouldn't fall in line with the enlightened or more aware individual we think we are or would like to become.

although it may seem counterintuitive, accepting these “ugly” aspects of ourselves is an integral part on the path to self-discovery – they must be brought out into the open, and not even necessarily to eradicate them, but rather to understand them.

nothing is resolved through denial and repression, and enlightenment isn’t achieved by forcing ourselves to act in an enlightened manner.