In yesterday’s reflection, I wrote about the need to live from the soul or transcendental Self in a tumultuous world that seems to be moving at the speed of light. In this context, discrimination is essential. We need to be able to discriminate when we are operating from the egoic personality and when we are living from the soul’s consciousness. To help us with this discrimination process, I am going to borrow three terms from a psychological approach referred to as Transactional Analysis: the child, the parent, and the adult. Today I will begin by focusing on the child state; tomorrow, on the parent state, and Thursday, on the adult state. The child state is a manifestation of the ego and does not serve us well. When the child state is operating, we tend to feel powerless, helpless, dependent, anxious, needy, and demanding. We want to be liked and loved to such an extent that we deny our truth. We vacillate between being a slave to external approval and throwing tantrums when things do not go our way. In the child state, we are often compensating for unmet needs in our childhood. The child constantly wants God to rescue it instead of entering into the process of divine empowerment. This ego state adds to our suffering. Meditation helps us to learn to witness the child without judgment, criticism, or shame. We have to allow ourselves to feel the pain within this ego state while simultaneously making the choice to move our awareness to the soul, the guru, and God. This choice takes our loving and enlightened effort along with our willingness to remain awake and alert. If we find ourselves stuck in the grip of the child state, that might be an indication that we need to see a professional counselor to help us move beyond it.
Divine Mother,
As Mother, you will
Pick me up and comfort me,
but then you will help me grow up.
