Make no mistake about it - enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretense. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true. -Adyashanti

we cling to these former selves

These previous iterations and ideals, trying to form a definitive character in an impermanent world.

We are bound to these characters by other people, and by ourselves. In making the Self easy to digest, compact, succinct, we smooth out our ragged edges into a smooth, presentable, unnatural whole. This is not the truth of the Self. This is a persona we create and choose to uplift. We allow others to mold us to their expectation and we choose to embody their ideals of who we are.

The snake sheds his skin, discards it and disappears

We leave behind us what we no longer need, - imagine the pain if you clung to your former skins, the burden as you dragged your past behind you. This defies the natural order of the world. We cannot fight the forces greater than us, so surrender to the change.

Don’t choose to be predictable. Don’t choose to be understandable. There is loneliness, yes, in being misunderstood. But better to be alone in the truth than surrounded in a lie.

Choose to surprise people. To be unconventional. To defy expectation and test the limits of your character. Push forward. Forge a path. Light the way.