In this blog, I advocate trying to achieve what I call a “democracy of consciousness,” where all your inner voices, values and feelings get a fair hearing in your conscious attention. For most of us, the values we pick up from our family, peers and society over the years tend to censor this inner democracy, and it takes a sustained conscious effort, with lots of practice, to allow your inner voices the hearing they really want. It can also be an emotionally challenging experience. Some of those voices may have painful emotions attached to them, and other voices may be in conflict with each other.
I’ve recently been working on my own democracy of consciousness, and as I’ve done so, I’ve been coming up with what you might call a “constitution” for that democracy. As with a country’s constitution, the rationale for a constitution is not to take sides in the democracy, but to establish the fundamental ground rules for how the democracy should be implemented. What are the bedrock principles on which everything else should stand and move?
The following is my own “constitution” that I’ve been developing. They go deep into the heart and soul of our human experience, and it’s in that place, deep in the experience of your mind/body that they will make the most sense. It’s a work in progress, but so far it’s been helping me a lot, and I hope it may do the same for you.
Finding the li 