Three Layers of Being (see diagram below)
The smallest circle is the “I do” layer. It’s about how we show up in the world, how we present ourselves, the masks we wear and the roles we play. We use this layer to help us navigate day-to-day life.
The second layer “I believe” involves everything from religious dogma, ethics and ethos, or even conditioned beliefs about the world that we may or may not be conscious of. For better or worse, this layer informs how we show up in the world. This layer can take us deeper. It can help point us toward the Source/God, whatever we define (or don’t!) that to be. Hopefully it begins to direct us inward, toward our hearts. We can often find purpose, connection and community in this layer. However, there can also be a lot of conditioning in this layer -a lot of attachment to what is right and wrong, as well as the consequences of following rightly or wrongly. Energetically, attachments block us from inner freedom and transformation. Our beliefs are only as good as they allow us to deepen our connection to Source/God and to discover the Source/God residing within us.
The third layer is the space of being, our essential self. “I am (period).” This is the space where we enter the inner stillness. “Be still and know that I Am Source/God.” This space is also known as Soul Consciousness, the Essential Self, Oneness, Awakening. Rumi said, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.” The qualities of this space are sighs of relief, the feeling of coming home, freedom, absence of fear, spaciousness.
The three layers are not separate, but connected. So the hope is that this place of deep transformation (I am) truly informs how we show up in the world(I do).
