Unlearning
“You must unlearn what you have learned”
Everyday at the FA something is said about unlearning, but what is it? There are many misconceptions when it comes to the idea of unlearning, but let’s break it down to its simplest idea. Open-mindedness! If you can remember this when you hear the word unlearning, everything else will follow. We have to use the idea of unlearning with every aspect of our growth here at the FA and also within our everyday lives.
Unlearning is a vital part of growth and it never ends once you start. It is the process of evaluation. We must take every belief, action, and emotion and ask ourselves, why? Why do we act the way we do and why do we believe what we do? When we are aware of everything we do, we can dismantle our ideas and then decide if those ideas are valid.
Once we have done this we can ask: Does our idea still work? If the answer is no then we must let that idea go and create a new more stable one. We must dismantle our spiritual beliefs, our habits, and our reactions to our emotions (which, in a sense, are still just habits). As we train, we work on unlearning with everything we are exposed to, even our most rigid beliefs. We must ask ourselves how they became so. How well do we really understand our beliefs and what made us believe what we do? This can be a scary idea because it’s so much easier to just say “that’s what I believe” without having a good reason why. If you find yourself getting defensive then you haven’t fully evaluated what you believe and you are trying to justify something you don't truly understand. This process is the same for our actions as well. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we react to our emotions the way we do?
With each lecture that you read be mindful of unlearning. If you are aware and don't immediately disregard new ideas then you are on the right path.
Be mindful, be open and grow..