As you can see from my earlier posts, I have been contemplating why people lie. There are several reasons people lie. We lie because we feel shame, fear of being disliked or disapproved, and fear punishment or the consequences. Even when we believe we tell white lies so as not to hurt others, it is really because we fear being disliked or disapproved by others. There may be other reasons, such as lying intentionally to hurt or protect others, but these are the main reasons I believe people lie.
Underlying all lies are a sense of lack of self worth and fear. Lying is the ego’s way of coping with our reality. Along with the actual lies, we also employ denial to convince ourselves of the lies. Denial goes hand in hand with lying because the liar can convince himself/ herself that the lies are really true. Therefore, they convince themselves that they are not lying at all.
Shame is another emotion that ego cannot handle, because we must confront what we have done that may be criminal, unethical, immoral or hurtful to others. Fear, however, is the driving force to lying because we fear being disliked or disapproved by others for our behaviors and actions, so we lie to cover it up, particularly when we fear punishment or the consequences for our negative actions and behaviors.
Underlying all lies are the lack of self worth and fear that drive us to lie, and then we use denial to justify our lies convincing ourselves that they are true. Enlightenment is our willingness to see our truths whether positive or negative, and then taking full responsibility for our lives. May you find your path to enlightenment. (Copyright 2016 Awakening Journey with All Rights Reserved)
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