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There is a place in mind and heart where creative thinking runs up against expectations, assumptions and conditioning. It is a point in the process of discovery where we struggle with the attempt to go beyond our habitual ways of thinking to achieve genuine understanding. Whenever we challenge that conditioned thought, we are thinking on the edge. To the degree that we are successful in that effort, we manage to take new steps in our own personal development.
This is my attempt to bring my personal realizations back from the edge and into expression.
It's all opinion, and it's all been thought by someone, somewhere before. But, with the hope that creative and expansive thinking can be beneficial for myself and others, here it is.
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Reactive Process theory
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 According to Seth from Jane Roberts' The Nature of Personality - Chapter 2: Reality and Personal Beliefs
"You are not fully conscious unless you are aware of the contents of your conscious mind."
"I am not telling you to inhibit thoughts or feelings. I am asking that you become aware of those you have. Realize that they form your reality."
"The main point I wanted to make was that your conscious beliefs are extremely important, and that you are not at the mercy of events or causes that dwell far beneath your awareness."
Below, I've put together a chart of my ideas about the levels of our reactive conscious process. Each level is in response to the prior condition that we also create - not to the original condition. Of course, on another level, we created even the original apparent condition, itself. But for now, I'm looking at the process of conditioned-reactive consciousness. In other words, we react to ourselves and we pretend/believe that it is the event or the reality that we are responding to. So far, this is as far as I've gone in trying to explain the process. I know that everything intertwines so this is not intended to be absolute, just a thoughtful guide. I think the overall conclusion would be that the more that we can rest above Level 3, the better. This idea is also reflected by Jesus's frequently appearing philosophy of Judge not...
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Level 1
A Perceived Event
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Awareness; Observation; Presence; Allowing;
Acceptance; Intuitive understanding; Equanimity
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Level 2
Interpretation/Evaluation of Level 1 Event
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Analysis reflecting one's understanding
of the event and its effects. (non-emotional; non-reactive; non-judgmental,
but biased by frame of reference, opinion, conjecture, assumptions, and
expectations.)
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Level 3
Judging Reaction to Level 2 Interpretation
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Judgment
Moral conclusion(s) of the Event's result
or effect, i.e. good, bad, right, wrong, helpful, harmful, etc. -
falsely based on the Interpretation at Level 2. (possibly providing a trigger
for an emotional reaction)
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Loop back to a prior level
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Level 4
Left/Right Brain Style Reaction to Level 3 Judgment
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Emotional
-- This is where words like "Stupid," "Jerk," etc. show up. Also expressions like "I don't understand why someone would do something like
that!"
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Practical
-- An action to deal with the consequences of Level 3 judgment. May include an attempt to remember to handle something differently
in the future (hopefully, to alter the influencing factors in one of the
phases or to take a position that is "prior to" Levels 2, 3 and 4.).
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Empathethic
-- Empathizing with the human condition. Emotionally believing and accepting that the conditions of the world and behavior are
"good" or "bad" or often hurtful.
In many ways, empathy is a blend of the emotional
and the practical. |
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Return to a prior level
Note: A Reaction is also another
new Event
!
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7/9/2006
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Love's Moment
As I stand on the edge of the grandest landscape of cloud-tipped mountains, painted canyons, and unstoppable rivers, my spirit is engorged by its limitless realm.
I am
Silent,
Wordless,
Overwhelmed by the inspiration of sharing in its existence.
Time stops.
Then I hear the words, "Oh my god!!" breathed from my soul.
As I experience it, I am also a part of it.
In the same way, I "stand on the edge" of my beloved, wishing for the awesome moment to be eternal.
There is no distinction. There is no separation. There are no conditions. I experience a moment of pure recognition an admiration of being an absorption in her essence.
Love is within and without - within the heart, without judgment.
--John L
Love's moment may seem eternal, even though it turns out not to be. However, in truth, the potential for its recurrence is limitless; and its reappearance can be nurtured, encouraged, and practiced.
If I am not able to feel that moment, that vantage point to experience and appreciate my beloved's infinite value, it is an unfortunate reflection of my own limitation. It is because I am unable to allow myself to be immersed in that unconditional moment of love - to be "in love." So, I must cultivate the experience of limitless absorption in the moment, removing my defenses and judgments, just as one would cultivate a field to be harvested by removing the trees, the rocks and the weeds.
 Love's harvest requires certain conditions:
A pliable, even vulnerable, field of being, emotion and mind
An absence of judgment that would only be the cause for separation.
An expansive sense of awe, awareness and joy.
An inspired depth of empathy, recognition, respect and admiration
A love relationship then comes into existence at the point where there is a reflection of oneself by the other. It is as if that moment of transcendent nature looks back at me and says, Ah! You are here!
Relationship is being, reflecting, and sharing within the context of that mutual condition.
Other Viewpoints:
Martin Buber described an I-Thou relationship.
It is possible, notes Buber, to place ourselves completely into a relationship, to truly understand and "be there" with another person, without masks, pretenses, even without words. Such a moment of relating is called "I-Thou." Each person comes to such a relationship without preconditions. The bond thus created enlarges each person, and each person responds by trying to enhance the other person. The result is true dialogue, true sharing.
Source: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Buber.html
Carl Rogers, psychologist, explained the conditions of a nurturing relationship:
Striving for empathic understanding of the other's beliefs and perceptions
Reflecting one's genuine comprehension of the other's communication
Experiencing Unconditional Positive Regard for the other's personhood
Maintaining congruence of feeling with the honesty of expression
Corinthians describes love's greatness:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away... And now these things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
--1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13
3/18/2006
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Surf the Waves of Probability
Quantum physics indicates that reality is a soup of probable realities. Or we might say that it exists as waves of real probabilities. In any case, the realities that we participate in do not become realized until they are observed. Perception is synonymous with creation. We create what we perceive and vice versa.
 Each event propagates waves derived from and representing itself in all directions throughout time and within the infinite, timeless broth of all probabilities. Just as an object, like a boat, creates waves as it floats on and impinges upon the surface of a lake, so every event, every object, every thought, every expression, every everything, expresses itself throughout all reality and probability.
The probability waves of some future event propagate through the surface of time to the present. We may be jostled by those waves. We may perceive those waves. We may even interpret and select those waves as a beacon for the direction of future events that we would like to travel toward.
Some people perceive these waves of probable events consciously. One might refer to them as psychic.
Some people visualize a future possibility as a wish, thereby jumping on the wave crests and riding them toward the creation and perception of that possible future.
Some people deny and avoid certain waves of probability, thereby choosing a direction that angles away from the wave source of a then less probable event.
1/21/2006
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Nothing is Real
The main dilemma with life, and all of reality for that matter, is that there are no absolutes. We each define and perceive EVERYTHING individually. We then create and accept symbols to represent all of those things that we experience. We personally assign our own meaning to life, love, God and every other supposed concrete as well as abstract portion of our existence.
 What that means is that nothing is real (universal). That is, when we try to match the symbolic representations of our reality, it's similar to having each of us try to come up with that single picture that represents "a car." It can't be done. There are too many makes, models and years to guarantee that any two people will be carrying the same photo.
So what's the answer to the dilemma?
Realize that everyone is right. There is no wrong representation of reality. There are some that are more convenient than others. There are some that match ours more than others. But it's important to know that if I think that another with whom I disagree is wrong, then I am also wrong. It just feels better to understand that we are all correct according to our own personal frames of reference. It also allows for respect of another's viewpoint even though we may disagree. As well, it encourages empathic understanding and tolerance without judgment.
1/16/2006
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The Infinite Moment
 There is only NOW... the infinite present. What we think of as the past is a thought re-creation of what we label as memory. But the creation of that memory exists only in the present. Memories vary between individuals and sometimes even in contrast to present evidence or facts. They are creations in and of the present moment.
Right now, think of something that happened yesterday. Recognize that it is a thought that you just re-created. You just assembled the thought in the present, but call it a memory - falsely considering it to be a reliving of the past.
The same is true of the future. The expectation of future is experienced only in the present moment as a thought.
So, there is only and always now. That's all there is and all that we ever experience.
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