I’m in the process of giving away a lot of ‘stuff’ that I’ve accumulated over the years, and so in an attempt to hasten the process, I made up a sign on a piece of white card board, and on the sign, in black marker, I wrote, ‘ Free to whoever would like it’, and at the bottom of the sign, with the same marker, I wrote, ‘ Please leave the sign’. I placed the item, and the sign outside the door to my apartment.
Well, a while later I took a look, and both the item, and the sign were gone. I wasn’t upset or anything, but, once again, I was reminded how we humans tend to only see what we want to see. Like the blinders they put on horses sometimes, so they won’t spook so easily from peripheral distractions. It seems like a small thing, but we really need to notice it, because it has a much farther reaching effect on how we view the world.
Preconceived ideas of the way things ‘should’ be, are carried by all of us, and they shape the way we react to any given situation. When we assess another person, or a situation, we filter it through our conditioned minds, to see if it matches, or doesn’t match our own ‘beliefs’.
Of course, most people feel that their beliefs are the ‘right’ ones, and so then comes the judgement of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. It’s really quite humourous the way that we humans are controlled by our own minds, and most of the time, we don’t even know it.
No one can ever claim to be more than human, and we are all affected by the same limitations, whether it be, a doctor, a lawyer, a president, a pope, a politician, a homeless person, a taxi driver, a grocery clerk, a bank robber or an astronaut. Everyone is somehow affected by their conditioned minds, whether they know it or not.
So, how do we proceed in life, if everything we do, or say, is the product of our conditioned minds? Well, we do what we do, but we need to notice why we do it. Pay attention to why you do things the way that you do them, or treat people the way that you treat them. Question your own mind. There’s no need to make a judgement, as to whether you are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Just notice when you do make judgements, and see if you can discover where that judgement came from, and if this thought, or judgement, is in keeping with who you really are.
Now, in order to do that, you need to know who you really are. To find that out, you need to look deeper inside, in a place before thought arises. Once thoughts have been formed in your mind, they have already been tainted by human conditioning, so find that place before thought. This will be easier for some, than others. If you have trouble finding it, then just find a quiet space, perhaps in a natural setting, and be with yourself, and ask yourself “who am I”. Don’t try to ‘think’ about it. Just be it.
Presently Travelling 