Posts Tagged ‘REALITY’

4 Feb

Observing Self Constructions: Updated,,.

Posted by Marty in Shaila Catherine(Focused and Fearless). Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Speech events are a marvelous opportunities to observe the constructions of self. Notice the subtle motivations behind your speech today. When is the primary communication merely your own existence?

Sometimes what is said is not very important; what we are really saying is, “notice me, I’m here, I’m special, I am like this, I am.” It can be useful to grow sensitive to the tendency to seek respect, appreciation, confirmation, praise, or recognition. You don’t need to squelch these desires should they arise, but notice how they contribute to the development of self-formations.

Are you in a phase in your life when self-formations are valuable, or are you ready to deconstruct these processes?

You can also observe your internal dialog, ruminations, and daydreams. Make a note of moments when the thought “I am” forms. How much of your thinking is recreating and reinforcing the story of being you? What would the experience of your life be like without the burden of incessant becoming?

Enjoy the explorations of your mind.

21 Oct

Don’t Take it Personally

Posted by Marty in Rick Hanson(Buddhas Brain). Tagged: , , , , , , .

All experiences and events go through the filter of your own brain. Although thought is still quite mysterious, there are a few things we understand about it. For example, we know it goes through the filter of perception. Perception is reality for each person.

Rick Hanson explains this in Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom:

Here’s an updated parable from the ancient Taoist teacher, Chuang-Tzu: Imagine that you are floating in a canoe on a slow-moving river, having a Sunday picnic with a friend. Suddenly there is a loud thump on the side of the canoe, and it rolls over. You come up sputtering, and what do you see? Somebody has snuck up on your canoe, flipped it over for a joke, and is laughing at you. How do you feel?

OK. Now imagine the exact same situation again: the picnic in a canoe, loud thump, dumped into the river, coming up sputtering, and what do you see? A large submerged log has drifted downstream and bumped into your canoe. This time, how do you feel?

The facts are the same in each case: cold and wet, picnic ruined. But when you feel personally picked on, everything feels worse. The thing is, most of what bumps into us in life ‘” including emotional reactions from others, traffic jams, illness, or mistreatment at work ‘” is like an impersonal log put in motion by 10,000 causes upstream.

Say a friend is surprisingly critical toward you. It hurts, for sure, and you need to address the situation, from talking about it directly to disengaging from the relationship.

But also consider what may have caused that person to bump into you, such as: interpretations and misinterpretations of your actions; personal health problems, pain, worries or anger about other things, temperament, personality, childhood experiences; causes from the larger context, like our economy and culture, or world events; and causes back upstream in time, like how his or her parents were raised.

Recognize the humbling yet also wonderful truth: most of the time, we are bit players in other people’s dramas.

8 May

What is Happiness?

Posted by Marty in Assorted. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Most people have been brainwashed into thinking a success is happiness. Success at work and home and in all relationships is the measure for happiness.

Look at the impermanence and unlikeliness of all these items.  We all know work can be lost, homes repossessed and that divorce or conflict happens.  Money and power have nothing to do with who you are or how you find happiness.

Spend some quiet time, sitting; attention directed to the breath, discovering the real you.  This skill will give you the distance needed from observing thoughts, to permitting them to exist on their own.  We can have awareness without a self being there.

Intuition works this way.  The body intuitively heals itself.

The ability to direct attention, and give the brain a rest, changes our whole world sometimes.  Join me, it is wonderful.

11 Apr

What if You Couldn’t Fail?

Posted by Marty in Assorted. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

At one time in my life, this appeared impossible to even think of.  My father had criticized me, without one word of encouragement.  How could I, a young kid, be judged critical even as I became a professional athlete? I mean what more could I have done?

How could I ever even think about not being able to fail?  I had been brainwashed to think in an opposites type of reality. Winning or Losing. Good vs. Bad. My motivation was fueled by the fear of failure.  It was ingrained in me. Fear.

Today, and I’m still sometimes bewildered that I made it here,  failure is impossible for me.  I spend my time in the present moment.  I have found that failure is not possible when you are here. Failure seems to get lost in the awareness of now.

1 Apr

What is Reality and What is Delusion?

Posted by Marty in Assorted. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Disassociation clouds and confuses.  My beliefs were flawed and wrong.  I thought I wasn’t worthy enough to exist. Why was this belief so strong and ever present?  This is an example of how trauma changes reality. It has power to cause disassociation, which is not reality. Of course I’m worthy to exist.

What is our true reality?

We are not our projected thoughts.

PTSD is a disorder that breeds and thrives in the shadow world of past thoughts and future doom.

First, find out what is real. Ask yourself “Is this thought real?”

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