The Simplist of Truths
It seems to me that we overcomplicate our lives. Spiritual teachers tell us time and time again very simple truths about how to live, and yet frequently they are ignored precisely because of that simplicity. The thing of it is that it can take us a while to accept the simple things, and although they are simple this does not mean that they are easy to follow or implement.
One such truth is that we have the power to create our own reality. How we act and react is completely in our control, we can only be annoyed by the actions of others if we allow ourselves to be annoyed by defensively disagreeing internally with their behavior. The greatest of examples of this is some fearful object, an example which I’m taking from The Biology Of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton, an awesome and mind-altering book.
What if a snake slithered out from behind the monitor and began moving slowly towards you now? For most people, their belief is that snakes are dangerous, so withdrawing in fear is a likely response. But what if you studied snakes for a living? You’d identify very quickly that this snake is not poisonous or harmful in any way, so you would then set about enjoying this beautiful creature, and the wonderful chance to study it. The difference in reactions is purely based on internal beliefs, coloured by knowledge, false knowledge or ignorance.
These beliefs touch every interaction we have with the world and ourselves. It should be quite obvious that knowing this, blaming the snake for coming towards us is a ridiculous and thoroughly unproductive affair, and yet this is exactly what most of us do on a day-to-day basis. We blame other people, or life in general, for the stresses and discomforts that we feel when exposed to their behaviour or the events of our life.
The degree we use this principle we can become free of the negative influence of others, and maintain our natural happiness and peace. It may seem too difficult to grasp this in the extreme - “if I am unaffected by how others act, why bother having human interactions at all?” you may object. Well, that may become clear in time. For starters, work on the little things. Is reacting by judging someone else as wrong and getting irritated because they spoke about something that doesn’t concern you or say something you disagree with really the way you want to live?
January 22nd, 2007 at 12:30 am
Very much enjoyed the time I spent here…as a poet and an avid reader, I found it enriching as well as interesting. I especially enjoyed the first and second postings. I thank you…
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:59 am
Yes, yes it is.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:28 pm
lettershaper: One wonders if the generic nature of your statement has been automatically generated - the first posting was neither enriching or interesting - just a simple introduction.
Rob: You would say that. Bah. What do you know?
January 28th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
I checked out lettershapers blog, I like the simple design, and some interesting imagery there.
As for me? The first part of your post blew a few cobwebs out of my brain. I think the reason we reject spiritual teachers and the simplicity of their teachings is it pins us down.
We want “wiggle room”, get out clauses, the soft option. But the beauty of simple teachings is that it forces us to face ourselves, maybe that’s part of our problem with simple teachings? There’s nowhere to hide from ourselves……..
January 28th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Agreed, it did have a lot of interesting imagery.
OH! Boy are you spot on there Richard! How I long for an easy life, some magic presto-chango and suddenly Life and me are all I want them to be.
Nowhere to hide, nobody´s fault but mine, these are exactly things I am resisting myself today. In fact, when we get all in a tangle like this - if we can manage some kind of awareness at what is happening we can use it to propel us forward - to realize that if we are such slaves to these thoughts or addictions, isnt it time we got ourselves free? To get out of prison, one must realize the extent to which one is in it.
Yes, that feels nice. Your comment was a timely one indeed Richard, I thank you.