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Are events supposed to happen?

Supposed by whom and under which condtions?

I believe that many of the forces that work to create situations are impersonal or have nothing to do with you. Rarely is anything the result of a conspiracy of some sort, be it mundane or metaphysical.

People who believe that events happen for a reason are framing their experience within a structure of their own creation. They are basically creating artifices so that their lives can fit some aesthetic criteria.

Mistaking these reasons we create for reality is sort of confusing a play or a movie for an actual event. After watching Mars Attacks most reaonable people don't go around talking about the martian invasion that just occurred. But it is commonplace for people to talk about their frames around events as if they were external realities.

I realize that what I am describing is indicative of my "frame," but I believe in Occam's Razor. The little reasons and suppositions people create are much like the little fairies that used to make off with babies ... of course, no one likes to think that the baby was unwanted and exposed and that there were no fairies after all.







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Not superceding the law of love, the most basic law for all of life is the law of giving and receiving, or sowing and reaping.

When you plant seeds in tilled land, the seeds are supposed to grow into a crop... under the right conditions, such as good soil, watering, weeding, etc. But sometimes the conditions are not right, in which case you will need assistance of some sort, so that you don't lose your crop.

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For every action, there is a reaction, even if its selective non-action. Everything in nature is made within the design of some sort of purpose, which equals reason, which equals will. Purpose, or that which is supposed, is the answer to "Why".

Just because we might not yet have an answer, or scientifc proof of an answer to a particular "why" question, does not mean the answer does not exist. This would be arrogance at its best.

Nature is made in such a way that one thing benefits another thing, which promotes harmony, purpose, and growth. The greatest instinct of all life is SURVIVAL, which brings us to the question of spirit. Certain things are required, beyond human understanding, which either further or counteract the survival, fitness, and continuation of our spirit source - our spirit's nature, if you will.

For example, in order for the human body to be fit for living and procreation, it must be exercised, or else it deteriorates. When a body builder curls with a 20 lb. dumbbell, he is purposely applying temporary stress, strain, and discomfort to his biceps. The muscles actually tear down in the process, but during a 24-hr. rest, they begin a new process of building up LARGER AND STRONGER THAN BEFORE.

Likewise, this analogy can be transposed to fitness requirements for the spirit body. The bottom line, again, is the survival and procreation of nature, whether that nature is of the physical or the spiritual.

---------------------------------

I like what Pete said about not judging. It's like an invisible brick wall that obstructs the flow of love, which in turn stymies true, well-rounded success. This is one of my fervent goals, to train myself not to morally judge. Sure, it's necessary to the course of living life to assess to a certain degree, in a fair way, and decide how to act accordingly. But moral judgment is another matter. Believe me, I have become a MASTER at judging people, and I've learned that it has only hurt instead of helped me.

Even so, the biggest hurdle I'm surmounting now, is learning not to judge (condemn) myself. Boy, what a challenge that has been. With the help of Learning Strategies' Paraliminals, sound reasoning, and God, I am overcoming it. How we love others is fundamentally based on how we love ourselves. And if we cannot fulfill this most basic of all laws, that of love, then we, as individuals, will never be able to live to our full potential, much less help others to do the same.

[This message has been edited by SHEANIMA (edited September 10, 2004).]






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SHEANIMA, do you mind if I ask which Paraliminals you said you were gaining from?
Thanks






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SteveBCA, I had initially posted a reply for you, here, but I instead deleted it and replaced it in the forum, "Paraliminal Learning" under a new topic entitled "Severe Anxiety Testimonial". That way, I won't be veering too far off of this forum's discussion.

[This message has been edited by SHEANIMA (edited September 10, 2004).]






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Judging yourself ...

The human mind perceives patterns even if patterns are not there. It is, among other things, a pattern detection and creation device.

Once you are in your own awareness at some level, the mind is going to come up with judgements about you. It's fit you into some pattern or other. Perhaps a more fruitful and mind-friendly pursuit would be to come up with a greater wealth of judgements about yourself, so one or two don't necessarily stick. Dealing with the emotional revulsion or addiction to various judgements about yourself would also be helpful. Compulsively avoiding or desiring certain judgements are more of a problem than the judgements themselves.

Since you first developed your cognitive system you began discerning patterns and judging. This is background, this is foreground. This is what I want, that isn't. This is me, this is not me. Etc. I don't think you're going to have much luck and trying to get your brain to stop doing the something that is one of its major functions. Better to work with it and allow its functioning to work for you.








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Interesting reply, babayada. I'll save that one to my documents. And generally speaking, I do agree with you. But to judge has several meanings:

1) to form an opinion through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises
2) to sit in judgement
3) to determine or pronounce after inquiry and deliberation
4) to govern or rule
5) to form an estimate or evaluation of
6) to hold as an opinion

When I talked about judging myself, as if it were something undesirable to do, I meant it as pronouncing CONDEMNATION. I have learned how to forgive and not judge (condemn) others, but I neglected to extend that same courtesy to myself. This only served to hurt instead of help me.

Now, with the help of the Self-Esteem Supercharger and Personal Genius, I have come up with ideas on how to successfully do this. Now, I feel as if I'm experiencing on a daily basis, the happiest moments of my childhood, because I'm giving myself moment-by-moment praise, cheerful support, and appreciation in all things.

I figure if God sees fit to forgive me, then who am I not to do the same? And if He says that He won't judge (condemn) me if I don't judge (condemn) others, then who am I to still judge (condemn) myself?

Self-control is one thing, but self-abuse and neglect is another. Subjecting myself to such treatment would only stymie my personal evolution, and prove a disservice to not only myself, but the world, because I would not be fit to fully effect my mission in life to the most powerful degree.

This reasoning has worked quite well for me. I understand that some of these beliefs may not be held by other members of this forum, but that's okay. I'm not here to debate that. I'm just letting you know what works for me.

[This message has been edited by SHEANIMA (edited September 18, 2004).]






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I think that when one condemns oneself habitually that the mind is simply moving directly down the easiest path it has.

Awareness of it is really good. My point was concerning an approach for dealing with that fact.

A lot of people talk a lot about how the mind judges, condemns, labels, etc. and how this is a bad thing and should be avoided. I think trying to get the mind to stop doing what it *does* is folly. If you breathe shallowly the idea isn't to stop breathing but to breathe more fully.

I think we are in agreement though our terminology is a bit different.








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You're right, babayada, it would be futile to simply tell the mind to stop thinking a thing. It just won't work, no matter how stong-minded we think we are.

For example, even though I tried to love all people, even the ones I couldn't stand, it just wouldn't happen! If I told myself to stop thinking those resentful thoughts, it would seldom make any difference. So I finally found another way to accomplish this, without attempting to stop thinking a particular thing.

Something told me that whenever a negative thought or emotion would rise up against someone, to imagine that I could see that person at their most vulnerable private moment, crying to themselves alone, sobbing, broken-hearted from the depths of sadness, and alone. This image of them would cause my heart to soften, and unleash my ability to feel pity for them. This reinforced a lesson I'd recently learned. You see, when people are rude and ugly to you, it's only because they are hurting inside and fearful. When I understood this, I found myself able to send them blessings (because they are definitely in dire need of them) and pray for their recovery.

I thought up a statement that I tell myself, sometimes: "People can only do the best that they FEEL capable of doing, AT THE TIME." All human beings have the ability for greater character, personal power, and accomplishment, but few feel capable of it on a regular basis.

It took me a while, but I finally learned the importance of applying this consideration to myself. Now, if I happen to think about something from my past that I did which was terrible and painful to someone or even myself, instead of feeling awful and attempting to push it out of my mind, I casually say ALOUD to myself, "You were just lower evolved, spiritually, so you couldn't help it. You were fearful and hurting, and you just didn't know how to get out of it. But now things are different, and you are out from under that problem. So you'll just have to forgive yourself, that's all." I can then release the ill feelings toward myself, and direct genuine love from my heart, to my person.

This example shows that trying to stop a habit of thinking does not work. You have to redirect your focus on something new that captures your attention, by way of one of your senses. In this case, they were the senses of hearing and (inner) seeing, as I took notice and heard the revised inner image of how I saw myself.

I did the same thing where anxiety was concerned. Even though I'd resolved all issues of fear, and received a noticeable degree of relief from the Paraliminal tapes, they still happened, but ONLY WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT IT! This proved that the problem was now just my body and mind's learned, habitual reaction to things. I concluded that my system was so used to the chemicals and adrenaline of fear and anxiety shooting through me on a regular basis, for so long, that it eventually thought this flow was normal. I tried to force myself to stop thinking about the anxiety, because the mere thought of a possible attack would bring about an attack. But this did not work, no matter how hard I tried!!! My body and mind would soon swing me back the other way!

Then a small, quite voice inside of me suggested that I think back to how I used to see life as a child, and compare it to now. After reflecting, I realized that everything seemed so wonderful and new, with little to no judgments or meanings attached to anything. All my senses were heightened, because everything, even the smallest of things were fascinating to me.

So I thought I'd experiment, and see what would happen if I acted as if I were seeing life through my eyes as a child, again. Rather than NOT think of something which would trigger an attack, I focused on experiencing everything with my 5 senses, as if everything were new. I marveled at the texture of the things I touched. I would pretend that no visual or audible thing had any particular meaning attached to it, it just WAS, that's all. I would convince myself that the kind of people I would normally not like, no longer represented anything to me, other than just being there. I would be captivated by the movement of my body, and how interesting and fun it was to care for it. The smells I experienced were as if they were new, and I took them just as they were, and nothing more.

After almost a full day of this, I had noticed that I had not had one single anxious episode! But of course, once I thought about it, it happened (ha). By the end of the second day, I was better able to catch the sensation of an upcoming episode right before it could show itself, and I'd instantly play that game with myself again, and quickly focus on a nearby object and pretend that I was fascinated by its shape. This would halt the reaction before it had the chance to begin, which is something I'd been unable to do, before. Now, those minimal, subtle mini-sensations have become almost nonexistent, and will soon cease altogether. I don't feel the fear, anymore. I can honestly say that I NO LONGER HAVE *ANXIETY ATTACKS*. After over two years of struggle, I AM NOW FREE FROM THEM.

My point is, trying to stop thinking about certain things did NOT work. I had to give myself a game to play... something interesting to do, to notice, to touch, that would short-circuit the behavioral attack. AND IT WORKED.

What lessons I learned, babayada! They were hard ones, but the Paraliminals opened up my mind, reduced the anxiety, and "re-wired" my thinking, so that I could be more receptive to that positive inner help, which is within me. If that can happen for me, imagine what the Paraliminals and these ideas can do for others who are fighting the same problems.

[This message has been edited by SHEANIMA (edited September 20, 2004).]






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I have had a similar sort of experience.

I used to have problems with anxiety. They did not manifest themselves as full blown anxiety attacks with the breathing, increased heart rate, etc. Rather it was a more pervasive and lasting form of prolonged anxiety that almost totally sapped the joy out of life for me. During this period I was really paranoid and judgmental of myself.

I won't go into the details, but it got to the point where I literally could not remember a moment in the day when I did not feel incredibly anxious and worthless.

The cure was me realizing in a moment that I was starting to go nuts. My life was filled with anxiety and the anxiety was steadily increasing. My life, at this point, almost didn't seem worth it. I realized that in order to fight the anxiety I had to literally fight for my life by, instead of focusing on the fear and fighting it, focusing all I could on what made life enjoyable and worthwhile no matter how small.

If I could remember a joke that made people laugh, or a particularly good meal, or whatever, that is what I focused upon. I practiced this for a while and eventually I got my life back.

In your case, though paraliminals played a part, it sounds like your figuring and thinking about things were the operative elements in creating the change for you. That is, the figuring and then the dedication to follow through with your discoveries.

So, I sorta understand, and congratulations to you on your various victories.

[This message has been edited by babayada (edited September 21, 2004).]






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I'm a little late with my response to the initial situation, but would really like to share my viewpoint.

I feel blessed to have connected with Learning Strategies (:-) a moment of Grace?). It's not their products, retreats or other offerings that keep me coming back, it's one thing - their INTEGRITY.

Long distance and in person, with myself and with others, I have been aware of their absolute integrity and the always underlying intent to support others however they can. Since we are all different with different needs and desires they offer different opportunities - the choice is always ours.

And . . . they are successfull in every way - I wouldn't expect - or want - it otherwise.

Thanks, Learning Strategies for supporting my choice to be me.

Jenny






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