INCREASING PLEASURE
Pleasure enhances life. But sometimes we overdo pleasure and achieve the opposite effect instead. Or, we may undermine our ability to get the full pleasure that’s possible by not being fully attentive.
So, if we try to increase pleasure by eating more of something delicious, it may result in discomfort and eventual weight problems -- diminishing and spoiling the pleasure and bringing us unsought displeasure. Or, if we’re distracted by meandering thoughts, conversation, TV or reading, we reduce eating to a mechanical semiconscious act and don’t fully enjoy what we’re eating. But with increased awareness we not only experience tastes, smells and textures better, we also sense our true needs better. At this level of awareness, we’re more discriminating and intuitive and can more wisely choose what, when, where and how much to eat as well as which foods to mix or not mix. And thus, we maximize our pleasure by increasing health and our sense of well-being, as well as by fully enjoying the food we’re eating.
So overindulgence and under-awareness are two ways in which we may keep ourselves from having a most pleasurable life. However, if we approach increasing pleasure from a quality-of-awareness perspective instead of a quantity-of-intake one, we can increase pleasure without negative consequences, as well as reap some additional benefits (i.e., better health and appearance).
This applies to all forms of pleasure and activity. The more we fully focus our attention on what we’re doing -- i.e., practicing mindfulness (an aspect of focusing on a master mind level) the more pleasure we may receive from what we’re doing.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
SEEING WITH A CLEARED MIND
How well do you see what’s before you?
Psychologists, scientists, artists and other trained persons will attest to the facts that perception is selective and that we’re rarely objective. Yet, despite their professional experience and greater insight into the process of seeing, even they’re often ruled by personal biases, just like the rest of us.
Perceiving objectively usually takes a special effort of will to put all biases aside. Until we can do that, we’ll continue to see reality in a limited and tainted way. I say usually because occasionally, when we’re off guard and relaxed, we spontaneously see objectively.
This may happen on vacation, as when lying on a beach lazily staring at clouds, stars or sea. Or, when walking in a wooded area or countryside we’ve never been to before. Suddenly, we may see with fresh eyes and experience a sense of awe. Yet this same clear vision is available to us at any time, even in our most familiar surroundings. But it takes an act of will to drop all automatic biased reactions to simply see what’s there. To develop this ability, practice ‘NO MIND’ CONTEMPLATION.
Try this: take a familiar object (like an old shoe) and with a blank mind, just stare at it for a few minutes. See if you can drop your idea of it and just see the specific shapes, forms, colors, textures and details that actually make up its unique physical existence.
After doing this you may find that the familiar object has much more to it than you’ve previously realized. It may even seem strangely new and fascinating to you. But all that’s happened is that you’ve expanded your perception by seeing with a CLEARED MIND.
Now practice this way of seeing all that’s around you.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO A FRIEND.
How well do you see what’s before you?
Psychologists, scientists, artists and other trained persons will attest to the facts that perception is selective and that we’re rarely objective. Yet, despite their professional experience and greater insight into the process of seeing, even they’re often ruled by personal biases, just like the rest of us.
Perceiving objectively usually takes a special effort of will to put all biases aside. Until we can do that, we’ll continue to see reality in a limited and tainted way. I say usually because occasionally, when we’re off guard and relaxed, we spontaneously see objectively.
This may happen on vacation, as when lying on a beach lazily staring at clouds, stars or sea. Or, when walking in a wooded area or countryside we’ve never been to before. Suddenly, we may see with fresh eyes and experience a sense of awe. Yet this same clear vision is available to us at any time, even in our most familiar surroundings. But it takes an act of will to drop all automatic biased reactions to simply see what’s there. To develop this ability, practice ‘NO MIND’ CONTEMPLATION.
Try this: take a familiar object (like an old shoe) and with a blank mind, just stare at it for a few minutes. See if you can drop your idea of it and just see the specific shapes, forms, colors, textures and details that actually make up its unique physical existence.
After doing this you may find that the familiar object has much more to it than you’ve previously realized. It may even seem strangely new and fascinating to you. But all that’s happened is that you’ve expanded your perception by seeing with a CLEARED MIND.
Now practice this way of seeing all that’s around you.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO A FRIEND.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
EXPANDING PERCEPTION
How we see things usually determines how we react. For example, you might feel and react differently if you thought the boss was taking you out to lunch to fire you than if you thought he was doing it to give you a surprise promotion. Reactions greatly depend on what we think is happening or going to happen. Therefore, it’s crucial to make sure that we’re perceiving reality correctly before taking action.
This is not always easy to do. When under the influence of a strong bias, fear or expectation, one may tend to see things incorrectly, react improperly, and get bad results. So it’s important to expand one’s perception of reality.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Consider that your thoughts may not be necessarily what’s true, but only what you're imagining, expecting or calculating.
2. Ferret out the facts; consider what you actually know for sure.
3. Try to get new information that might help you clarify things.
4. Remind yourself of how often and easy it is to jump to wrong conclusions.
5. Examine yourself for any hidden fears, desires or agendas that may be causing you to shape your current view.
6. Recognize and accept that you can’t always anticipate everything correctly.
7. Be willing to trust your ability to know what’s best to do as you explore the situation and learn more.
With these approaches we eliminate being automatically influenced by limited or false perceptions; we expand our perception of reality and increase our ability to act more successfully. Keep this check list handy and refer to it whenever you’re worrying about something. It may help steer you right.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO A FRIEND.
How we see things usually determines how we react. For example, you might feel and react differently if you thought the boss was taking you out to lunch to fire you than if you thought he was doing it to give you a surprise promotion. Reactions greatly depend on what we think is happening or going to happen. Therefore, it’s crucial to make sure that we’re perceiving reality correctly before taking action.
This is not always easy to do. When under the influence of a strong bias, fear or expectation, one may tend to see things incorrectly, react improperly, and get bad results. So it’s important to expand one’s perception of reality.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Consider that your thoughts may not be necessarily what’s true, but only what you're imagining, expecting or calculating.
2. Ferret out the facts; consider what you actually know for sure.
3. Try to get new information that might help you clarify things.
4. Remind yourself of how often and easy it is to jump to wrong conclusions.
5. Examine yourself for any hidden fears, desires or agendas that may be causing you to shape your current view.
6. Recognize and accept that you can’t always anticipate everything correctly.
7. Be willing to trust your ability to know what’s best to do as you explore the situation and learn more.
With these approaches we eliminate being automatically influenced by limited or false perceptions; we expand our perception of reality and increase our ability to act more successfully. Keep this check list handy and refer to it whenever you’re worrying about something. It may help steer you right.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO A FRIEND.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
SEVEN LEVELS OF AWAKENING
We may observe that the world, as well as most peoples’ lives, is in constant conflict and struggle ... and wonder if this has to be so. And if not, what the solution may be. Here’s my take on it:
Most humans are not fully ‘awakened’ beings; thus life is unnecessarily narrow and difficult. However, as we progress along a path of seven levels of awakening (awareness leaps we can make), our capacity to live with ease and flourish expands. Most of us get to the third level, some to the fourth, and very few get beyond that.
These seven levels of awakening are part of a natural consciousness growth process ... and perhaps The Divine Plan. Briefly, here’s how it goes.
The first awakening occurs at birth, when we leave the darkness of the womb and gain awareness of a sensory outer world. The second comes in infancy as we awaken to our own separate bodily existence and begin to explore this outer world on our own. The third comes in early childhood when we awaken to ourselves as a thinking self and begin developing a thinking mind -- i.e., a personal collection of mental representations of ourselves, others, and our world. This thinking self usually reaches a plateau at some point in adulthood.
This is as far as most people go.The next four awakenings are more difficult and require a special kind of mental work and often the help of an experienced guide. These are awakening to: our programmed subconscious mind (sub-wills), our objective overseeing Master Will, our intuitive channel of perception, and our divinely loving soul.
These four higher awakenings are experienced by a rare few, but the numbers are increasing. And as more people awaken to these higher levels of being, human life will become more peaceful, harmonious, loving, joyful and free.
LIFE MASTERY TRAINING supports the higher levels of this ‘awakening’ process. If you’re interested in finding out more, see WEEKLY LIFE MASTERY TRAINING link at the upper left of this site, or go to: http://guidetolifemastery.blogspot.com/p/about-author.html
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO A FRIEND.
We may observe that the world, as well as most peoples’ lives, is in constant conflict and struggle ... and wonder if this has to be so. And if not, what the solution may be. Here’s my take on it:
Most humans are not fully ‘awakened’ beings; thus life is unnecessarily narrow and difficult. However, as we progress along a path of seven levels of awakening (awareness leaps we can make), our capacity to live with ease and flourish expands. Most of us get to the third level, some to the fourth, and very few get beyond that.
These seven levels of awakening are part of a natural consciousness growth process ... and perhaps The Divine Plan. Briefly, here’s how it goes.
The first awakening occurs at birth, when we leave the darkness of the womb and gain awareness of a sensory outer world. The second comes in infancy as we awaken to our own separate bodily existence and begin to explore this outer world on our own. The third comes in early childhood when we awaken to ourselves as a thinking self and begin developing a thinking mind -- i.e., a personal collection of mental representations of ourselves, others, and our world. This thinking self usually reaches a plateau at some point in adulthood.
This is as far as most people go.The next four awakenings are more difficult and require a special kind of mental work and often the help of an experienced guide. These are awakening to: our programmed subconscious mind (sub-wills), our objective overseeing Master Will, our intuitive channel of perception, and our divinely loving soul.
These four higher awakenings are experienced by a rare few, but the numbers are increasing. And as more people awaken to these higher levels of being, human life will become more peaceful, harmonious, loving, joyful and free.
LIFE MASTERY TRAINING supports the higher levels of this ‘awakening’ process. If you’re interested in finding out more, see WEEKLY LIFE MASTERY TRAINING link at the upper left of this site, or go to: http://guidetolifemastery.blogspot.com/p/about-author.html
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO A FRIEND.
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