THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY -- A Guide to Life Mastery

DEVELOP TRUE KNOWING

We rely on verbal thinking to understand our world, but we should recognize its limitations -- it can equally and convincingly shape false ideas and beliefs as well as truthful ones. This is one of the causes of so much ignorance and misdoing in the world (just consider propaganda, advertising, prejudice and bias).

And even when we attempt to use language to convey a concrete existence, such as a particular person, place or thing, at best it can only convey a general impression.  To know any object as it actually exists, we may need to carefully and directly examine/experience it, noting all of its specific characteristics and qualities.

Verbal communication can be even more difficult when we try to convey a new reality.  Consider how difficult it is to understand the writings of great thinkers who present new ideas about the nature of reality. Despite all their skill and best efforts, we may easily misinterpret their meaning. (This is one reason why the world often takes a long time to appreciate true genius.)

Verbal thinking can only provide a skeletal understanding of what exists and, at its best, only points us in the right direction. But for greater knowing we must go beyond the use of language. So while a picture may be said to be worth a thousand words and direct experience a thousand pictures, by experiencing intuitively and empathetically, our knowing can go still further. It’s from these deeper levels of knowing that genius derives its true knowing.

So, don’t merely rely on verbal thinking and sensory experience; seek a deeper and fuller knowing, and live more successfully.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY -- A Guide to Life Mastery

THE POWER OF CORE BELIEFS

Core beliefs subconsciously shape our lives, often creating human failure. My life and observation of the lives of many others bear this out.

As a young man I strove to be a great artist. But no matter how hard I tried, I had little success. The truth was that I subconsciously believed that I was meant to be a struggling artist and like Van Gogh, my art would be appreciated only after my death. At my core, I was committed to playing out a romantic and tragic vision I had of being an artist. So that’s how my life went.

As long as I was unaware of this hidden core belief and allowed it to rule me, the art and life I created could not bring me happiness or success. I could only continue struggling and suffering the lonely and desperate life of an artist/martyr.

Years later, after studying with a Gurdjieff Master, I began seeing myself more objectively and everything changed -- I saw myself as a very different kind of artist, changed the kind of art I did, and my work was shown in major New York galleries as well as at The Indianapolis Museum of Art (alongside the works of Andy Warhol and other major artists).

As my awareness increased, my ability to produce fulfilling and successful life results increased. And while I didn’t realize at the time exactly what was happening, I sensed that I was onto something. So instead of continuing to create art, I began investigating the psychology of creating success. After many years of such investigations, it became clear that to create a completely successful life, it’s essential to root out any misdirecting core beliefs we may have.

So if you find you’re failing in some aspect of life, look deep within and you may find, like I did, that certain beliefs are causing it.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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