Different Perspectives on Reality
Over many years I was involved in the provision and design of personal / team development courses. A part of these was to educate and inform. It was to show that there are others ways to think, behave and interact than those which are habitual. A key theme was that the arrogant, who might benefit most from personal development, were convinced that knew everything and needed no help. Everyone else had to change; they were fine and dandy. The plebs needed to be shown how to obey divine orders. Some of those that could benefit most refused. Others had to suffer these and their behaviours. Sadly there are always people, usually in power, who have to be tolerated and indulged. They have to be approached on egg shells.
There was always a fine line introducing an element of challenge. Without challenge nothing changed. It could however trigger bad reactions, meltdowns, hissy fits and toys out of the cot behaviours. People “forced” or “required” to go on courses rarely had fully open minds. Reluctance was more common than genuine open-hearted willingness. People often saw challenge as a threat, an offence to their person.
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In the current cross-generational climate it might be hard to challenge even a tiny bit without triggering a “I am offended” mine field.
People might seek change, but only on their own terms. They prefer a tweak, a sticking plaster hack or a short cut. Wholesale change takes time and a genuine intent or willingness to overhaul perspective, behaviour and life orientation.
As a rule of thumb genuine change requires a period in which everything seems much worse, first.
The world which one has built around oneself may not be as real as you think. You may be blind to a whole bunch of stuff yet consider yourself quasi-omniscient already. You may be unaware of your lack of awareness and your social-blinkers. You may imagine that your own socio-political “reality” is actually real and true.
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No matter how hard someone might try you may be unwilling to see or even countenance any alternative.
I can say that my application to meditation, in its many guises, has been more profound than most, especially for a lay person. That has been active for well over two decades. I have used mantra and visualisation as well as simple empty-mind silence.
Whilst meditation is very important and will in itself cause change, such change might be augmented by in person discussion and challenge. If you get a bit pissed off when someone challenges your thinking then you do not as yet have control over your mind nor your emotions. Soap opera drama is not a desired outcome should you be seeking enlightenment.
But to challenge someone in a useful non-destructive way is not easy and requires skill and patience. The person doing the challenging needs to be free of ego.
This notion of meditation coupled with challenging seems a more productive area than simply, sitting on a cushion and hoping for the best. You might look at it as a cognitive behavioural therapy add on. In terms of liberation that challenge must not be to re-enforce the socio-political construct rather because the socio-political construct is the house, the building, the city of samsara, it should seek to chip away at the “illusory” aspects.
Many of the causes of dissatisfaction and depression come from failure to comply with and enact perceived social norms. The mismatch between imagined peer reality and personal actuality can cause dis-ease for the mind. Comparison is a major factor in mental malaise.
If you are embroiled in and “happy” within the socio-political norms you are more than likely to want to defend that “castle”. This represents a massive barrier, a portcullis against, change.
Were you to discuss your perspective on reality with someone who had a very different one, you would imagine them wrong and perhaps insane. If you have never properly meditated, for decades, you may be unable to conceive of just how different a mind might be.
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Are you sure that you know for sure what is real and important?
Are you adamant about this?
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