Seeing Something New
RealitySeeker operates on the premise that reality can be created, but is that really the case? A probability exists about what will happen next. There are only so many possible things that can happen in the next several milliseconds. So, what makes something new?
People face a stream of input all the time, most of which they filter out. We observe, however, through knowledge of the past. The past structures our neural network so that every reaction we make is based on our whole lifetime of experience. This suggests that we are not actually observing what is.
If we allow the past to pre-program us to act in automatic fashion in this way, then we don’t have a lot of choice from moment to moment. Our free will becomes based on whether or not we can see something new in what is presented to us by the senses. If it is possible to be mindful, how does one develop it or help others to develop it?
It may be true that humans have tended to think many of the same things all along, but by listening to others and working on ourselves through meditation and contemplation we can experience positive results. The foundations of mindfulness—Zen practice, Eastern practices and mystic practices—can be extremely fruitful in making change.
We can develop the realization that historically humans seem to have accentuated the bad. People seek certainty and wish to exist in a framework that doesn’t have a lot of chaos. These facts make change difficult.
Something new, however, is always available to us through the senses. People can discover ideas they may have never thought about before. We can question the self-assuredness of our knowledge. When people receive more input from being exposed to different things, they no longer have to be fated to choose the same thing every time. Through this active work, we can learn to feel good about being human again and stop considering other people the enemy.
This article is the product of a RealitySeeker conversation involving Michael Kenyon, Cynthia Price, Lori Filipek and Ryan Christman. If you would like to be involved in a similar discussion group, please contact:
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