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Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot  Therefore there is no "natural" way to respond to a situation. Or if you prefer, there are numerous "natural" ways to respond to any situation. |
The reaction that occurs is the natural response. Every action that comes about is the natural coarse. There is no action that is not "what is". Otherwise it wouldn't be. Anything that is/happens - is natural.
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In this discussion, I am highlighting the ability of an individual to choose his own thoughts. Naturally some individuals have this ability to a greater extent; some to a lesser extent; some may be more able to choose their their thoughts in particular areas of their lives or in particular kinds of situations.
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Thoughts are commentary of life in our heads - not something we get to control.
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So I am telling everyone now - this is a useful ability. It is something you should seek to develop and cultivate. Whatever your current level of ability is, it is a worthwhile pursuit to seek to raise the level. Among other things, it will help to alleviate your suffering (whatever your suffering is) and it will bring you more happiness.
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Trying to control things will bring me more happiness? Is that true? Trying to cultivate what exactly?
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The alternative is that you are simply, as J Krishnamurti would put it, unconscious. You're sleeping. You're just a more complex species of earthworm. You react to a wider range of stimuli than an earthworm, but your reaction is still automatic and a pure result of your past conditioning.
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Maybe this is true. Everything is conditioning - or everything about a personal self is conditioning. That's what the ego, the sense of self, the desire to achieve this and that is, it is learned mind stuff. We learn everything that made us feel like separate individuals.
Everything that we learned is making us think we aren't responding properly or are out of alignment or need to be better at something or kinder, etc... If we didn't believe all that, we'd know our responses are natural, instead we see everything as maybe that was wrong or maybe I didn't do the right thing or some other judgment that asserts the self again.