Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post

Richard · 02-22-2007, 11:05 AM

"That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will', is your mind's freedom to think or not - the only will you have, your only freedom, the choices that controls all the choices you make and determines your life & character" Ayn Rand

If you ask most people what they want more than anything else in life they would probably say "to be happy". And if you go on to ask them what will make them happy, they may say "good health" - "financial & material security" -"loving relationships" - "the freedom to be ourselves" etc., etc. The list of 'desires' is endless.

The Ancient Greeks defined happinness as "the full use of your powers along lines of excellence". Today we may express this as an attempt to fulfill our true potential. - to be the best in every aspect of our lives. Indeed if we can achieve this state of consciousness, we will be truly liberated. Mahatma Gandhi summed up this state of happinness as being "when what you think - what you say - and what you do are in harmony". In his Meaning of Life article Steve expresses this concept of harmony in a slightly different way, but the concept is essentially the same. As another Ancient Greek - Teucydides said "The secret of happinness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage".

Bertrand Russell expressed the freedom to be ourselves in a rather direct way. "One should respect public opinion in so far as it ia necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison (Steve, does this resonate with you?), but anything that goes beyond this is a voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyrany, and is likely to interfere with happinness in all sorts of ways".

From the day we are born until the day that we die, we are in a continuous learning process, and it is this learning process that gives us our unique identity. And as a 60 year old, I can assure you that this learning process does not have to diminish with age. But, judging from the age profile of Steve's blog, it does appear to diminish dramatically when folks are forced to go out and work, or start a family. At a later stage I will try and explain why this is, but essentially the vast majority of people think that "work will set them free". This slogan was actually written over the gates to Auschwitz (Arbeit Macht Frei) - it was a lie then, and it is a lie today. Work does not set you free, but it certainly does enslave you unless you keep trying to 'unify' yourself through the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. To create real balance and harmony in your lives through being the best at absolutely everything you do - personal and work. The concept that we have to work in order to gain the material and financial rewards to make us free simply doesn't fly.

In our early days much of our learningwas experiential. On the simple basis of trial and error, we learnt what we liked and what we did not like - what was good for us and what was not good for us - what we could do and what we could not do. Then out of an unsatiable curiosity, we started to ask questions. Most parents will remember their young children asking "why should I do this?" or "why should I do that?". Sometimes rational answers were given, but probably most of the time the response was "because I tell you to!". And so we were conditioned to believe that parents and teachers are right - they know best. Paul Tillich the theologian expressed this form of teaching and learning as "the passion for truth is silenced by answers that have the undisputed weight of authority".

In almost every aspect of our daily life, we are govenerned by rules and regulations of what we can, and cannot do. So if our freedom is governed by external factors, we have to find our freedom by looking inside ourselves. We have to question what really drives our actions. Our we in control of our life, or is our life in control of us? Are we really doing what we want to do? Are we living our vision? Do we put the same amount of effort into our relationships as we do in our work? Have we even begun to fulfill our self potential?

Another key question that we should ask ourselves is "are we living in the moment - or are we living in the past or future?" So many people make the mistake of thinking that it is OK to be unhappy or a slave in the present, because they will find happinness and freedom in the future. Well if you believe that life is some sort of rehearsal, you are living in a waking sleep.

"I didn't know I had it in me", or "I didn't know he or she had it in them". How often have you said those phrases when you or someone else has achieved something that you did not know you or they were capable of? The sad fact is that most people achieve only a fraction of the self potential during their lifetime. When you get to my age, impermanence takes on a whole new meaning and while I am grateful that I have lead a very full and rewarding life - I know that for much of it I was in a waking sleep.

So if we want to explore our self potential and really experience freedom and happinness, we have to increase the number of concepts or skills that we have at our disposal. And in order to do this we ave to change the way in which we aquire knowledge. We have to be prepared to de-learn in order to learn.

First of all we have to increase our capacity for listening. All too often we believe that we are listening to someone, when in reality we are not really hearing what they are saying.This may be because our mind is elsewhere - it may be because we think we know what they are going to say - it may be because we are really not interested in listening to them or it may be we are thinking about what we are going to say next. Whatever the reason we need to give the speaker our full and undivided attention. If we can master the first art of listening, we will be taking one of the first steps to BEING THE BEST.

I will talk about ways in which we can increase our capacity for QUESTIONING & CHANGING later ... have to go out now.

02-22-2007, 11:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
Richard Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 4	Freedom makes you happy "That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will', is your mind's freedom to think or not - the only will you have, your only freedom, the choices that controls all the choices you make and determines your life & character" Ayn Rand If you ask most people what they want more than anything else in life they would probably say "to be happy". And if you go on to ask them what will make them happy, they may say "good health" - "financial & material security" -"loving relationships" - "the freedom to be ourselves" etc., etc. The list of 'desires' is endless. The Ancient Greeks defined happinness as "the full use of your powers along lines of excellence". Today we may express this as an attempt to fulfill our true potential. - to be the best in every aspect of our lives. Indeed if we can achieve this state of consciousness, we will be truly liberated. Mahatma Gandhi summed up this state of happinness as being "when what you think - what you say - and what you do are in harmony". In his Meaning of Life article Steve expresses this concept of harmony in a slightly different way, but the concept is essentially the same. As another Ancient Greek - Teucydides said "The secret of happinness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage". Bertrand Russell expressed the freedom to be ourselves in a rather direct way. "One should respect public opinion in so far as it ia necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison (Steve, does this resonate with you?), but anything that goes beyond this is a voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyrany, and is likely to interfere with happinness in all sorts of ways". From the day we are born until the day that we die, we are in a continuous learning process, and it is this learning process that gives us our unique identity. And as a 60 year old, I can assure you that this learning process does not have to diminish with age. But, judging from the age profile of Steve's blog, it does appear to diminish dramatically when folks are forced to go out and work, or start a family. At a later stage I will try and explain why this is, but essentially the vast majority of people think that "work will set them free". This slogan was actually written over the gates to Auschwitz (Arbeit Macht Frei) - it was a lie then, and it is a lie today. Work does not set you free, but it certainly does enslave you unless you keep trying to 'unify' yourself through the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. To create real balance and harmony in your lives through being the best at absolutely everything you do - personal and work. The concept that we have to work in order to gain the material and financial rewards to make us free simply doesn't fly. In our early days much of our learningwas experiential. On the simple basis of trial and error, we learnt what we liked and what we did not like - what was good for us and what was not good for us - what we could do and what we could not do. Then out of an unsatiable curiosity, we started to ask questions. Most parents will remember their young children asking "why should I do this?" or "why should I do that?". Sometimes rational answers were given, but probably most of the time the response was "because I tell you to!". And so we were conditioned to believe that parents and teachers are right - they know best. Paul Tillich the theologian expressed this form of teaching and learning as "the passion for truth is silenced by answers that have the undisputed weight of authority". In almost every aspect of our daily life, we are govenerned by rules and regulations of what we can, and cannot do. So if our freedom is governed by external factors, we have to find our freedom by looking inside ourselves. We have to question what really drives our actions. Our we in control of our life, or is our life in control of us? Are we really doing what we want to do? Are we living our vision? Do we put the same amount of effort into our relationships as we do in our work? Have we even begun to fulfill our self potential? Another key question that we should ask ourselves is "are we living in the moment - or are we living in the past or future?" So many people make the mistake of thinking that it is OK to be unhappy or a slave in the present, because they will find happinness and freedom in the future. Well if you believe that life is some sort of rehearsal, you are living in a waking sleep. "I didn't know I had it in me", or "I didn't know he or she had it in them". How often have you said those phrases when you or someone else has achieved something that you did not know you or they were capable of? The sad fact is that most people achieve only a fraction of the self potential during their lifetime. When you get to my age, impermanence takes on a whole new meaning and while I am grateful that I have lead a very full and rewarding life - I know that for much of it I was in a waking sleep. So if we want to explore our self potential and really experience freedom and happinness, we have to increase the number of concepts or skills that we have at our disposal. And in order to do this we ave to change the way in which we aquire knowledge. We have to be prepared to de-learn in order to learn. First of all we have to increase our capacity for listening. All too often we believe that we are listening to someone, when in reality we are not really hearing what they are saying.This may be because our mind is elsewhere - it may be because we think we know what they are going to say - it may be because we are really not interested in listening to them or it may be we are thinking about what we are going to say next. Whatever the reason we need to give the speaker our full and undivided attention. If we can master the first art of listening, we will be taking one of the first steps to BEING THE BEST. I will talk about ways in which we can increase our capacity for QUESTIONING & CHANGING later ... have to go out now.