Philosophy Overload??

[jawillie]

I seem to struggle from philosophy overload. I love Zen-philosophy, I love Buddha and Jesus. I read the Tao and the Bible. I believe in personal development and improving the self, yet I also believe we needn't "strive" to live well.

I am one big contradiction.

And, it shows in some areas of my life. Messiness. Flakiness.

I am beginning to think it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe in SOMETHING - and stick to it.

What do you think??

I guess I will just be aware. Or maybe these all do tie in and are one in the same but I am missing the connection. At any rate I am sure I am thinking too much and doing too little. I will work on that...

[jawillie]

Ah, Poison had it right..... the first cassette tape I bought with my own money for my pink walkman.

YouTube - Poison-Something to Believe In

Gimme something to believe in.....

[Angela]

I believe in you.

[spacecadetglow]

Originally Posted by Angela

I believe in you.

Hell yeah! How about yourself? In fact, there's not many other places I would put my confidence.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by spacecadetglow

Hell yeah! How about yourself? In fact, there's not many other places I would put my confidence.

I believe in me, too. Same thing. We're all in this together.

[spacecadetglow]

Originally Posted by Angela

I believe in me, too. Same thing. We're all in this together.

Yeah I know. I was asking the OP, "How about yourself?" I believe in you, too, though!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by spacecadetglow

Yeah I know. I was asking the OP, "How about yourself?" I believe in you, too, though!

Likewise, I'm sure, sistah! (sorry -- when you quoted me, I thought you were addressing me. )

[Martin S]

That's what happens when you read too much - your brain gets fat.

[taylor]

Originally Posted by jawillie

I am one big contradiction.

And, it shows in some areas of my life. Messiness. Flakiness.

I am beginning to think it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe in SOMETHING - and stick to it.

I assume by messiness/flakiness you mean you have trouble sticking to consistent behavior that would lead to self development. There was a study done that found the more abstract your thinking processes about your activities, the more likely you are to procrastinate. Philosophy literally slows down your activity by diverting your attention to "what it all means, man". That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, it's just focused on context and meaning, whereas lifestyle is about content and activity. Really you need great philosophy + tons of action.

The thing is you know that it DOES matter what you believe, but it also matters that you stick to your action plans. That's why everyone loves 30 day trials. It's a commitment that no matter what happens I'm going to stick to this for at least 30 days. People from spiritual paths are very fond of taking "vows" with good reason. The people who make progress make up rules and stick to them. Very simple, non-philosophical, and that might be why you have been having issues doing it.

Also, don't get into the trap of trying to "motivate" yourself or talk yourself into doing something. For a philosopher that's just a recipe for procrastination. "Just do it" is about as far as you need think. Thinking about it IS procrastination.

[jawillie]

Thanks forthe replies! I started my seven day rotation at work right after posting and couldn't return until now.

Yes, creating my own philosophy and self-belief rings a bell! Trust Yourself- my life's lesson.

Taylor, your post made sense, too. Thinking is fun for me and I do llove making connections and figuring out what it all means. I am very guilty of that! So many times in my life I have heard, "you think too much." But, a part of me wants to respond, "Maybe you think too little..."

I don't know. What do I REALLY want?? Because I know this - if I REALLY want something, I make it happen. If I don't - I don't. I make excuses. I procrastinate. I think about it, plan it and scheme it but never really do it. But if I want something, I DO IT. So... maybe the trick is only chasing/creating things we really want and not what everyone else says we should, or what everyone else is chasing/creating? Hmm...... maybe I found some clarity in the last few days over this.

It's just so easy to look at others and say, "I want that too"... but do I REALLY??? No... or I would do it. So maybe I will just ease up and enjoy life a bit more.... I always fall back to that! lol

[Cochonette]

There's nuttin wrong with reading all about philosophy, as long as you feel like you'll be able to put it into practice down the road. Now, Greek philosophy, screw it - I feel like it's not taking me anywhere. I'd rather read about Zen or blogs like this one... but lots of philosophy is the philosophy you carve out of your own experience. Philosophy means love of wisdom. Experience gives you wisdom. So you ultimately have to live out those things you read about to learn them more fully. That's all. And for me, there can be no overload of that good stuff - living.

[supertom]

Take what you want and leave the rest.

[Velorien]

It sounds like your challenge is integration - if you've learned to draw from so many sources of wisdom, then you know how much they have in common. Find that one core of truth, whatever form it may take for you, and you'll have something that can be acted on in a focused and consistent way.

I use presence, a la Eckhart Tolle, to get in touch with the part of myself where surface contradictions disappear and underlying truths become apparent in the form of spontaneous insights. I recommend you try it, or find your own non-thought-based practice to balance out your excessively intellectual tendencies.

[chernobyl]

The thing with all philosophy is that it's the result of thinking not the actual thinking itself. So every philosophy shows you the "crust" the "iceberg" of what is inside.

It does not however reveal to you (and never will) the real thoughts of the person who has created the philosophy because most of these thoughts that are written down come from feelings and emotions that the person who writes them down wants to express.

I think it's great that you study many different philosophies and that you are willing to work on integrating them, but I think you will have a much better time if you try to understand WHY the philosophy was created the way it was created by the person who has created it and what were the experiences which led to the formation of the philosophy.

You can't run a philosophy inside your conscious mind and think that it would fix everything. Instead it should serve as a guidance system to align the machinery of your subconscious mind in order for it to operate effectively in service of your goals.

Thus a philosophy is a map. Imagine you were on a ship and you had a dozen different maps over the same area. One map would be, say a wind map, the other would be a water depth map, the third would be a map showing how water currents flow.

Having all these maps would make you very confused but at the same time all these maps document different parts of THE SAME system (in case of philosophy, that system is 'life'). Meaning that every map is capable of providing you with clues that would help you navigate better - but is by no means the actual terrain that you will be navigating.

You may now have a goal that you want to get to and so you can use parts of these maps together to navigate towards that goal within the actual ocean terrain. Thus philosophy being the knowledge map over the real world with philosophy being the eggshell and reality being the egg.

[taylor]

Originally Posted by jawillie

So many times in my life I have heard, "you think too much." But, a part of me wants to respond, "Maybe you think too little..."

That happens to me all the time and I think the same thing lol.

Of course, they're right. Once you've reached the Zen/subjective/consciousness philosophy phase, you've gone as far as this vehicle will take you.

[strawzombie]

Originally Posted by jawillie

I seem to struggle from philosophy overload. I love Zen-philosophy, I love Buddha and Jesus. I read the Tao and the Bible. I believe in personal development and improving the self, yet I also believe we needn't "strive" to live well.

I am one big contradiction.

And, it shows in some areas of my life. Messiness. Flakiness.

I am beginning to think it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe in SOMETHING - and stick to it.

What do you think??

I guess I will just be aware. Or maybe these all do tie in and are one in the same but I am missing the connection. At any rate I am sure I am thinking too much and doing too little. I will work on that...

I love the way you phrased that. "Philosophy overload."

It got me thinking about this chart I read a long LOOONG time about dealing with the mountains of contradicting belief systems out there, and the process of integrating them all into something more personal and usable.

I did a google search and it turns out that it's no longer on wikipedia.

However someone actually posted that list here on these forums back in 2006!

Stages of Ego Development

I don't know you well enough to try to put you in some conceptual box, but I personally vibe with that "construct-aware" description and how all attempts at a rational self-understanding (i.e. philosophy) are seen as futile. So I might be totally projecting all of this onto you without realizing it, but maybe "construct-aware" part describes your situation too.

[CDHOAG]

Read "Christ the Eternal Tao." (By hieromonk Damascene) I found it fascinating and it led me to Eastern Orthodoxy. I still pursue spiritual growth and find Zen beautiful in its simplicity. One thing I've learned the hard way: anything you identify with, you take on its limitations as your own. So be careful. I've seen people become Orthodox (or any other "-ist") and they stop growing. Spiritual stagnation is a sad thing to behold. I would rather deal with a "flaky" New-Ager any day over many of the Christians I know today.

[arpee]

I think you should just let go of it all. Let go of everything and live your life in the NOW and seek happiness and trust your inner guidance, you can feel with your emotions.

[taylor]

Originally Posted by strawzombie

Stages of Ego Development

That list describes my life path pretty darn well lol. Individualistic in elementary-junior high, Autonomous in high school, Construct-aware in college, and Unitive now adays.

Thanks for posting.

[ZephyrusX]

Originally Posted by jawillie

I don't know. What do I REALLY want?? Because I know this - if I REALLY want something, I make it happen. If I don't - I don't. I make excuses. I procrastinate. I think about it, plan it and scheme it but never really do it. But if I want something, I DO IT. So... maybe the trick is only chasing/creating things we really want and not what everyone else says we should, or what everyone else is chasing/creating? Hmm...... maybe I found some clarity in the last few days over this.

Yes; being aware of what you actually want can make a world of difference. All of a sudden, instead of 'procrastinating' and 'making excuses' to not do something, you simply don't do it because you don't want to. Of course, there are certain things that we have to do and may not want to so this statement can't be generalized across our entire lives.

I like reading across many different fields. The trick is to integrate the information in a way that empowers you. I will only add that it is futile to create a conceptual framework that is immutable considering the fact that our lives are in constant flux. I like the idea of constructing my own conceptual framework and allowing it to grow and change as the need arises. The idea is not to feel threatened by uncertainty and our lack of control, but rather to 'go with the flow' and appreciate our human experience.