March 30, 2010How do you choose to see your life, your family, your neighbors, your city, state, country, world?
I just had an interesting political discussion with my parents. They listen to Rush Limbaugh, Fox news and what I consider right leaning news media. It makes them angry that our President (who is not an American citizen according to their news sources) and his cabinet are trying to turn our country into a socialist empire! Wow! What?!
Now everyone is entitled to their opinions and I respect and love my parents dearly, even though I disagree with their political views. What struck me most about our conversation is how upset these newscasts were making them. Yet they watched them and listened to them day after day.
Buddhist’s and sages throughout history have offered that all events are essentially neutral and it’s only the judgment we place upon them that infers good or bad, right or wrong. Its an interesting concept considering we are conditioned to look at much of the world through a black and white lens. But the bigger question for me is how does it make you feel? Outward appearances can evoke a specific response, but if you see, listen, feel through your intuition another sense of awareness can tell us something different.
I suggested my parents take a media fast to see how it feels not to ingest all that angst and negativity.
“Why would I want to do that?” my Dad responded. “What is the point? How does that benefit me?”
“Well, you might find you feel more relaxed, happy, peaceful by taking a break from that bombardment of information,” I suggested.
“No, no, that is not going to do me any good.”
You can tell this is a big issue for me. I know I cannot change anyone. If I can nudge someone into thinking a little differently, that is a miracle enough for me. That is why I like this video.
Peace,
Greg
This seems to be the new trend today. It`s all about “the vision of parallax”. If we change our own place of observation leaving our zone of comfort for a while, we change our impression of the world, and it becomes a new object assuming a different scenario. It’s like a transcendental experience when we compare the “before” and “after”. Crazy, isnt it?
“The vision of parallax” sounds very scientific. But I guess it all is! The science of seeing.
Not as much as it is a Philosophy when applied that way. But that’s a matter of perception.
This is AMAZING and I am going to share it! I dont watch TV and have stopped opening those opinionated emails about Obama too, and I see it how “I” see now!Greg,Greg,Greg, so full of vision!
PS: Your parents have to get tired of hearing all of that on the news and want peace of mind before they will see it WOULD benefit them to take a little break. Like anything else in life.
Thank you for sharing! And yes, we all like little breaks! Relaxation for the soul.
Dear Greg,
thank you for your newsletter, for the video and for the accompanying letter.
It really game me back connection, sometimes one feels lost and at a loss.. in a “funny” world where so much feels lost.
Maybe my thoughts are tinted as, well… having decided to move back to Italy and being Italy at the mercy of so much chaos in all imaginable areas, it does make one feel a bit desperate at times.
I just wanted you to know that I appreciate that things matter to you as they matter to me, and to many others that find the drive to walk on.
Peace
Maria
I love helping people re-boot their vision of possibility! That was a good part of Artist As Brand is all about.
Greg
Thanks. Hadn’t seen that before. I seems like a great idea for a game. Write a paragraph one sentence at a time and then read it in reverse order or each team/player get ten random sentences and has to make a coherent thought or statement.
As for the anger, that seems to be manipulated and rising to extreme levels, I think it is nothing new. Change is painful for many and letting go of their beliefs and rituals can seem to be an impossibility. To change the way you feel about something or someone, not only involves patience, understanding, respect and cooperation with others involved, it is a self examination that can question everything you have been taught, raised with, fought for, worked towards and may ultimately make you feel is you. The anger levels that have been manipulated in the social landscape, tea parties, militias, anti-abortion, socialist proclaimers, birthers, end of timers, are all fighting against the fact that what they have been led to believe has been and is a lie.
b
Thanks for the comments Ben.
We should make that game!
We do see a lot of manipulation in the media, it’s been that way forever. Everyone has an agenda. That is why it’s important to back away from it and give it all another look, another view point. Its amazing how that can refresh our perception of events.
Hi, Greg! I just read your posting about perception and watched the YouTube. Immediately afterward I read the following Spiritual Diary entry and put the two thoughts together. The Schweitzer quote goes well, too. Jai Guru! Suz:)
“April 3 – Compassion
Every day, try to help uplift, as you would help yourself or your family, whoever in your environment may be physically, mentally, or spiritually sick, then no matter what your part is on the stage of life, you will know that you have been playing it rightly, directed by the Stage Manager of all destinies. –Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF Lessons”
from:
Spiritual Diary
Copyright � 1968,1982 Self-Realization Fellowship
Ninth printing, 1996
http://www.yogananda-srf.org
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” –Albert Schweitzer
I love the spiritual connection you made to this message. Intuition is a powerful tool which can take our understanding to another level.
Good story greg. Its funny how you mention buddist belief. If you think about it though most buddist based countries are ruled or were ruled by communists. They did not or do not have the liberties we have hear in the united states. Dad just doesn’t like to be told to do anything! You know that nor does he like change. Although I have to agree with dad on some of these issues. I definitely am against the health care bill. I have many doctor friends who say it bad for them n this country. That only a cpl of things in the bill should have been in it. I would much rather pay to get the insurance I have than to wait to have certain procedures done or not done. I know what friends in Denmark have to go thru with this type of socialist medicine. This was one of the reasons I did not move there to live.
Perception is an act of creation.
As the artist Robert Henri once wrote, “May I be clear sighted and know the miracle when it happens.”
Where do you put your focus?
🙂