Imagine a smooth, fertile, freshly bulldozed field. There is no grass or debris, only rich fertile soil. Although the land appears level to the naked eye, its landscape is gently sloped and full of potential. There are inconsistencies in the lay of the land that naturally occur throughout our universe…no two fields are the same.
Now envision a hard rain coming down upon this fertile soil. The rain is the impetus for life….but it comes with a paradoxical cost…it brings forth growth, but also creates erosion. As the water comes down, it seems to cascade with intention through inherent dips and peaks of the land.
This process has occurred millions and millions of times, over the course of millions and millions of years… At first the rain creates streams… which turn into creeks… which end up creating mighty rivers. These rivers become deeply etched into the earth’s core with no chance of changing course without a sufficient obstacle to divert its path.
The fresh fertile soil I speak of is a metaphor for our brain. In the beginning our brain is fertile and full of potential. The brain that we are born with comes biologically hardwired with inherent dips and peaks of neural circuitry. The rain (or information) that flows over the brain, cascades into the hemispheres that create the autonomic, subconscious and conscious mind.
As with rain, information comes at a paradoxical cost. Information/education brings forth intelligence…but also brings forth many misconceptions and neurosis. Throughout most of our lives, the flow of our cognitive river becomes so hard wired, so etched into the convulsions of our brain, that change will never occur without a sufficient obstacle to divert our path.
So now here we are…Immersed in the cognitive stream of life. We can choose to float down river and just accept things that are comfortable and known…or… we can swim up stream, as hard as it may be, removing the obstacles that once blocked our path leading to Nirvana.
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind. –Buddha
5 comments:
Hey guys...this says..."comments deleted by author." I didnt...does anyone know anything about this?
Hello Blah...could you re-post? Thanks
Are we truly such passive members of the way ideas and information impact us? I suppose one could argue that this is more or less the case in childhood, but I truly believe that as adults we are responsible for what we do with the rain we allow to fall into our lives. Information, generally, if neutral, right? It is what we do with it - including how we allow it to change us - that has moral significance... and thus we are responsible for those decisions.
www.chrismlegg.com
Chris...sadly most of us are blindly passive in our understanding of information. A large part of the problem is that we have been conditioned to think with our fears, hopes, and desires, rather than using logic and reason.
I also believe that the rain storms of our youth often create patterens of behavior that dictate our future. Im not saying its right or wrong...it just is.
No argument from me about adults being responsible...its not that we "should" be, but rather we "are."
Information is neutral...but it is colored by our past.
I hope the post didnt appear as if I am making excuses...Im not. I want people to understand (be aware) of their prior conditioning so they can move forward and be more sucessful in life.
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