My new literary effort, The Responsive Universe – Meditations and Daily Life Practices is now available for purchase. Within these pages are nine Mandalas or chapters that illustrate a new and authentic step forward on the path to self-discovery and enlightenment. Over the course of the next week I will be giving an intimate look at each chapter as well as a small excerpt from the new book.
Control patterns born from previous experiences, learned faith and social conditioning can foster negativity in many forms. Somewhere in adolescence the ego is born: an unconscious master of false perception. An unchecked ego can breed many forged emotions like anger, jealousy, and fear; thus we suffer as humans – many times unaware of our inner plight. Living with an open mind allows us to question what has been presented to us when we were young and impressionable. In the present, it allows us to challenge old parables and ideals – to evaluate our belief systems to confirm they did not fall prey to the power of money, lobbyists and manipulation. You have the sovereign power to embrace your own thoughts and convictions. To live with an open mind is to be receptive to change and that is the first step toward liberation.
First Mandala Excerpt:As complex as the human brain is, it can work in very simple ways. A colorful working analogy is that hallway closet you have in your home that is filled with tattered old photographs, unique mementos, and gifts of yesteryear. You get the idea. This closet contains a collection of items from years past that you rarely use, yet somehow it all survives the annual garage sale and even that monumental move when you vowed to throw it all away. You continue to hold on to old VHS tapes in spite of the brand new Blue Ray DVD player proudly displayed in your living room. You have clothing so vintage you children ask to haul it out for Halloween. You keep family heirlooms and souvenirs because they are visual records of your past. They are tangible evidence of who you are, where you came from, and where you’ve been. You may sometimes even rummage through the items and take a trip down memory lane.
The mind works much like this hallway closet. Our brains have billions of neurons as storage facilities for everything that has transpired in our lives – grade school memories, parents, old girlfriends or boyfriends. Everything our minds process since birth directly relates to who we are today. It’s strange that old memories will fade in the back of our minds to the point where we don’t even recall bits and pieces of our pasts, yet they continue to influence our subconscious, hard-wired behaviors. Our past dictates our present actions and also our future wellness.
While eventually, it’s easy to bag up and dispose or donate old items from the closet when ambition strikes, old memories are far more permanent.
This analogy reminds me of the Discovery Channel TV show, “Hoarders.” Some people have the ability to throw away things that are no longer needed, while others, like hoarders, keep everything, letting things pile up until their homes are unlivable. In this instance, the mind is much like a home – people who hold onto anger, jealousy, or who cling to their ego, will have a cluttered mind. Old memories of moments that altered our self-perception and continue to regulate our self-esteem create control patterns, or hard-wired behaviors we adopt unconsciously through the actions and reactions of those around us. Social immersion can also clutter the mind with memories, perceptions, and beliefs so vast and contradictory that it blurs the boundary between that is real and what isn’t. Most of us belief we have a firm grasp on what is real and true, but the majority of what we learned at a young age was taught to us by others. How can we be confident that the knowledge we have is untainted by cluttered perspectives?
The popular Nature vs. Nurture argument explains that we are a product of both our genetic traits and the environment in which we were raised. The biggest difference between the two developmental factors is that we can change our nurturing while our nature remains the same. Despite the influx of information stored in our brains over time, we have the ability to question authorities in our lives, especially as adults. We can reflect on how opinions other than our own have shaped us over time. We can listen to others, but we have the power to ultimately think and decide things for ourselves. Too often we become comfortable with habitual ways of reacting to people and experiences. Our attitudes and feelings become so fixed and automatic, they are almost impossible to break and escape. This is precisely why we must learn to make effective, lasting changes in our lives. To do this, we must open our minds and seek the truths in lessons and opinions presented to us; truths unclouded by perspectives other than our own.
John C. Bader
www.responsiveuniverse.com
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