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Authority and Change - Kristopher - 12-10-2013
~The only authority is one’s own judgment and one’s own
powers of reason and comprehension. To
defer to authority is to try to skip a step, and no such thing is
possible. There is nothing we need to
understand that we can’t understand for ourselves. We need not abdicate our self-sovereignty to
any other individual or book or institution.
Nothing we need is withheld or beyond us, and no one has ever skipped a
single step.
The dogma and ideology of our upbringing are particularly
pernicious in this regard. They color
and shape our thoughts to a much greater degree than we can possibly be
aware. Spiritual aspirants of any
background may feel confident that they have rejected and moved past the
indoctrination of their youth, but this is far more easily said than done.
Anyone can rearrange the surface of their persona however
and whenever they whish – change clothes and hair, change name and address,
change nationality and religion – but change that occurs on the surface is
merely cosmetic. It’s like painting a
house a different color and calling it a different house. It’s not.
It’s the same house, the same structure, the same foundation, just a
different color. We can add
ornamentation, drape it in fabric, redo the landscaping, but it makes no difference. If we want it to be a different house, we
have to tear it down, demolish the foundation, cart off the debris, and start
anew.
The question is often asked: Can a person really change?
The answer is yes, and this is how; demolish and
rebuild. Die and be reborn. This is the only way. We can sit in therapy or meditation for
decades and be the same person we were when we started. We can read every self-help book, subscribe
to every discussion board, join every group, take every course, make every effort,
but if it’s still the same structure and the same foundation, then it doesn’t
matter how we change our outward appearance and behavior, we’re still the same
person.
Real change happens far below the surface, at normally
unplumbed and unsuspected depths, and not until we have traveled inward and
downward to those depths of self can we make any claim at self-understanding or
self-mastery. Until we make that
journey, we are completely subject to unseen forces, like bobbing corks on a
surging sea, but we don’t make that journey because it’s easier to convince
ourselves that it’s our bobbing motion that causes the sea to surge.
Vanity.
Authority and Change - shamanka - 12-11-2013
asking for your definition on 'self-mastery'..i'm sure we have differing viewpoints....
Authority and Change - Guest - 12-17-2013
Kristopher wrote:The question is often asked: Can a person really change?
The answer is yes, and this is how; demolish and
rebuild. Die and be reborn. This is the only way. We can sit in therapy or meditation for
decades and be the same person we were when we started.
It's not the ONLY way. Play some chess once in a while. People can change through therapy, meditation, cheeseburgers, and being kidnapped.
Authority and Change - shamanka - 12-17-2013
Authority and Change - angelfire - 12-18-2013
I’ve seen that the “real change” as you describe, usually comes from unforeseen traumatic events, such the death of a loved one, a divorce, pstd, ect, and as Kao suggests, a kidnapping would be a good example as well. Causing a huge blow to the assemblage point (in toltec terms), these events create what seems mass chaos in life, with change becoming more of a necessity, than a choice, and this only the prelude to monumental change, requiring that first step.
It presents a fork in the road inviting us to either (and this is where choice come into play) slumber or awaken. We can slumber through consensual pain and suffering with others, the “cosmetics” you talk about … including life-affirming, cheerful, exhilarating, heartwarming, joyful, uplifting and pleasing advice and directions of others, yet still experience the pain and suffering, as a chronic, incurable condition.
Or, we can take the less traveled road. Blazing solo, because it’s not a path to follow … it’s your own personal path to freedom, dissembling your self, demolishing and destroying everything, piece by piece. Recapitulation is a major and powerful part of this process, using as you say, the authority of “one’s own judgment and one’s own powers of reason and comprehension”, until nothing is left … as you wrote in your recapitulation post referenced below.
But, who really wants to tear themselves to pieces, bit by bit, when the “prize” at the end of the road is Nothing? Not most, I’d guess.
SelfHealedMadman wrote:
"Who am I? That's the only koan there is; the only one anyone ever needs. Every day you don't answer this question, another ounce. Take a moment to think about what it would mean to have to sit down with a scalpel at a certain time every day and amputate an ounce of your body. You would quickly have to learn things about …” http://sorcery.yuku.com/sreply/90762/Th ... -Castaneda
Authority and Change - angelfire - 12-18-2013
shamanka wrote:Beautiful image, Shamanka!
The quote reminds me of the original words of Gandhi:
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”
Website:http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/08/ ... ot-gandhi/
Authority and Change - Guest - 08-21-2019
Authority and Change - Guest - 08-21-2019
Authority and Change - Guest - 08-21-2019