Due to previous experiences, I generally stay away from discussing (talking about) philosophical issues. They tend to entangle you into too much headache too quickly. And of course… in the end it is "to each his own". So, against my better judgment, I write this blog.
I'd like to put forth two theories of psychological nature.
Dr. Phil McGraw (http://www.drphil.com/) advices people to learn more about their past behavior. If memory serves me correctly, in one of his books, he asks the readers to look back at their own lives and try to pinpoint 7 major decisions they took (Behavioral). And this would in turn, help them understand more of who they are, again, this in turn would help them make better decisions in the future. Example : I walked on 5th Avenue and saw a beggar, at first glance, a feeling of disgust overwhelmed me, but then my better nature took over and I smiled to him, gave him some change that was on me, and walked away. If I want to use this as a pinnacle moment, then when a similar situation arose that required empathy or any other good will feelings, I can recall that moment on 5th avenue and act according to my good nature.
Makes live easier doesn't it? I mean if any uncomfortable situation came head-on at us, we can, calmly, react according to who we are. No rash actions that would cause discomfort later.
. . .
Don Juan Matus (through the words of his apprentice Carlos Castaneda) preaches something else entirely… Erasing “Personal History”.
Whats Personal History? To understand that we have to talk about the “Personal”.
Ok… What is “Personal”? It has something to do with “ME”, “MYSELF”, “I”.
What is the “SELF”? Don’t you find it that sometimes people act in certain ways not because they want to, but because the people around them expect them to? And I don’t mean it in the obvious way, but in a more subtle way. Example, I’m sure every group has a funny guy/gal between them, and I assure you that if you asked those funny people, they’d tell you that they don’t feel like being funny all the time, but sometimes because everyone around them expects them to act that way, they can’t help but do.
Lets take it a step deeper… You… Yourself are conditioned to act a certain way just because of your past experiences, your history. If I teach (train, condition) a child to say “Hi how are you?” every time someone says “Hello!” then is that really the boy’s “Self”?
According to Don Juan, the answer to that question is NO. Its not the boy’s self, it’s his Personal History.
So some of you are wondering by now, what am I trying to get to, (of course I’m basing that judgment on PURE HOPE that there are people still reading LOL).
There is a saying I’ve read in a publication called Bits & Pieces, it goes along the lines of…
“Wisdom is not about having good habits, it’s about having None.”
Even good habits are habits after all.
Why erase “Personal History” even if what Don Juan is saying is true, and “WE” are not who we think “WE ARE” but a product of Life’s long conditioning, “Personal History”, then how would removing this “Personal History” help? Won’t we end up resembling empty containers?
Aah! Well, empty can be looked upon as “Being Free”. Free to discover who we really are… Free to explore Life’s mysteries. And when I say Life, I mean the whole shebang… the whole nine yards… everything from why are we here, to our spiritual bond between us and the Divine.
There is more to life than what meets the eye. But that’s… a different Blog (I mean Spot, after i read the comment ;-)).
. . .
PS. I’ll let you all draw your own conclusions… (and by “all” I mean the 2 people that are still reading LOL)
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