COMMENTS & QUESTIONS PLEASE
The following is a repeat post... except this time I WANT comments... actually, I DEMAND comments and questions. And hope for dialogue...
I'd like to share the concept of "natural acceptance". (Well, it's a concept as long as it's only dealt with "reasoning".... but if it's felt, if it's realized... it's much more.) This concept has described by many people throughout time... in different words.... "inner voice", your "conscious", etc. However, for the first time... I really felt the power and beauty of it. When I look in me... and listen to what I really want, what I really aspire for, and at least what I would like to aspire for... do I want to be happy moment-to-moment, continously? Do I want to be continually respected and trusted and loved? Do I realize that these emotional/mental needs are distinct from the physical needs and must be addressed as so (they can't be fulfilled continuously though physical things)? Do I feel a need to know? Do I want to "believe" that my family loves me, that my friends love me, that my boyfriend/girlfriend loves me.... or do I want to KNOW it? Do I want to know how to be happy? Do I want to be related to people or be in competition with people? Do I want the feeling of prosperity? Do I want to be fearless? Do I want equality? Do I want others to be happy, do I want to make others happy? Do I want to compete with nature or be in a mutually fulfilling relationship with nature? Do I want to grow? What's your natural gut feeling rxn to these questions? Sometimes, answering this question is difficult... because we have so many assumptions, perceptions, and conditionings that cloud our vision. Right away, we may think - this isn't possible... that's an oversimplification, etc. However, forget about what you think is possible and what isn't possible... forget about the society you live in today... and answer these questions from the "gut".. from the "inner voice"... from your "natural acceptance" -- sahaj svikruti.... And you may start seeing the beauty of this power within you. This power remains intact no matter what assumptions, what beliefs, what environment a person has grown up in. Once you answer these questions with your natural acceptance... imagine what the natural acceptance of all those close to you would be? Would it be the same? If so.... if at the base, we all want the same thing, we all would like to aspire for the same realities.... then what stops us from trying to achieve it? Society? The system? We make the society.. we make the system. What stops us from being able to relate with everyone around us? In the world, today... where importance is given to having your own opinion... where the stress is layed on being "unique", being "special.... we've lost that ability to see what is... what is intact in each human being.... And even so, while thinking that we're "unique" and "special"... in reality... we're usually just going with the flow.. and not questioning the systems around us.
So... this is my understanding of this powerful and beautiful concept.... and it is my proposal to you. Please comment and question and introspect and reflect... and let me know what you think.
I'd like to share the concept of "natural acceptance". (Well, it's a concept as long as it's only dealt with "reasoning".... but if it's felt, if it's realized... it's much more.) This concept has described by many people throughout time... in different words.... "inner voice", your "conscious", etc. However, for the first time... I really felt the power and beauty of it. When I look in me... and listen to what I really want, what I really aspire for, and at least what I would like to aspire for... do I want to be happy moment-to-moment, continously? Do I want to be continually respected and trusted and loved? Do I realize that these emotional/mental needs are distinct from the physical needs and must be addressed as so (they can't be fulfilled continuously though physical things)? Do I feel a need to know? Do I want to "believe" that my family loves me, that my friends love me, that my boyfriend/girlfriend loves me.... or do I want to KNOW it? Do I want to know how to be happy? Do I want to be related to people or be in competition with people? Do I want the feeling of prosperity? Do I want to be fearless? Do I want equality? Do I want others to be happy, do I want to make others happy? Do I want to compete with nature or be in a mutually fulfilling relationship with nature? Do I want to grow? What's your natural gut feeling rxn to these questions? Sometimes, answering this question is difficult... because we have so many assumptions, perceptions, and conditionings that cloud our vision. Right away, we may think - this isn't possible... that's an oversimplification, etc. However, forget about what you think is possible and what isn't possible... forget about the society you live in today... and answer these questions from the "gut".. from the "inner voice"... from your "natural acceptance" -- sahaj svikruti.... And you may start seeing the beauty of this power within you. This power remains intact no matter what assumptions, what beliefs, what environment a person has grown up in. Once you answer these questions with your natural acceptance... imagine what the natural acceptance of all those close to you would be? Would it be the same? If so.... if at the base, we all want the same thing, we all would like to aspire for the same realities.... then what stops us from trying to achieve it? Society? The system? We make the society.. we make the system. What stops us from being able to relate with everyone around us? In the world, today... where importance is given to having your own opinion... where the stress is layed on being "unique", being "special.... we've lost that ability to see what is... what is intact in each human being.... And even so, while thinking that we're "unique" and "special"... in reality... we're usually just going with the flow.. and not questioning the systems around us.
So... this is my understanding of this powerful and beautiful concept.... and it is my proposal to you. Please comment and question and introspect and reflect... and let me know what you think.
posted by Raj Kanani | 1:15 PM
6 Comments:
hmm...guess these r the questions that trouble everyone..so i reality no one is happy...i was thinking abt this only last night...
coz the way the world is being run, the things that seem to afford happiness are not the ones that usually have natural acceptance.but this acceptance is universal..isnt it?
so that means everyone is unhappy...or 'apparently' happy....but how do we overcome all this...how to wipe away so may years of conditioning.so many year of grime covering our existence..
One sure shot way to earn someones love, respect and trust :
Read the write ups he writes.
TO insure continuity of it:
Read on.ALWAYS!!!
I guess no body is unhappy in the world evan old people don't wan't to leave this world .That shows everyone is happy.
cool thinking amitabh....that sure clicks most of the time...
but it is not the unhappiness of ending this life but the fear of the pain one might hv to go thru that makes people continue with existence...ask people passing by u on the road...r u happy?
u will be surprised by the number of people who r gonna say..."umm..well...not exactly"
we dont even know when we r happy..ah well tht was overboard...we do knw that..
Very well expressed, Raj.
Yes, the first issue is our beliefs/ conditionings which come in our way of questioning our needs/ wants, "what it is that I really want".
The second is that we are unable to recognise - and if we are able to recognise, then accept - some of the things we inherently need because we are also thinking in parallel about whether it is possible to get them at all and whether these are realistic expectations. Because all around, we see a contrasting/ conflicting picture.
Another issue I feel is that we are taught to "accept" things. Now, "acceptance", in my opinion, is a very powerful thing. Only when you accept something can you move past it and look for solutions/ alternatives, else you would be stuck in it and will not be able to look beyond. BUT, the important point here is to look beyond once you have accepted it the way it is. e.g. if I see the traffic as a problem, my fretting over it and getting hassled about it every single day will not help at all. I should accept the fact that there is bad traffic, that this is how it is here. But then we need to think "Now what? Is there an alternative? Is there a solution?" The problem is that most of the times, we don't see an alternative. A lot of times, people see something as a problem but cannot see an alternative; then, there is very little that one can do about it, then, they might as well just make the most of their life the way it is. If you show me a place XYZ where I see that all people are happy all the time, sure, I would want to go and live there. Right now, this XYZ doesn't exist. That is the issue.
And if XYZ doesn't exist, then what's the point in thinking what one wants when that is nowhere available. For all I care, it might be my fantasy, my beautiful dream.
But then the question is "can you be happy going with the flow?". If yes, carry on. If not, that's when you need to figure out what it is that you want out of your life. And if you see a way, be it a faintly lit one at the moment, and if it is in alignment with that innermost part of you (something that you have a natural acceptance, sahaj svikruti for), go for it. What is there to lose? Perhaps some "time" (what is "time" anyway?), if you realise that this is not leading anywhere (and the beauty of this is that you are not doing something that alienates you from others, because "harmony with others, harmony in family and society" is part of the goal). But it might be something worth trying...that's my gut feeling (inner voice) :-)
In my "traffic" example, when I am talking about a solution, I am not necessarily talking about looking at one problem at a time and fixing that in isolation (that would be a temporary fix). I am talking about being able to look at the big picture and being able to understand why this and the other problems are there in the first place. And a solution that will work in totality.
Raj, I am sure you knew what I meant. But just to clarify for your blog-readers...
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