The difference between being peaceful and in turmoil is our ability to trust. When we trust, we can be relaxed and appreciate the good things in life surrounding us. When we do not trust we do all sorts of things to maneuver around and conquer the environment we are in. We cannot trust the things around us that pose a danger; the people who will judge us, the angry parent, the wild rattlesnake, etc.. I have to hoard my trust and only give it to the parts of the world that do not fill me with anxiety.
What do I mean when I write to operate from trust? I mean that we are filling ourselves up with the world around us and letting it in- because we feel at home being a part of our environment. There are no parts of ourselves we need to hold back so we simply let our actions live in dynamic with our wonderful environment harmoniously. I do not cover up or pretend to be indifferent to things that I am not indifferent to. I allow myself to play, enjoy, smile, relax, share, listen and love. When we do not trust we lock ourselves up physically and psychologically. Ever seen a professional boxing match? The opponents do not trust each other, so they shrivel up in a "turtle posture" and try and punch through each other's shells. We do the same thing psychologically, of course. We tighten up and throw up our homeland security (I stole this from Sam) and begin to grapple with anything that threatens us- and of course this consumes our attention. We give exclusive focus to the objects that we fear are manipulating us. Thus, in our society where we are always surrounded by social and psychological dangers, we only give up our defenses and give our trust out to those things that are safe. We release into television, computers, video games, comfortable social dynamics, pizza, cigarettes and alcohol. These things give us the "high" of being able to trust- which is why we naturally become addicted to them. These things are conveniently placed around us by our society and are given to us so that we can have "easy trust"- that is, trust that we do not have to work for. Thus we are heavily brainwashed through all of these "channels" that society operates- because our trust is obvious, predictable, and steerable.
When one recognizes that their entire life is ruled by addiction- to things that they trust (i.e. does not pose a threat)- it is easy to become depressed. Yet it does not necessarily mean one has to give up the things that they enjoy. One becomes "addicted" to new healthy things like tai chi and yoga. One begins a long, courageous and powerful journey of leaving his/her secure comfortable life behind and discovering whether he/she can live within trust.
If we become more powerful internally and our learned concerns no longer have the power to subdue our natural trust, then we naturally give up the powers of addiction over us. We become unshakable; we can meet the world with trust and not be consumed by fear. We cannot be manipulated because we have psychologically been freed of the violent cycle of manipulation. Thus there is no end to our re-found ability to trust. We simply trust in the nature of everything, and that psychologically connects us to everything around ourselves. This kind of relationship with the world brings true understanding, and we have no fear of anything that we deeply understands the nature of.
What do I mean when I write to operate from trust? I mean that we are filling ourselves up with the world around us and letting it in- because we feel at home being a part of our environment. There are no parts of ourselves we need to hold back so we simply let our actions live in dynamic with our wonderful environment harmoniously. I do not cover up or pretend to be indifferent to things that I am not indifferent to. I allow myself to play, enjoy, smile, relax, share, listen and love. When we do not trust we lock ourselves up physically and psychologically. Ever seen a professional boxing match? The opponents do not trust each other, so they shrivel up in a "turtle posture" and try and punch through each other's shells. We do the same thing psychologically, of course. We tighten up and throw up our homeland security (I stole this from Sam) and begin to grapple with anything that threatens us- and of course this consumes our attention. We give exclusive focus to the objects that we fear are manipulating us. Thus, in our society where we are always surrounded by social and psychological dangers, we only give up our defenses and give our trust out to those things that are safe. We release into television, computers, video games, comfortable social dynamics, pizza, cigarettes and alcohol. These things give us the "high" of being able to trust- which is why we naturally become addicted to them. These things are conveniently placed around us by our society and are given to us so that we can have "easy trust"- that is, trust that we do not have to work for. Thus we are heavily brainwashed through all of these "channels" that society operates- because our trust is obvious, predictable, and steerable.
When one recognizes that their entire life is ruled by addiction- to things that they trust (i.e. does not pose a threat)- it is easy to become depressed. Yet it does not necessarily mean one has to give up the things that they enjoy. One becomes "addicted" to new healthy things like tai chi and yoga. One begins a long, courageous and powerful journey of leaving his/her secure comfortable life behind and discovering whether he/she can live within trust.
If we become more powerful internally and our learned concerns no longer have the power to subdue our natural trust, then we naturally give up the powers of addiction over us. We become unshakable; we can meet the world with trust and not be consumed by fear. We cannot be manipulated because we have psychologically been freed of the violent cycle of manipulation. Thus there is no end to our re-found ability to trust. We simply trust in the nature of everything, and that psychologically connects us to everything around ourselves. This kind of relationship with the world brings true understanding, and we have no fear of anything that we deeply understands the nature of.
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