Godlike said:
YmirGF and I generally agree cordially on virtually everything, but I was most surprised to hear him hail the New Age motto "You Create Your Own Reality", simply YCYOR, as a profound truth.
You have little idea how annoying it is to be lumped into what I generally regard as the "granola crowd" and assorted "fruit loops". Why am I humming, "Look what they've done to my song, mom"?
For starters, you must understand the considerable disdain and contempt that I hold these people in. In some way, I feel like how your basic normal Muslim must feel about Radical Muslims and the hijacking of their faith.
Godlike said:
I am ambivalent in this regard: to some extent we might create our own description of the "Real", but the content of our spiritual and material experiences are not input by us directly, ie. we don't decide how we'll think, feel or react in different circumstances so @ a very base level we don't create our own reality: we are to an equal extent prisoners of it.
What you and many others fail to grasp is the power of your own beliefs and belief structures. In general, people treat their beliefs somewhat lightly in the respect that they do not perceive how those beliefs about themselves, the world and reality directly influence their daily lives.
A good illustration of this can be found in a person who suffers from what we would consider "low self esteem". Such a person, usually BELIEVES that they are not "up to snuff" for a host of reasons. They tell themselves on a moment to moment basis why they CANNOT do such and such. They literally suck themselves into what can be considered a "rut". In reality, there is usually no practical reason for them to think and behave in this way. Religion has not been especially helpful with its general view that humans are "tainted", "sinful" or "fallen".
IF, and I stress if, people can allow themselves to see that it is their own perception of themselves, resulting from their beliefs about their own self image, then they might just begin to make the first faltering steps to leading what can be considered a "normal" life.
Again, it isn't the person that is at fault. It is their belief structures that are at fault and it is in this way that they create the reality that they experience on a daily basis. In reality, people simply do not appreciate how powerful their belief structures are and for the most part BELIEVE that those structures are unalterable. Fortunately, that is not the case. Imho, their "lot" is defined by "learned behavior" and BELIEVING what people tell them about themselves and what they in turn, believe about themselves.
Godlike said:
Do we Create Our Own Reality?
Emphatically, yes. In larger terms we create the reality or day to day existence that we experience, much like an Ad libbed play. We all tend to agree on basic premises of our experience and together form our experience as a civilization. If we did not all agree on specific frameworks, it is unlikely that we would have ever learned to communicate or developed languages to do so.
It really is beliefs or "ideas" that change the world and there is always a transition period between the "old guard" and "the new view" perspectives while that idea catches on like wildfire.
In some ways, Christopher Columbus had as much of an impact on the psyche of man as did Jesus of Nazareth, but in considerably different ways. Both precipitated massive changes in their world and the way man looked at his world and himself, respectively. The deciding factor of course lies in the ability of both to "bring home the bacon" as it is unlikely that either would have been given the time of day had they not been able to prove to those who listened to their outlandish tales that what they were saying was correct and "real". Columbus wouldn't have gotten anywhere if he did not BELIEVE there was something to his hunches. Curiously, what he found was NOT what he expected, but it still proved his point.
Therein lies the rub. Sometimes one has to "go over the edge" just a tad, in order to make the point.
Godlike said:
The only way the words, "You create your own reality" works is if you add the following... "through your beliefs about yourself, your world and what constitutes reality." The kick in the head is that you are NOT your beliefs and they are like clothing that can be changed at will. Stress on WILL. If you do not BELIEVE that you can change your life,
IF you are unhappy that is, then you WILL not be
able to change. Ask any recovering alcholic or a recovering drug addict. Each moment of each day of their lives, after their addiction, they HAVE to BELIEVE that they can stay sober. It is somewhat imperative.
Godlike said:
If not, who or what does define the "Real" for you?
Evidently, I don't have to supply an answer here.
BTW: In regards to A_E's allusion to the speeding train. That is part of physical reality. Simple physics dictates what happens when a MOVEABLE object is struck by a comparatively "unstoppable force". It isn't especially wise to toy with fundamental aspects of nature. Likewise, I don't suggest that people leap from high building in an attempt to realize unaided flight. No doubt their investigations would be short-lived as it doens't matter how much you BELIEVE you can fly it is not likey to supercede ones belief in gravity. There are certain basic realites of physical existence.
Oh well, what would I know? I repeat and stress, I never claim to be right.
