A Routine Reaction

Have you noticed how some people, when presented with your point of view go into a routine reaction?

It is hard for most people to simply listen to what is being said without their past conditioning kicking in, for many this reaction involves a certain amount of denial albeit sub-conscious.

We are all conditioned to react not respond. Our reactions are not always conscious, even if we believe them to be conscious the chances are high that we are simply reacting based upon or own past experiences. We should also see / understand that our point of view that we seek to share / promote also arises from our own past experiences. Likely that has become a sub-conscious habit, through whatever process we went through to come to this point of view, a habit that we are not aware of simply because it appears to be who we currently believe ourselves to be.

If this is the case then, we have two conditioned minds, each holding a different point of view, the origins of which are buried deep within us and as such have created a particular neural pathway that fires off so quickly there is no opportunity to reflect on where this reaction comes from. This habitual response to situations, depending upon each person involved may lead to a defensive state, in one or both people.

Because we are not familiar with a more open response to various situations this lack of awareness leads to a deep seated insecurity which then gives rise to a conditioned reaction, meaning we get very defensive.

While two people are communicating in this manner the likelihood of there being a peaceful aware result is very low. People often talk at cross purposes, defending their point of view, trying to convince the other of the value of their words even though their words are coming from a reactive place.

For many the stimulus / reaction are so close together there is no recognition of the two – just an immediate reaction. There is no moment of choice where one could say “hold on a minute – what is happening here” so lost are we in the process there is no awareness of what we are saying / doing. If we can recognise that most, if not all conflict that exists in the world today is the result of individuals or collectives trying to promote their point of view over those of another, believing that the world will be a better place when everyone believes as they do, then we can better understand how to create a world that has less conflict in it.

If conflict arises, with or without our conscious participation, as a result of deeply held belief patterns then we should begin to accept responsibility for the part we play in creating conflict in the world. We can no longer take sides, for when we take sides we are simply reinforcing whatever conflict exists that we are trying to overcome – by imposing our beliefs on to the situation.

A commonly held belief is that if we do not take sides then the ‘other’ side will win and this is something our own perceptions / values cannot accept.

By beginning to recognise how the world we call real is maintained, where it comes from and how it is supported we can see that any thought form, given enough energy, becomes a perceived reality. The more energy we give to a concept the more real it appears to be. There are no limits to what has been given energy in the past and how it continues to manifest today. We are lost in a world of imagined realities, any truth that you hold as being real is simply the product of a belief that has been given energy, sometimes over millennia.

Ongoing opposition to any belief simply reinforces the ‘realty’ of that belief. There is a way out of this ongoing drama yet it is one that many reject because the drama ‘appears’ to require action to overcome it. Yet look back and ask yourself, has opposition ever created real change. Does a revolution make any fundamental difference to the world we live in, or are the ideals simply projections of belief patterns that in themselves have no basis in reality?

Change on any surface level is easy though painful for some, yet fundamental change can only be brought about by a total withdrawal of energy from any current belief, especially where we are convinced that we are right. What is right? A belief that is held by many? Or because it is something you were taught as a child and never questioned?

Perhaps today, more obviously so than in the recent past, we can see the results of opposition to those in power. The more opposition arises the more charge builds between the two forces and the more violent becomes the opposition.

I am encouraged by this piece

From the book ‘Dreaming While Awake’, by Arnold Mindell, PhD:

The other possibility is that we move out of time and space and let go of our identity. We become lucid about our sentient experience and, even before it manifest positive or negative figures, we become edge less. Even before we can talk about a tension, we change and let go of our hold on time and go with the flow. Such moments require a lot of awareness, personal courage and flexibility.

For it gives us a way out of conflict, conflict that arises on all levels, both for us personally as internal distress and external, conflict with others.

It may be that some people enjoy conflict and the chaos it produces, yet without opposition of any sort conflict will soon collapse. This may not happen on a global scale, there are too many players already caught up in the drama, but it will happen on a personal level, the more your system comes back into a more balanced state the less conflict you witness, the less you add to any existing conflict.

Clearing gives us the opportunity, the space to take a different path. It gives us a moment of choice, to continue to react or to choose to respond.

What would your choice be?