Hello Venerina (my deep philosophical friend)!  8)

I've not read all the posts yet but I think I arrived at the one which describes reality the best and that's Bogdan's post. He hit it on the nail...

For example:

"In essence it doesn't matter if things are happening to us or if we imagine them for the chemical reaction to happen in our bodies. We can create emotions by imaging situations which will produce thoughts which if put into action will change reality around us."

I through experience have learned this to be very true, and though I don't always remember to use this knowledge in every situation in my life, I have come accustomed to using it in certain situations. One in particular is when I'm in a public setting were there are a lot of strangers. Through experience I've learned how to give off vibes that are interpreted just as I wanted them to be. Maybe it's my Aura (if it exists) that I've learned to control or my body language but whatever it is it works. I create my own reality and the world around me perceives it and accepts it as truth. And it is truth for me because I chose it for me and I'm living it in that given situation. I am as I believe I am.

Bogdan qouted Deepak Chopra, "You are not in the world. The world is in you. "Think about this statement... Do you grasp what he is saying here?

I in my life time have made some drastic changes in my personality and way of thinking or in my way of perceiving things.

In High School I was one of the shyest persons in my school but through will power I became the complete opposite. I could tell you some stories... but... never mind.

When I was just starting to have kids I decided it was time to give up partying and I did... I did a complete transformation from Partier to devout Christian. I decided what was more important to me and I created my new reality. I made a complete transformation and I was happy with it till my divorce. I was devasted by my divorce and needed a new reality to make it pass the thoughts of suicide. I needed self esteem again and chose the path that I did, whether it was right or wrong I don't know for sure but it helped me to survive my desire to leave this earth. God is merciful and he knows the intentions of my heart, he knows if I reverted a little to my past behavior it was because I needed the self-esteem to survive. I never stopped loving Him and He alone knows this to be true. There is a dial in my mind that I just have to twist to the desired setting I want and then my reality changes to what I want it to be at that moment. I just have to concentrate on it... see it... and make it so.

When I wanted to be like John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" (back in my 20's) I just made the decision to be like him... I studied his dance moves, create new ones, becamed self-assured as him, and then proceed with the transformation. I proved to myself then that I could be who ever I wanted to be.

Hopefully with the wisdom that time teaches one I've learned to use this knowledge for something better than just impressing people or attracting women. I have greater apirations than those and only time will tell how much control I have on my reality or destiny.

Well, that's my two cents plus...  lol  ;-)

Hello John ...

Thank you for your post … I had to set aside a time to dedicate my full attention to it for replying.

I agree very strongly with both you, and Bogdan, and other friends who have posted here … and I am going to elaborate further on what you have said by taking things to another level …

Physiologically speaking, the brain is divided into two parts … the left hemisphere, which is the logical, analytical processor, so to speak and which is associated with the conscious mind; and the right hemisphere, which is associated with the creative subconscious mind that I like to call our very own personal data bank, tapped into the universal and eternal knowledge.  The nervous system is the body’s official communication system.  Data received from the external world, through the senses, create impulses that are sent backwards and forwards in order for messages to be transmitted to and from the brain, (cause and effect)… (this is all in a nutshell) …

The conscious mind makes reason of everything going on internally and externally to us.  It’s sole purpose is to process and analyses information we receive.  It makes logic of the illogical and rationalises everything, which determines the choices we make and how we choose to perceive reality.  The subconscious mind, on the other hand, has no analytical powers what so ever. It accepts as truth everything and anything it is told … it does not distinguish between what is reality and what isn’t … to the subconscious mind … everything “IS”.

Knowing this, we can all alter our reality and achieve desired goals …. How? … very simply by, constantly, feeding our subconscious mind with truths … If you believe you are as good a dancer as John Travolta … and really believe it … you are giving your subconscious mind an undisputed truth …. And as this is an undisputed truth, you will start acting like John Travolta … so you start dancing in front of the TV copying his moves … when you believe that you can do better … you start adding your own moves …

If we only hope to be like John Travolta ... hope remains of little consequence, unless we act upon it.

Hypnotherapy, (Hypnosis),  is nothing more than a technique used, by hypnotherapists, to alter behaviour to this very end… People are placed into a deep state of relaxation which, (in theory – not always in practice for various reason), allows the conscious mind to switch off and the subconscious to be accessed directly and re-programmed over time.  It is also possible for us to induce upon ourselves a state of self-hypnosis but that is for another thread maybe.

Another great technique used for feeding the subconscious mind is that of visualisation.  For as long as we keep telling our conscious mind something … or for as long as we keep visualising it, vividly, in our minds, it will ultimately become an accepted truth by which the whole realisation process begins all over again.

As for Bogdan’s statement … and that of Deepak Chopra … forgive me Bogdan … I’m saying the same thing but in different terms …. That man is not in the universe … the universe is in man … yes … I know exactly where Bogdan is coming from and going to with this … but I think that warrants a whole new thread as well … but I will say just one thing …. And that is …. that the time it felt very, very real to me was when I was standing on the top of a mountain in the middle of the Sahara Desert, in Tunisia… looking out into the infinite of nothing … in all it’s splendour and powerfulness, yet masked in such simplicity and barrenness… It made me realise that life is not what the naked eye can see … but, in actual fact, it is what we cannot see … It is the hidden reality …

I am not a devout Christian, such as yourself but I do believe that God sends us trials and tribulations to make us choose our paths, towards our final, desired, goal …. It is how we decide to interpret the trial that makes the outcome as it is …

An example … I want to go to the ballet but my friend has a birthday …  my friend calls me just as I am about to leave … do I interpret that as God made my friend call because it is my destiny to go to the party? … or is it just because he is testing my resolve and strength of character to say no to my friend? … Every coin has two sides and every event has many perspectives from which it can be viewed, what we sould be asking ourselves is: "How does this alter my reality?" ....  An idealistic view is the one Robert mentioned in his post .... and that is to look at all perspectives and consider all options before making choices that could be regrettable at a later date.

Everyone controls their own destiny through the choices they make … that is the “Free Will” God gave to us all … and every choice we make carries with it a consequence that, as adults, we need to take responsibility, and acceptance, for.  Making mistakes is part of growing ... making the same mistakes over and over again is what keeps us stagnant.

I wrote a saying … that I would like to share with you …

"Wisdom is not the knowledge someone has …
It is the way they choose to use it …"

... and here is something else I wrote during one of my many 2 am sessions of starring into my green tea...

Blessed is he who can see....  for he has knowldege
The blissful is for he ... who is blind
For to see ... is a curse that ties the mind
But for he who cannot see ... there are no ties to bind

Do you get it?

I will reply to your other post tomorrow morning.

V.

Hello beautiful sis ...

Thank you ... for the beautiful words and the kindness ... I felt them ...

Big hugs to you

V.

There is often a mistaken notion that reality is what can be perceived through our five physical senses. It is not so. Every physical sense is capable of misleading us into believing what is perceived by it is the absolute truth or the reality. I can give you two examples.

A piece of rope is lying in the path of a weary traveler making his way through a forest at dusk. His eyes perceive it as a poisonous snake in the failing light and communicate the information to his brain. The overwhelming perception of the eyes overrides the other four senses and the mind too is influenced by the eyes into believing that it is a snake. As a consequence, he undergoes terrible fright, his body trembles, he sweats profusely and his heart races like a demented horse. At that moment, a strong beam of light falls on the rope and he immediately sees that it is only a piece of rope. That beam of light dispels the ignorance caused by his eyes and his fright vanishes instantly.

In the second example, there is a beautiful wooden carving of an elephant. A woodcutter and a sculptor pass that way. The woodcutter looks at the sculpture and admires the quality of expensive wood and fails to see the carving of elephant. The sculptor sees what an exquisite carving it is but fails to see the rare and expensive piece of wood that is used in the carving. Here the mind takes over all the five senses and imposes its perception on them.

The reality cannot, therefore, be what is perceived by the five senses or even the mind. Reality transcends all that is perceived by the physical senses and can only be perceived by a well-trained Inner Eye. Reality is absolute and unchanging. Reality is not determined or affected by perceptions. This Reality is Eternal. The highly evolved scholars know that the physical manifestations of this life around us are not the Reality. Imagine that a fierce tiger is chasing us in our dream. We suffer the same fright as if it is real. When we wake up, we find ourselves in cold sweat and trembling. The moment we realize it was only a dream, our fear subsides and we become normal. Philosophers compare our life on this planet as one long dream and all the feelings experienced by us come to an end when we die. The death here is like waking up of the Soul from a long dream.

Nothing is reality except what the Inner Mind or Eye can perceive. We need to go through a lot of spiritual exercise to be able to look through the Inner Eye. For centuries, the saints, however commanding their talents whatever the nature of their professional activities, are all incessantly preoccupied with only one subject – spiritual Reality and the means by which they and their fellows can come to the unitive knowledge of that Reality.