Quote:
Originally Posted by reverie
I must emphasize that what I entailed was the most reduced version of the concept as possible. I would agree with you that fear also entails not being able to influence one's reality. I would say that that specific issue could be accounted for what I explained as "awareness". This awareness is something that comes from our conditioning. The realization of inability stems from trial and error or ones exposure to specific situations. All these factors play together, and to the degree of their effect is dependent on the personal composition of the individual.
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thank you for clarifying, i have an entirely different view on awareness that i'd like to share here. to me, being aware of potentials is not awareness. it's really more using your imagination than anything, like a mental exercise. true awareness to me is more like what socrates described: knowing that you know nothing. for all the careful planning and "guarding against the future" you may undertake, one simple uncontrollable possibility is enough to bring it to shambles. is it unfair, or were your expectations simply unrealistic? this is why i consider awareness in this way, along a line of thinking which supposes we can approach the comprehensive awareness of all potentialities necessary to arrive at our goal in exactly the way we plan, to be a farce. much of the trouble we experience is rooted in such misaligned, disintegrated expectation. it's an experiential wall we bang our heads on time and time again.
true awareness to me is simply being aware of what is happening each and every moment to the extent that it applies to you so that you may also become aware of the ways in which you may react to it. in a way you might say that the further you project your reactions from now, the deeper the trap you lay for yourself. the only question is: can we trust ourselves? well, whether we believe we can or not we have to. we're trusting ourselves to control the world already. . . i don't think it's too big a leap to begin trusting our ability to handle circumstances as they appear in our lives.
this is where our imagination comes in again, and this is where we can exercise the real control that we DO have: our ability to reflect and dream up how to best react under our current circumstances in order to bring about the kind of result we favor. not by barging through life and making demands, but by rolling with it in a graceful dance of curiosity and appreciation. if we treat every unexpected happening as an opportunity to flex our muscle so to speak instead of taking offense to it, we might be pleasantly surprised by what we find. gotta keep at it, though. it's a kind of puzzle you must engage your whole being in to keep from losing track. but it's YOUR life! you should be paying attention anyway, right?
