I agree Slip, in that it has taken me many years of examining my "moment" ...what I am seeing, how I am feeling, what I am thinking, what is around me in each moment...and...responding based on my highest potential. Most of it comes second nature to me now. Can we choose what we like and dislike? Most definitely, I think that we choose what we value, choose the meaning in our lives, choose the quality of our relationships by choosing our perspective and our actions. And yet, there is that seemingly random element to life that comes along and turns it upside down...the stock market crash...sudden war...unexpected death...events that consciously we would not choose for ourselves and yet they are part of our experience. We even sometimes joke or believe that events like an eclipse can have a larger effect on our behavior than our own conscious mind. I pose this question because I cannot say that I am in control even though, in the moment, I am aware and respond in ways that allow the greatest possibility known to me.
Perhaps Orn's reaction to this thread was the gift of an example of how folks can lash out when they need to feel in control, but are not. How we respond in these situations tells us volumes about our need to control and if we can examine our reactions, our perspective and character. My hope for your Orn, is that you find your way though anger and need to control to a greater peace that you know and often speak about in this group. As I find my work all over the internet in interesting places also, I can empathize with this reaction. The booming industry of intellectual property and the law is a reflection of this. What I tell myself is, that unless my words show up in places that are destructive or inappropriate (and they have) they are simply part of the Logos, and if my intended meaning is whole, they will be received in the same spirit. Even if they are holding a space of spirit in an environment of hate, they are holding the space of spirit where there was none before. You did get me thinking last night, Orn, that I should thank all of the groups that contribute to this blog of mine. There is a link to it in my google profile and always has been. I designed it when my friend Chris Bernard passed away, as a way to continue his work in some small way. It is interesting too, that this week in the Gaia group that also contributes to the blog (as I cut and paste responses from them) I was told that one of my poems inspired someone to change his mind about having children, and he and his wife are due to have that baby this week. We just don't know the extent of our influence or control, or lack there of. Here is that poem if anyone is interested. Slips Naturally Sometimes We can look around And our world Fits us perfectly With hard work Measures of success Growing families Homes of comfort. And then we are drawn Unexplainably Into the known/unknown With an inspiration, Intuition Or a whim. If we can slip naturally Into spirit We are swept away By eternity’s movement Within and without us, Because and beside us. It occurs in slow motion We do not Want it to end. But it does. And we are left Changed. In the change We are left To give texture, Light and sensation To what We have become. Left to translations Of our own design. Left to choose To reinvent and move on, Or return To what was once comfortable, But is now Just a memory Of comfort. On Jul 22, 4:16 pm, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > I mostly disagree with that assessment. Perhaps in short span time > constraint moments there is a rash decision process that poses mere > split second evaluation. But generally I find that pondering an idea > easily allows for the self to initiate free will while directing focus > on a desired outcome. I think this is exactly what differentiates how > few of us project their realities from most who don't seem to grasp > the idea and live in a post state reality always wondering what > happened. This may be at the core of human frailty and inability to > coalesce. I think it takes a great deal of mental energy to achieve > the state of being in control but I see it as highly possible and feel > I've accomplished much by living it. I often project on a potential > reality then focus on what remedies are necessary for a satisfactory > end result should the potential transition to actual. I see it as > being one step ahead of what Libet is suggesting. My "self" projects, > my brain decides and then I become aware of the decision which I still > can veto at the last minute, it's an exercise of my free will. > > On Jul 22, 9:29 am, Molly Brogan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Are we in control of ourselves, our lives, our families, our worlds? > > Or are we just aware and knowing what one can do if something > > unpredictable happens? > > There are many explanations for why we do what we do. For example, > > Thomas Metzinger's new Book, The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind > > and the Myth of the Self, seriously questions whether there is even an > > "I", let alone a "we." And Douglas Hofstadter's book, I Am a Strange > > Loop, contends that the "self" is a recursively self-referencing > > memory loop. > > > Hundreds of experiments by Benjamin Libet and others tend to > > conclusively confirm that our brain prepares to execute our decisions > > before we are even aware that anything is being decided. It alerts us > > to our decisions only in time (a split second) for us to veto them. > > > Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Libet, as well as Benjamin > > Libet's book, Mind Time, and Walter J. Freeman's book, How Brains Make > > Up Their Minds. > > > It is quite likely that we have no so-called "free will" other than > > veto power over our specific actions. Our free will may consist > > instead of 1) being mindful about any ill-serving subliminal > > intentions and tendencies that inform our actions so that we are > > accordingly prepared to veto any action that they correspondingly > > inform, and of 2) programming (or reprogramming) our subliminal > > intentions to be more productive of the experiencing that we most > > desire. > > > Do we have the power to create our realities? Are we in control? > > What do YOU think? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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