In this video we will discuss the limits of reason and why it is necessary to be mindful of your motivations. When making decision we rarely have enough information to be fully informed. The future is often uncertain and all the consequences of any given action are usually unknown. We can spend countless hours on the internet researching the ins and outs of even the most minuscule decision in an effort to make the optimal decision. This information overload can cause many people to experience decision paralysis and anxiety.
Third density is not the density of knowing. It is the density of choosing to love against all odds. Our third density minds and human bodies are ill equipped to understand the complexity of modern human civilization. One should strive to make informed decisions, but at a certain point we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact we are bumbling around in the dark with the small flame of our limited perspective.
In the television show “The Good Place” everyone living in modern society went to hell, because the complexity of industrial civilization veiled the unintentional harm of mundane actions. If we were truly judged on this type of point system most of us would be doomed. If you live in industrial civilization your life is fueled by an extractive economic system that is destroying the planet and long supply chains full of human misery.
The more aware of that you become the more responsible you are for reducing the harm you do in the world. But most of us were born into the captivity of our golden cages and find it difficult to escape. While it is useful to always be striving for harm reduction, ultimately our state of awareness is the only thing that will ever be “judged.”
The ideal of harmlessness has never been practically possible, even in a simpler age. Jain monks are so dedicated to the ideal of harmlessness that they walk through life with a straw broom to sweep stray bugs from their path. Yet the act of breathing kills microbes. The act of eating at the bare minimum kills plants.
We can strive for harm reduction but true harmlessness is impossible while we inhabit human bodies. That being said we can achieve true harmlessness in our attitudes and motivations. We can cultivate a state of awareness that is harmless, peaceful, and loving in service to others.
To do that we must become mindful of our motivations. Unconscious aggression often lives in the shadowy parts of the mind. Motivated reasoning often twists reality into a distorted image to justify acting from our unconscious injury. Unconscious motivations are born of those aspects of ourselves that are unseen and/or unaccepted.
Unacknowledged fear can make us greedy. Unprocessed anger can make us passive aggressive. The spiritual path is ultimately one of bringing to light unconscious aspects of the self for healing, forgiveness and reintegration.
In order to become more mindful and aware of our motivations clear reasoning is key. Most of our unconscious injury hides in our unexamined assumptions. Any decision should be informed by basic assumptions about reality. Every perspective has a bias towards the recognition of unity or the belief in separation. To discover this bias you need only feel into the body when entertaining an idea and notice whether the body feels expanded or contracted. If the body feels contracted it probably has a negative bias. If the body feels expanded it probably has a positive bias toward unity.
However, it is nearly impossible to become aware of your unconscious motivations without a daily meditation practice. Without a daily meditation practice most people are slaves to the voice in their head. The voice in your head is the culmination of memories and stories about the self but is not the true self. The true self is witnessing awareness that is unmodified by exterior circumstances.
In order to become mindful of your motivations you must grow your capacity to witness your thoughts and the voice in your head from the perspective of witnessing awareness. That can only be done through a daily meditation practice. Every time you meditate you are creating space between the voice in your head and your witnessing awareness, so that you are more able to witness the thoughts objectively without getting caught up in them.
The more you are able to witness your thoughts from the place of witnessing awareness, the more able you will be to view them objectively. This will enable you to notice patterns in thoughts and behavior and become more aware of your true motivations. Once aware of your true motivations you can decide whether your motivations are informed by a healed or injured perspective, and choose to course correct if necessary.
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