The Problem with being Human: the Pursuit of Consciousness

ISBN-13: 9781539909316 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 270 str.

Bob Norton

Opis

The Problem with Being Human is that we each create our own reality and, while we do so, we are largely unaware of it. Even if we grudgingly realise that some of the things that happen to us are perhaps our own fault, we still remain mostly unaware of how we create our reality. If we did know how, we would do things differently for most of us want to improve certain aspects of the current reality that we have. However, we don't spend much time thinking about it probably because we believe we are too busy and need to get on with more important stuff. It was in recognition of this growing, large-scale human unawareness that this book was composed. The Problem with Being Human attempts to show how we can create a better reality for each of us and thus for all - better than the roller-coaster ups and downs, emotional heartaches, disappointments, relationship disorders, fears and worries that all loom large in the reality that most of us create for ourselves, day in, day out. It is unawareness that fuels the laws of cause and effect and of reaping what we sow; not that we are unaware of the sayings themselves, it's just that we don't consciously pay them any attention. It is rather a pervasive unawareness that does not understand how the repercussions of what we think, say and do affect ourselves and many others throughout the world. And it is that same unawareness that has no grasp of the fact that violence in thought is as damaging as violence committed physically. This state of unawareness is frightening because we create our reality out of it, and from there we contribute to the reality of unconsciousness of the greater collective. On a personal level, the fact that we create our own reality means we can no longer claim to be victims of others because everything that weighs down upon us we have in fact brought upon ourselves. We also have to be careful of what we think because we become what we think, just as we attract what we feel. We should really think twice about bad-mouthing and criticising others because, as we attract what we feel, so all the negativity we send out comes back to us. On a collective level, if we judge others and criticise them (which seems to be a frequent phenomenon in the West) then we are spreading energy waves of judgement and criticism into the universe where they will gather and multiply. If we want to take control of our mind and how and what it thinks and makes us do, if we are to make our mind our best friend instead of our worst enemy, there are some rules to learn - some old sayings with a new spark that will not be wholly unfamiliar. The good news is that they really work if we use them unselfishly; they keep a track on what we give as well as what we take, they keep a track of what we sow as well as what we reap. If we are to create a reality that impacts positively on everything around us then we must start doing it with awareness, with consciousness, and we must do it by changing the way we relate to others. If much of our thinking in the present day is unconscious, it is also automatic, conditioned and reactive. We tend to do something like that because we've always done that thing like that. The more we do things the same, the more we get the same outcomes as before. We make choices, of course, in everything we do, but do we choose out of awareness or unawareness? Do we choose from a place of consciousness or unconsciousness? Rather than continuing to exist within such limiting and shallow parameters we need to 'grow and evolve the way we think, the way we relate to others and the way we identify with the rest of humanity. The pace of change is far too great for us to try to adapt unconsciously.' (Robert Ornstein, The Evolution of Consciousness).