SEEING POSSIBILITY – OUR PATH TO PEACE
The Realm of Possibility – The Realm of Peace
A short conversation between John and Paul follows.
It points in the direction of seeing Possibility and our inner peace.
John: ‘Simple to talk about, Paul, but illusive to experience is our innate state of Possibility and our natural state of peace.’
Paul: ‘Explain, please.’
John: ‘Within the mind of each human exists a state of Possibility. Inherent within that state exists peace.’
Paul: ‘Say more …’
John: ‘Throughout human history, many have accessed that state, which is called by many names, such as “insights”, “wake-up calls”, “epiphanies”, “revelations”, and “born-again” experiences. Called by whatever name, when influenced by that state, we feel, among other elevated experiences, a deep sense of inner peace. Also experienced is a heightened sense of kindness, a deep understanding of ourselves and others, an elevated state of wisdom and an uncommon level of common sense.’
Paul: ‘So, John, why don’t we always experience that state?’
John: ‘Good question. Our accumulation of beliefs, opinions, judgements and knowledge – our conditioning – gets in our way of seeing and experiencing Possibility and our higher-order functioning.’
Paul: ‘That makes no sense.’
John: ‘And there you have it, Paul. Think – does what you have just said have a belief, opinion, judgment, or some knowledge as its basis?’
Paul: ‘That’s way too simplistic, John. Are you honestly saying that our beliefs, opinions, judgements, and knowledge block us from experiencing what you call Possibility and our inner peace? How can that be the case?’
John: ‘Existing within our mind, prior to our conditioning, which is the accumulation that becomes our uniquely personalised reality, exists Possibility.’
Paul: ‘What do you mean by “our uniquely personalised reality”? Reality is reality – surely!’
John: ‘Do you think we all experience a shared reality?’
Paul: ‘I’m wondering about that.’
John: ‘Consider these questions, Paul: do you see, understand and experience life the same way as your parents, partner, children, relatives, friends, neighbours and work colleagues?’
Paul: ‘Not exactly. Not at all.’
John: ‘When there is an accident at an intersection, and several people on each of the four corners see the accident, how do the police account for the multiple versions of what happened? Such as:
- who was at fault
- the various versions of the car colours
- which car came from which direction
- was it raining at the time, or had the rain stopped
- who went to the aid of those involved
- how long did it take for the ambulance to arrive, or for the police to arrive?’
Paul: ‘I’ve experienced that. It’s true. That is how it is. It seems that each person sees the accident somewhat or entirely differently.’
John: ‘And to emphasise that point:
- Why are there so many religions, different political parties, and a range of sports?
- Why do people like, dislike, love, and hate different people, flowers, weather, foods, drinks, books, TV, etc?
- Why are there so many differing beliefs, opinions, and judgments about life and how to live it?
- Why are there so many different versions of ‘the truth’?
I suggest that our different realities equate to the number of individuals on the planet.’
Paul: ‘I’ve recognised that we are all different, but I’ve not asked myself the question as to why. You imply that we are all different because of our conditioning – how we develop, see, and experience reality.’
John: ‘Yes. Our reality is what we have grown up to believe it to be – our lifelong accumulation of beliefs, opinions, judgments and knowledge. We see life not as it is but through our conditioned mind. That is the reality we experience. That is until it isn’t. That is, until we experience another reality that exists beyond the known.’
Paul: ‘How does that occur, John?’
John: ‘It’s simple, mysterious, challenging and eventually very ordinary. To see into that reality requires us to surrender.’
Paul: ‘Surrender to what?’
John: ‘To the unknown. To the yet-to-be-seen.’
Paul: ‘What do you mean – the “the yet-to-be-seen”?’
John: ‘Letting go of the known – all of the known – releasing our grip on our opinions, beliefs, judgements and knowledge, our lifelong accumulation, our upbringing, education and training.’
Paul: ‘That’s not possible nor desirable.’
John: ‘Both points you make have validity. How we see the world is through the veil of our conditioning, which will always remain the case. That is how we see and experience life. That is how it looks, feels, smells, tastes and sounds – for us individually. Our conditioning encompasses all the good and valuable we have learnt – equally, all the bad, useless and indifferent. And restating that previous point, our accumulation includes each bit of knowledge, every belief, opinion and judgement – everything that is useful, useless and of no consequence, both at a conscious and unconscious level. That conditioning is our world – our personalised reality. And that is why humanity is in such an upset state. Each person, to whatever degree, thinks they are ‘right’ in their reality and the other is ‘wrong’ in theirs. Not realising that each of us lives in a separate reality, believing our reality is the actual reality and unwilling to explore, understand and live in peace with the other. Paul, to see beyond our existing known, we must surrender to the unknown, the yet-to-be-seen. In so doing, we transcend our present reality and see into The Realm of Possibility – the world of kindness, understanding, wisdom and common sense, all that constitutes peace.’
Paul: ‘That does make sense, John. If only I could do that.’
John: ‘That is my daily yoga: holding firmly the intention to be free of belief, opinion, judgement, and knowledge – to have them on tap but not on top and thus live in peace. Mostly succeeding and sometimes failing. Seeing beyond our conditioned reality exists our peace of mind. It’s that simple, Paul, and that challenging.’