can we transcend our usual mode of perceiving and get outside the box? how do we reach and sustain our best?

the mind falls into a lot of tape loops, repetitive patterns of thinking and melodramas often. yet, we notice at other times whether it is through meditation, after exercising, a response to a movie, a remark from another person or a quote from a book- that we can get outside of our thinking and not be stuck in that same thought pattern. how is it possible to get outside the box?

through the daily newsletter, articles and reflections i hope we can deepen the self-inquiry and see more about the nature of the mind, attachment and letting go. is attachment a question of ignorance, self-love, weak will or something completely different?

it's a deep mystery why at times we circle over and over again mentally on the same point yet for no apparent reason at other times that way of perceiving seems to lift and not entrap us.

a teacher's task is to poke, provoke to a reaction, confront and elevate-yogi bhajan

it sometimes is feels like a powerful quote "grips" us and isn't just something that we observer or look at. this is useful because it is when we are existentially related to something that it can transform us. if we study ourselves or anything from the outside, we don't usually go through the process that makes us go beyond our old assumptions.

knowledge is not information, it's transformation- osho

we are ambivalent about self-knowledge: on one hand we tire of old routines, stale melodramas and wish for a new perspective. yet, on the otherhand to let go of the old skin can be very painful because it seems like our "identity". we will be exploring what different eastern and western thinkers say about this dilemma.

socrates was a master of the art of examining the hidden philosophies of others and helping them draw out the underlying premises and implications. he was a truly gifted interlocuter and the person being questioned had the opportunity to go beyond his "box" of unexplored attitudes.

i recently started the newsletter "daily reflections " which is delivered 5 days a week to your e-mail account. the aim of this newsletter is to have daily reminders so we can turn inward and conduct a self-inquiry. the majority of the quotes will be from philosophers, but i will include others who reflect on the human condition .

most of us have a mixed reaction to reflection: we want to expand our horizons, transcend limited ideas and get outside of patterns of thinking that are insufficient on one hand. yet, on the other hand, those assumptions may be hard to drop and they can often be experienced as a painful loss of our identity. this is itself an important area to explore and we'll see what some great thinkers have to say about this human trait.

here's a sample from the first newsletter. the topic was "action".

you can learn from an ordinary bamboo leaf what ought to happen. it bends lower and lower under the weight of snow. suddenly the snow slips to the ground without the leaf having stirred. stay like that at the highest point of tension until the shot falls from you. so, indeed , it is: when the tension is fulfilled, the shot must fall, it must fall from the archer like snow from a bamboo leaf, before he even thinks it.

eugen herrigel (herrigel was a german philospher who studied the art of archery under a zen master in japan)

• each issue will have quotes to ponder for deeper reflection. a few issues a week have questions and comments that follow.
  
• don't live each day mechanically-examine the blueprint underlying your actions.

to subscribe just fill out box below or send an e-mail to: quotes4u@aweber.com subscribe today and get a free ebook of the first 7 chapters of my ebook "gems of wisdom- quotes with questions to ponder.

one metaphor i find that's helpful is to think about a garden. if you have a weed that is 1/2 an inch tall, it is easy to pluck it out. however, if you wait till it's 6 feet tall , you need a whole landscaping crew to remove it. similarly , the mind can start to fall into certain states such as anger or depression, and it's good to nip it in the bud at the beginning. it's much more difficult to get out of a funk after you dig yourself deeply into it. stopping any habit is easier before it mushrooms.

-some eastern thinkers speak about attachment in this context
-do we like to indulge and sink into different unconscious states?
-is this weak will? is it ignorance? what do great minds say about habits and persistence?
-how can we break through the box more so that we have humor, joy and wonder each day?

**note:if you are looking for the website for the philosophical analysis of libra the page is now available at:
center for libra studies

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