Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Perception

In my last post, "Thoughts Aren't Reality" I talked about how helpful it is to remember that each person's experience of reality is shaped by his or her perceptions.  My life and particularly my relationships significantly improved once I stopped accepting my interpretations of events as absolute truth.  I also teach my patients to do this; in fact, it is often one of the core methods of change I use throughout the therapeutic process. 

I've found it difficult, however, to not be able to trust my perceptions.  I wonder if there is an objective reality that exists somewhere outside of me or if everyone's reality is different.  If nothing is "real" -- if reality is just a product of each individual's mind -- then how do I know what to act on and what to let go?  Is this where I try to observe my perceptions and the feelings they generate mindfully and wait for the answer to arise?  Is that how I would go about improving my intuition?  In some ways I feel frozen -- not sure if my perception of certain events are accurate (or if there is such a thing as an accurate perception) and so not sure if I should act on them. 

It's very confusing and unfortunately I don't have the answers to these questions, at least not yet...

2 comments:

  1. That sense of being frozen, unable to trust perception is frightening. But it seems like the course of practice leads us perfectly to just what we need. With no ground to stand on, the only option is to let go and rest (trust?) in awareness. It's there that seeds of wisdom and compassion sprout. At least that's what I'm working on with Mingyur's teachings...

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  2. Interesting Post on the world of the senses. Greetings from creativity and imagination photos of Jose Ramon

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