The image of self needs a sense of security in order to function. There are different types of security: Physical and Psychological. If there is a threat, then the process of fear begins to be self evident.

Psychological security cannot be found in our exterior, but we are taught that it can be found through money, goals, and power. The only thing that can be gained through these “objects” is physical security. However, one must be aware that physical is never really possible. You can have an accident or have “bad” luck.

The first step in order to gain awareness is to realize that the concept of security as we have been taught is a total lie. We struggle into finding someplace, sometime, and somehow. It is always a tomorrow to be gained, a past to be overcome, but what happens with the present moment? It gets lost in the midst of the concept we call time.

Why have we created a shrine out of time? Why is the concept of time so deeply ingrained in our system of beliefs?

This psychological security will never be found outside of yourself. Psychological security depends solely on your ability to understand yourself and be aware of yourself.

However as one gets deeper into the process of fear, it might be more difficult to become aware of our involvement in it; unless we are constantly informing our consciousness of this process through mindfulness.

Is this true? How Find out by observing your self as you act within violence, fear or sadness. Maybe I am wrong at this, so become an empiricist of your own mind!

I am only a guide, not the rule!

If I ask you, are you afraid of death? Will you take some time to consider this? Or will you instantly say: Naaa… I do not care about dying. Bring it on!

If you instantly answer that you are not afraid, could it be that you are so deep into the process of fear that you cannot recognize it? If you answer again with a simple no, then I ask you: Have you been angry recently?

If you answer no, then stop reading! You might not ready to understand this or you might already be pure peace. Your call. No hard feelings!

Let’s move on with those who can actually accept that fear is present in their lives most of the time in a very subtle mode or are not actually living inner peace.

You might be aware of the fact that you do not live a profound inner peace, but maybe you have never experienced a moment of fulfillment that is not directly related to an achievement.

Are you ready so tired of suffering that you cannot bear it anymore? Are you tired of trying to achieve the impossible because there is always more to crawl into? Are you in a state of depression that cannot be ignored any longer?

Well, if you are in that state of complete surrender to the reality that is being presented day by day. You feel there is no way out… I have good news for you!

The greatness of becoming more aware is always waiting for you!

Your suffering is directly proportional to your violence and fear. You might ask: Where does suffering come from? How does suffering relate to fear?

It is all related in a very subtle way. You can become aware of it through direct observation of your thoughts and feelings as they begin to creep in and try to control you.

You might say, “Well, that is too difficult. I cannot do it. I have never done it.”

Well if you think you can’t, then you are not sick tired to your bones of suffering. Believe me! Once you say, enough is enough from your most inner core…

You CAN do it! Nothing but yourself is stopping you!

Tired of suffering?

Choose awareness over control.
Choose fulfillment over power.
Choose inner liberty over goals.
Choose love over fear.
Choose peace.

I have given you a simple guide with a hypothesis of the process of fear. My theory might not apply to you, but it is a walked path that can help you understand yourself faster.

However, to some people this answer might seem counter-wise their own set of established beliefs. The reason is that we are traditionally taught that you have always teacher: at first it is your parents, then school teachers, even new type teachers might be needed after school, etc. So, let’s get this straight.

Yes, there might be teachers that explain stuff to make it easier to understand, but my question is: Who can teach me the truth?

What is the truth? Well, some might say science is the truth. Is this true? Well… In a way it is, but in another way it is not. Science can be proven to be false, and we change the truth to state the new truth. For example, we at first thought that the earth was flat. We now know it is not. It took many years to find out it was not flat. The reason it took so many years is that it was counter-wise their established set of traditional beliefs. Science is regarded as the truth because it changes as we admit and prove new ways of perceiving and interpreting reality in a group.

However, let’s go beyond the boundary of science. Let’s go into the individual… This terrain is tricky. There are many theories in philosophical books, and I won’t go there. You can search them if you are curious. I might not even be aware of the greatness you find there. So, what am I doing here?

I put forward a concept to you from a “fresh” perspective. Perhaps, you might agree with me, but I do not want to be agreed upon. I want to make you think. I want you to challenge me, but truly listen and grasp what I am saying.

Then, you are free to crush me politely.

Yes, the only real truth is here. It is in this exact moment as you read this. It is not an abstraction that you can elaborate in the past or in the future. Many of us spend enormous time trying to grasp the fundamentals of the universe, but we are doing it this way:

We use the reality of the present moment to create another reality within our own heads. The concept of the truth is stored in our brain, and we use that concept as if it were actually true, not realizing that the only truth is the present moment.

Of course, the present moment can include any concept because you have defined them and you use them to alter your reality as you think and act upon those thoughts. However, to believe that these concepts are the whole reality, and these can translate into truth and pure facts is a lie, a lie nurtured by tradition.

The belief that all can be explained through thoughts, verbs, etc. is an arrogant presumption.

However, the belief that the truth can be grasped in an abstraction is totally counter-wise in a practical sense because:

The truth must be real. What is real? The only real thing is here and now. The past is not real anymore, and the future is not here. This instant of perpetual infinity is the only truth. If you wake up this instant, and realize this was all a dream. Then, your new reality “the non-dream state” is the truth, not the past or the present, but that now.

So, how can someone else teach you the truth? How can someone teach you something that is not teachable? You have to observe it and become aware of it individually. How is this done?

There are many theories, but I will not spill the beans. You have to find it by yourself. You have to teach yourself the truth. You have to wake up to the fact that authority does not have the answer.

Please, at least let’s accept this situation. There is no agreement regarding the truth. Why don’t we at least accept it as a society, and move on?

Why don’t we accept differences, instead of projecting our fears in others’ beliefs? Why don’t we promote creative thinking, instead of tying to create equal molds of being?

We are ingrained with the belief that we must follow an authority figure. Do you know why this happens?

It happens because we feel security in believing that someone else knows the truth. If someone else knows the truth, then I might feel an illusion of safeness because although I do not know, others know, and I will someday know.

Stop! Think about this by yourself! Stop searching for a tomorrow that will reveal the truth. Stop searching for a teacher. You are the teacher and the student. You are the only one that can actually through your own experience live the truth. Stop nurturing the guru with ego. Stop praising the one who says he or she knows.

Better, yet… Also doubt what I am saying, and do what you want.

You can walk the path of the teacher until you are tired of following the authority that doesn’t lead you anywhere and you realize you have been walking in circles with such figure.

Just have this in mind: The relationship teacher-student is a power relation. There is a very fine line that can be crossed, and the student might fall into the trap of following without questioning.

Why? The teacher might lie. The teacher might not know. The teacher might have an enormous ego that the student is feeding. A teacher that needs a student is trapped within the desires of the student. The teacher is also trapped in the expectations of the student.

It is a power relationship, and one will always be trapped within a framework of belief unless you decide to stop the situation.

In a power relationship, if you have the lower status: It is almost impossible to win. The process of belief, how belief creates psychological safety, and the role it plays within those structures impede your ability to convince.

However, the student does have power over the “teacher” because it is a power relationship.

For example, if the teacher does not convince as he expects to do or the student decides not to be taught anymore, then a certain kind of hostility might occur. Although, it might seem at a first glance that in a teacher-student relationship the one who always loses is the student… It goes both ways.

The teacher is gaining something by teaching, if not: Why do it? Could it be total non-self interest? It might be. It is not my position to judge.

However, keep in mind I am not being specific. You might have a great teacher… So, this might not apply to you, right? Great! Stop reading then, unless you really want to challenge your framework of beliefs established by those important figures in your life.

Ready? Want to continue? This is the thing:

The truth cannot be shown. If your teacher is wonderful as you might desire to believe, then ask him: Can you show me the truth?

If he or she is wise, the answer will be: No. I cannot show you the truth.

Why? Why would a wise teacher be unable to show to the truth? A truth must be shown in order to believe, isn’t it? However, seeing is not believing because we use abstractions to reach a conclusion that is concrete.

If the teacher can’t see that you are the only one who can see the truth, then what are you learning: Languages? Science? Philosophy?

Remember, perspective plays a role here. Don’t expect a person who lives within a framework of language to point out something that is not within that context.

Why do we tend to treat something that is an abstraction as a concrete fact through language? Why do we choose security through belief, than challenging ourselves to the unknown? Could it be fear? Why do we feel fear? How does fear work? Could we be afraid to acknowledge that the truth cannot be taught?

The idea here is: The truth cannot be taught if the truth is in the present moment.

What does this mean? It means that if you are searching for the holy grail in your mind, instead of opening your hands to the reality in front of you. How will you find something that is there, but you prefer to be blind due to your own set of established beliefs that cause you to feel fear if ever threatened?

You might be wondering… Well, why do you ask questions? It is very easy to ask questions. You are no different from the so called “teachers”.

In fact, you are quite right. I am no different those so called “teachers”, but my point here is to make you think. I do not care if you believe me or not. I am challenging through those questions you might love to hear answered, and yes it might be easier to just ask the question.

But at the end, I might be wrong.

However, could it be more difficult to express a question in a precise order, so you can follow the concept without giving you an answer? Perhaps… Who knows?

My purpose: I would like you to realize that you are the only one that can actually answer some questions through your experience within the context of finding the truth.

Is this a sort of a teaching? Yes, but you still have the option to say: I don’t agree with you. Wonderful, I applaud your conviction. Keep asking questions! Keep arguing against me! Observe and listen deeply with great attention, and find the truth.

Could I rephrase this by telling you: “Be the truth.”? How would that change the game? Why would it change it? Could that be related with what I wrote before about the truth is in the present moment?

Photo Credits: First image By takomabibelot Second By brian glanz

Peace only exists if it is individual, so it is a personal responsibility to find peace within ourselves for the sake of others and oneself.

This is actual, a repetitive aspect of each person because that is the way we produce judgments based on memories and experience. Each vision has a certain truth and falsity in it, why? The further you are from a certain vision, the less you are likely to agree with it. It is as is if the agreement with a position depends on your understanding of what the other’s perspective is, and the more compare and ask questions that deepens the perspective, then you are likely to disagree with it.

Why is this important? Why should we recognize the truth in others vision? Well, because their vision if written or if the person is alive creates action, an activity that comes directly from a vision. It is easier to say… Well, he is wrong. I do not care…

Instead of actually understanding why he says what he says. What do I mean to understand what he says?

I mean to actually SEE through his EYES. This is real compassion, not a sense of pity, but love. The greatest love is the one that cares about the other’s perspective, instead of violently rejecting it. To see the past within that perspective, the experiences, and their “logic”, so there is no violence when you decide to set apart from this perspective/beliefs.

What is the objective? To recreate his ‘ambience’ to actually see why he or she is so stubborn with a certain position, then to ask what is the ‘truth’ he so desperately lingers on, so you can see the “why”. If you are able to see his perspective from its core, then the way you disagree with him will not be violent. It is an awareness of the other, not a categorical rejection due to the fact that his “beliefs” will produce actual action that affects you.  Thus, this awareness will not threaten your ‘ideas’ that provide you a ‘false’ sense of security.

What do I mean with a false sense of security? Beliefs give psychological security, not actual security. You can believe you have a home, but that is not an actual reality unless in that moment are at your home. There is a lot of depth here, but will not explore it due to the topic. The way beliefs work within a conceptual framework, not an actual experience unless you are being aware of the belief of your belief as an experience…

Therefore, you now can be comfortable with the fact that you can be right and wrong depending the perspective, and in that moment peace is given a real chance because there is understanding of the other and yourself.

Why yourself? To understand others is to understand yourself, and viceversa because the other influences your position and the understanding of his position will make you understand better your position (right, wrong or/and both), understanding does not judge because it adds to your comparison, but doubting does divide when comparing because it separates you from the observed. Doubt me, but after understanding me? Maybe… Can we actually understand others? Could be? Think about it!

We act as if peace was an exterior result, but in actuality it is an interior thing that produces consequences that can be seen as peace. However, if countries are peaceful, but people are violent… peace is an illusion.

So, we need peace as an interior result; so we can understand others’positions instead of being intolerant to what others have to say.

Yes, people might be wrong, right or right and wrong, but to find and live peace it is not about who is wrong and who is right, but how much do I understand others, so I don’t take their beliefs as a threat to my beliefs.

There are two important aspects here:

01The capacity to listen what you don’t want to listen because it threatens your stubborn beliefs.

02The capacity to understand the other’s perspective until you make the other’s perspective yours.

I am not saying that by doing this you will be convinced with his opinion or you that should believe the other’s opinion, instead within this act of love you are able to see through his eyes, and then see the big picture, what he is not able to see, and walk away.

However, you will be different because you have just discovered a new perspective you didn’t want to hear, the fact that you were able to be the other will change you, and then to see the limits of his vision as you lived his vision will transform you as you love deeply.

You will not see your own limits, unless you dare to go within the perspectives you most reject.

If the person who you just understood would see your vision, would he change his perspective? Maybe… Will you change your perspective a little after seeing through his eyes? Yes, you might not think/believe as the perspective you absorbed, but you will see things you weren’t able to see before.

This includes trying to see my perspective, and at the same time doubting my position, both acts are important… But most important is: Peace. Is it? Why?

Photo Credit: Hamid Najafi

To be self confident you need to believe in yourself. You must be aware you may make mistakes. However, you must also be aware that those errors will make you become a better person. After each mistake, you must embrace change with happiness because you have been given the opportunity to overcome something and grow internally.

We cannot continue this path of thought where libertinism means to be free. It is a path of self destruction. You can only be free within yourself, and in fact the less your freedom depends on others, the freer you will actually be. Why? It does not depend on your ability to perceive, but in the actual freedom, the truth behind your conceptions.

Yet, you’ve got to understand why by yourself. Although it may sound contradictory, we cannot force others comply with our points of view because that means there is no freedom, but we cannot live as if freedom means to do whatever you want with no consequences.

We cannot leave everything in hands of our government and its policies because as stated above… It will all depend on points of view that will only lead you into a ‘political’ trap: communism, marxism, socialism, capitalism or whatever ‘ism’ is not the ‘ideal way’. There is no such thing as an ideal or perfect way. We can only learn and try to find your ‘middle way’: the path of love or at least your happiness and peace.

How to do it? It is really difficult to deal with short thinking, blinded, and stubborn people who think their ‘truth’ is the only one. Yet, we must be aware of something: Nothing is forever. No one lives forever. They can live all their lives like that, let them be…

Our job is not to make them understand what is “right” for them because if you try to impose them what you think is “right” for them, then there will be no difference between them and you.

However, we can open the minds of our new generations, so they may walk the ‘unforeseen’ path and reach that world of progress, respect, love, and peace we all should linger for until it becomes our reality.

We should be out there working for a better ourselves, not for a better political system because at the end those systems are a reflection of ourselves. Although, it may be important to give a sense of reality to those who ‘have the power’ we must not be completely focused in that. Politics is a game where there is no loser or winner. It is a game where there is a positive aftermath or a negative aftermath, and we all will receive the consequences, not only the ‘winner or loser’.  Some people love the game, let them. Don’t fight true battles by confronting and killing the opponent directly.

So, let it be a game without forgetting that there are a lot of things more important beyond the ‘game’ like changing humanity by being an example of love and positive self-esteem, and as a consequence there will be a change in politics. You do not need to confront someone to make a change; you can do it quietly through a simple and definite way: BY YOUR EXAMPLE!

For example, Gandhi showed another way, by which he changed indirectly the politicians though the way of non-resistance. This way hides a deeper aspect of letting things go without moving your finger from the point/truth.  Why? The truth cannot be hidden. It is a matter of time for it to shine so bright it will make everyone who is not prepared blind. This way does not mean to go a let yourself be beaten to make your point be understood, actually, it states: Forget about direct confrontation through violence! Use your imagination to make your point be heard.

Gandhi used several techniques though his life, one of those implied beating, another starving to death, yet these times require not to repeat what has been done in the past…

Instead, it is time to use the deep truth beyond those ideas to provoke change and make them shine. How?  Challenge yourself!

• Challenge yourself by questioning your own arguments if you love writing,
• Create a civil society if you are very good with your social skills,
• Write songs or paint to bring consciousness if you are great at the arts,
• Use copy-left licenses, so more people can be affected by your skills,
• Use any other kind of skill you have…
• Challenge the ordinary and make a change!

Feel confident about yourself and what you do. Surely you will make mistakes, we all do, but if there is an honest and unselfish intention behind everything you do, then you will feel great about yourself! Give it a try!  Do it! The sky is not the limit! There is so much more, so unknown to humankind! Remember, this is a very long trip, but the most satisfactory. There will be moments of total despair, but at the end although, I may always be wrong…

The truth will always prevail!

Let’s analyze why do people fight, perhaps even till death for a creed? Could it be possible that those who fight, and impose others their beliefs are afraid of losing their security because it is placed on those beliefs?

Why do they fight? Perhaps, it is a selfish belief or a belief that is not true.

If what is being said is the truth, others will reach that truth. It is only a matter of time… So, why do people fight defending a belief they are certain is for real? Perhaps, they are afraid of opening their eyes, and realize that their belief is not true.

It doesn’t really matter if my beliefs are real or not, but what do those beliefs cause me.

For example:
I might believe in God, so I behave loving and caring toward others because God is love. Or I don’t believe in God, so I behave loving and caring toward others because peace and love are some of the most wonderful aspects of life.

Who is wrong? The one who believes or not? None, why? Both are living according to their highest sense of humanity. I still don’t understand why we prefer to be blind, to fight, to be intolerant, and abusive toward those who don’t share our “common” standards.

We don’t need to have the same beliefs to be in peace, but we do have to be humble and loving to those who don’t share our same ideas because understanding will bring us peace. It is in those differences that humanity learns how to grow, and become better through generations of thought.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always. Mahatma Gandhi

We could all be wrong, but a loving life will be enough to understand we are humans, and therefore capable of doing mistakes. So, there is no need to fight, but there is a necessity of understanding…

Diversity is beauty.
Admiring it is love.
Love brings diversity.
So, those who accept diversity,
and admire it will live a peaceful life.

Mostly, understand ourselves because as we pretend to get to know others when we are actually strangers to ourself.

How can we spend so much time with others when we don’t spend time to observe ourselves? Could it be that we are afraid of the unknown within ourselves?

Life is from the inside -> out, but it takes some courage to admit it because if it comes from the inside:

I am responsible for each action taken by me and the train of thoughts chaining me to those actions.

That scares the hell out of a lot of people. They prefer to be blind, than to see something although they might not like what they see at first sight. However, remember if you choose to leave blindness… Those things that scare you will end up being wonderful because the translation of the senses into thoughts tend to be biased.

The only way to live peace is to give peace. Don’t expect it to come from someone or something else.

Let’s learn each day something new, so we may become better and better; loving more and more.

How? I guess there could be many solutions, but at the end each one of us has to observe him/herself. What may function to me, may not work with you…

So here they are: Ideas, just that… words you will translate into your own belief system. Shake them, doubt them, and create your own wonderful world.

Photo Credit: by Philofoto

• assumptions assured by confirmed predictions
• belief systems sustained by thoughts
• projections maintained by memories through experiences

Concepts are rarely questioned because we even believe others have the same definition because “they are in the dictionary”. However, these dictionaries lack insight because they are used to create a common ground. They do not express the real “use” of the word or words because language is a constantly changing mix.

This is important to establish because the main reason of conflict in between humans beings are: “Misunderstandings”

The number one cause of dissolution in unions is: Lack of communication.

For example:
My concept about love is not the same one you had, so I file for a divorce because you lacked the ability to love me as I wished, and we did not learn to how communicate properly to each other what does love mean. We can talk for hours, but a deep communication is lacking because of the misconceptions of the main words being used.

How many words have you asked yourself what do they mean to you? Have you asked to those who you constantly relate to… What does it mean to them a friendship, love, honesty, companionship, loyalty, etc.?

What you see is not what actually is; it is the image you have created of it the one being understood. However, it kind of works this way… We can communicate, but we also live so much division when we don’t know how to explain what we wish to express.

We may see and live the same truth, but each one of us uses a lens on a different focus that is seems we are seeing different things. So much anger, aggression, and separation created by these wrongly understood concepts, and by the interpretation of these when applied into a certain environment.

How can you commit to a relationship when you cannot even listen to the other’s expectations when using the word “love”?

It is a spiral that goes somehow like this:

• Lack of communication eventually results in broken expectations.
• Broken expectations leave you lost in translation, then communication becomes even worse.
• It all ends up in sadness, and at the end; if not careful it turns out into anger and hate

Communication means: I listen to you fully. I close my thoughts for a moment. I open my heart to you. I care what you have to say, although I don’t agree with you. I may even grow and have better ideas with those remarks I don’t agree on.

It does not matter if he does not listen to you. It is YOU the one who should listen. Is is YOU the one who should become aware of the situation. It is YOU who can change the world, not others.

Remember, I may be wrong. Think things out. Ask yourself more questions. There is no one out there to say something enlightening. It is you the one who has all the questions; therefore all the answers.

If others see you want to listen, they may try to… but even if they don’t… move on. Learn from each experience and open those eyes to new understandings by simply listening.

Photo Credit: by Frederic della Faille