Most of us are happiest when we are able to work together, encouraging and supporting one another in a sincere and positive manner. In our homes, places of employment, and any other form of organization we belong to, we make an effort to accomplish this. The results of our collaboration are frequently positive as well.
But we frequently overlook the fact that cooperation does not necessitate unanimous agreement. The idea that we may find harmony and tranquility everywhere is untrue. When others do not share our perspective, we can get upset, perplexed, and defensive out of a naive desire for unity.
When this kind of hypersensitivity sets in, our vision becomes obscured. When we receive criticism, we respond poorly and struggle to accept our mistakes, and always trying to prove ourselves right. We become over-critical of others, and blind to different points of view.
We might even suffer from a kind of spiritual diabetes, in which we cannot tolerate genuine sweetness in others, seeing it instead as a chance to exploit.
When these patterns of thought and feeling continue over a long period of time, the brain and other bodily organs become conditioned to seeing and responding to the world in that crooked way. Fear, hurt, anger, worry, resentment, and a sense of losing out become part of our habitual responses, which become our character. We only need look in the mirror, when feeling any of these emotions, to see the negative impact on the body.
This insidious drift of thought patterns does not mean I am a bad person, but that my innermost needs are not being met.They are a signal of a need to change.
Fortunately, both science and spirituality are converging in providing an understanding of how that change can happen.
At the frontiers, science is telling us that our brains and bodies are a reflection of a non-material, informational reality. The mind is at a deeper,more creative level than the brain. It is a faculty of the soul.
And spirituality tells us that the soul is a part of a unifying consciousness that underlies all creation. Through meditation and spiritual study, we can renew our relationship with a Supreme Being who is like a reference point for all that is highest in ourselves. Renewing this relationship fills the mind with truth, strength, love, and peace.
