“We learn to appreciate stories as children. The child’s mind is quick and powerful, but uncontrolled and unsophisticated. Stories appeal to it, and adults rapidly discovered that a story can put an idea into a child’s head like nothing else can.
Stories are easy to remember, both for teller and listener. As that child grows to adulthood, the love of stories remains. An adult has to be able to tell stories to the next generation of children, or the culture does not propagate. And an adult needs to be able to tell stories to other adults, such as their boss or their mate, because stories have a clarity of structure that does not exist in the messiness of the real world.”
– Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld
Strange as it may seem, “insecurity” is the result of a misunderstanding; the result of the mistaken belief that our feelings can come from somewhere other than our thinking. This mistaken belief is so compelling because we’ve had it taught and reinforced ever since we were children (see the Terry Pratchett quote above – it’s one of my favourites).
Once you’ve watched part one of the video (above), you can watch part two, here: Habitual Thought Patterns Part 2
I’d love to know what you think,
To your increasing clarity
Jamie
Comments
Stories are remarkable. As children we love stories. Children have a very limited life experience so stories like Cinderella, Alladin and Rapunzel fuel their minds. They take them out of their familiar world and into the unknown where magic happens.
As adults, we also love stories. We read novels and go to the movies to read and watch more end to end narratives. The beauty of stories is that you can tell a story to 100 people and get 100 interpretations of the message. Stories like elevators work at many levels… Vince
Hi Erica, I could not agree with you more. I was excellent at telling myself stories which I believed as truths and from those beliefs all sorts of negative behaviours sprang. I am glad I am at peace with myself these days. My new story is playing out happily in my life, my business and with my close relationships. Thanks Jamie
The insight I got from this is that we tell ourselves stories (fabrications) in order to make some sense of the normal messiness of life and then we treat our stories as reality. I see as I write this that that is of course just another way of saying that we get caught up in our thinking, but explaining it with the Terry Pratchett quote really landed for me! Adds resonance too to Byron Katie's question 'Where would you be without your story?'
Thank you Jamie.
Krishnamurti once said, we think there is actually a "thinker" thinking the thoughts… (a story teller, who makes "me" seem real…) and therefore it is as if "I" am "separate" from all that is.
This maybe a little at odds with the idea that "the thinker thinks and the prover proves" but here it is anyway… "Behind the stream of thoughts (stories) there isn't a thinker. You create the thought of a thinker behind the thoughts, in a moment of insecurity".
Essentially, "You" are the external world… The idea of "what is out there in front of you" is an idea that excludes what is all around you. It's a story about the idea that there is an "out there" and a story about the idea that there is an "inside" and most of those particular stories result in a false sense of our separateness.
I'd love to hear a story that relates the truth of my belonging to the universe, one that reassures me that the "I" (that one does not exist) is as natural and as real as any grain of sand. Failing that, a story that can help me accept that I do not know would do nicely…
Now there is a "real" story telling challenge!
A story that allows us to set aside our Mandala's and all other stories, and accept the lack of order. The clarity to know we do not and cannot know what is…
Michael, the real me (my higher me is formless) and may not be of this world, but I take comfort in hopefully being part of this universe with all its marvels and mysteries. Vince
Jamie, Vincent, Michael, Erica, I appreciate your sharing. What you write about stories is interesting and makes sense; however, the medium of a story about stories also tells another story. I guess that the thing about the efficacy of a story in the context that Jamie describes – is in the psychology of the relationship that surrounds the telling of it. Jamie, you are a skilled storyteller… I find myself feeling like a child listening to bedtime story … so that my thinking brain can have a rest… to switch off for a while and allow dreams to take the stage… Reminds me of the late Professor Petruska Clarkson's book, The Bystander, an End to Innocence in Human Relationships.
I am lucky, to have been touching on 'clarity 'awareness' for many years. It has been as a result of my father's loving nature and telling me stories of how 'nothing matters'. His insight came from my grandfather whose job in the 1st WW was to clear London bomb sites. Grandad saw so many attrocities that he survived by detatching his thinking and realising that 'we' have another – inner – reality seperate from our outside world.
I have been taught not to worry and to trust the future, and this has allowed me to love myself no matter what. ( I still have negative thoughts about myself though, I smile at them now)
My own insight into 'oneness' came when I asked the familiar 'unknown tomorrow' a question. I had been going through a deeply religious phase(Christian) and loved God with all my heart (and still do, but don't need to know what God is).
My question in my early thirties- 'if treasure is promised in the kingdom of heaven, why do you have to wait until you are dead?' I had put this question 'out there', not worrrying about it, just posing it. I asked it because I felt my understanding of 'treasure' would be a form of deeper awareness and wisdom, and I wanted it now.
Here is my story and the answer.
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and I took my children for a cycle ride around the university lake. Something I had done countless times before. I was on foot and the children were ahead of me. I stopped to glance at the still green water, as I looked at it I saw that it was 'alive'. Not in a biological sense, because I was not thinking I was just 'in the moment' .
The water had presence, above it was an invisible sense of 'being'. I blinked and said to myself, it was like seeing for the first time. My thoughts kicked in and I looked around to see if anything else would look alive. When I gazed at the leaves on the surounding Hawthorn, I had a ' sense' of their cellular strucuture and saw 'light cells' in my minds eye, and deeply felt my own hand merge with this. I felt part of the picture and felt I was also part of this invisible cellular structure. It was like a warm loving embrace, being part of life, of living, oneness with the physical world.
I walked on, aware that my children should not be too far ahead. I consciously tried to 'see' again, but I was back to normal.
The experience left me with a deep understanding of oneness. This was my treasure, I thought. To be part of life and to be able to rest in a moment of total love and security and know the unknown is benevolent .
I am so glad to read Clarity, although I need to re-read to fully embed the precepts.