Post by Altino on Sept 20, 2019 21:00:57 GMT -5
Bodhi of Introspection
Nation: Sircassia
Known as: "Cass," "Ben"
Completed: September 18, 2019
BODHI:
The Sages asked Cass to write a manual on Introspection. Self realization is an important part of anyone's life, but it's difficult to know how to look within oneself in an honest way and use the things you see in a positive way. Cass seemed intrigued by the idea of introspection, though, and ran with the idea well.
RESULT:
Congratulations, Cass! See Path and Bodhi archives here.
Nation: Sircassia
Known as: "Cass," "Ben"
Completed: September 18, 2019
BODHI:
The Sages asked Cass to write a manual on Introspection. Self realization is an important part of anyone's life, but it's difficult to know how to look within oneself in an honest way and use the things you see in a positive way. Cass seemed intrigued by the idea of introspection, though, and ran with the idea well.
RESULT:
Introspection is, in short, the examination of the self. I believe the chief purpose of examining yourself is to better understand people as a whole and of course, to avoid making mistakes in the future.
The admittance of your own faults and flaws; so that you might better spot them in others and better forgive and help those who share them has been a trait valued in cultures and societies throughout history and across the world.
Certain Hindu traditions, for example, believe introspection and repetition of your mistakes without outside bias is a sacred act and devout followers of these repeat this practice several times a day.
One of the best ways of figuring out who you are is by examining your actions in the light of goals and purposes.
If you made someone feel bad and that wasn't your intention that is a mistake that could be corrected in future social gatherings, or perhaps it was and you just aren't willing to admit to being a spiteful person. Perhaps you should accept your spitefulness, find a more healthy way to let it out. I've heard martial arts might help mitigate aggression.
The Psychologist Carl Jung believed that mental illness was a symptom of repressed emotion or lies told by yourself to yourself. Therefore the first step of introspection is validating your own emotions; I have to make very clear that this does not mean act out every impulse or thought that strikes you, but rather be aware that you have that thought and find a way to let it out, a good outlet is one that does not hurt anyone and does not stop you from being productive. There are no wrong thoughts, only wrong action.
Do not repress your subconsious mind. Do not say things that you do not mean or do not know. Develop that voice in your head that tells you "you didn't really mean that" and listen to it. Only say things that your internal monologue would agree with and only act in ways that it would be pleased with or you might end up hating yourself.
Secondly, be conscious of the dangers of overthinking things. It is right and proper to think through what you've said before you say it, it is a sign of weakness to have to correct yourself or apologize afterwards; that's not to say that you shouldn't do that if you well and truly fuck up mind you, only that you should be aware of when you did and take steps to stop yourself from fucking up similarly in the future.
The point of introspection is to stop making mistakes and to make you do better; not to remember to apologize.
Listen to people when they talk to you. Make the assumption that people you meet have something to teach you, they have experiences you haven't. They can tell you things about yourself you hadn't realized.
You can learn alot from people in different situations. Always seek out people with different ideas from your own.
Remember that they have the same biological underpinnings, and that your own brain could work like theirs with only minor adjustments. Try things that work for others, and if they don't work for you scrap them. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake if you learnt something along the way.
Read great books. Truly good fiction and biographies makes you shift perspective, so that you might see if a way of thinking might suit you. Try thinking like someone else for a day. Thinking "what would Jesus do" or "what would Churchill do" can be an interesting thought experiment.
I recommend Dostoyevsky, especially The Brothers Karamazov but it's a bit heavy and definitively not for everyone.
Finally, and most importantly. Do not allow your identity to be defined by a single characteristic, balance your concerns accordingly.
The agreeable should seek out conflict, the cautious should try to be bold, the careless should try to be meticulous, the outgoing should try being introverted. To defy yourself, and then recover to a reasonable middle-ground, to go back to what has previously worked or to embrace the one that made your day better.
Do not let yourself stagnate and do not fault others for not living up to your own standards. Push them towards function, do not blame them for disfunction.
Shape yourself to be comfortable everywhere, in any situation. Try to develop mechanism to control your faults instead of using them as an excuse to avoid complicated experiences. Your goal ought to be handling any situation, even in a world as chaotic and unfeeling as this one.
Realize that we are all faulty. That a mistake made yesterday does not necessarily need be repeated and everyone deserves forgiveness. You don't need to be miserable due to past sins, find a way to move on.
The admittance of your own faults and flaws; so that you might better spot them in others and better forgive and help those who share them has been a trait valued in cultures and societies throughout history and across the world.
Certain Hindu traditions, for example, believe introspection and repetition of your mistakes without outside bias is a sacred act and devout followers of these repeat this practice several times a day.
One of the best ways of figuring out who you are is by examining your actions in the light of goals and purposes.
If you made someone feel bad and that wasn't your intention that is a mistake that could be corrected in future social gatherings, or perhaps it was and you just aren't willing to admit to being a spiteful person. Perhaps you should accept your spitefulness, find a more healthy way to let it out. I've heard martial arts might help mitigate aggression.
The Psychologist Carl Jung believed that mental illness was a symptom of repressed emotion or lies told by yourself to yourself. Therefore the first step of introspection is validating your own emotions; I have to make very clear that this does not mean act out every impulse or thought that strikes you, but rather be aware that you have that thought and find a way to let it out, a good outlet is one that does not hurt anyone and does not stop you from being productive. There are no wrong thoughts, only wrong action.
Do not repress your subconsious mind. Do not say things that you do not mean or do not know. Develop that voice in your head that tells you "you didn't really mean that" and listen to it. Only say things that your internal monologue would agree with and only act in ways that it would be pleased with or you might end up hating yourself.
Secondly, be conscious of the dangers of overthinking things. It is right and proper to think through what you've said before you say it, it is a sign of weakness to have to correct yourself or apologize afterwards; that's not to say that you shouldn't do that if you well and truly fuck up mind you, only that you should be aware of when you did and take steps to stop yourself from fucking up similarly in the future.
The point of introspection is to stop making mistakes and to make you do better; not to remember to apologize.
Listen to people when they talk to you. Make the assumption that people you meet have something to teach you, they have experiences you haven't. They can tell you things about yourself you hadn't realized.
You can learn alot from people in different situations. Always seek out people with different ideas from your own.
Remember that they have the same biological underpinnings, and that your own brain could work like theirs with only minor adjustments. Try things that work for others, and if they don't work for you scrap them. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake if you learnt something along the way.
Read great books. Truly good fiction and biographies makes you shift perspective, so that you might see if a way of thinking might suit you. Try thinking like someone else for a day. Thinking "what would Jesus do" or "what would Churchill do" can be an interesting thought experiment.
I recommend Dostoyevsky, especially The Brothers Karamazov but it's a bit heavy and definitively not for everyone.
Finally, and most importantly. Do not allow your identity to be defined by a single characteristic, balance your concerns accordingly.
The agreeable should seek out conflict, the cautious should try to be bold, the careless should try to be meticulous, the outgoing should try being introverted. To defy yourself, and then recover to a reasonable middle-ground, to go back to what has previously worked or to embrace the one that made your day better.
Do not let yourself stagnate and do not fault others for not living up to your own standards. Push them towards function, do not blame them for disfunction.
Shape yourself to be comfortable everywhere, in any situation. Try to develop mechanism to control your faults instead of using them as an excuse to avoid complicated experiences. Your goal ought to be handling any situation, even in a world as chaotic and unfeeling as this one.
Realize that we are all faulty. That a mistake made yesterday does not necessarily need be repeated and everyone deserves forgiveness. You don't need to be miserable due to past sins, find a way to move on.
Congratulations, Cass! See Path and Bodhi archives here.