Conflict Comes from Conditioning
Knowledge, Differences, and Perception
Knowledge
Gaining knowledge is a good thing.
Understanding is also a good thing. It comes from direct observation of not only yourself, but also another person.
Differences
These two people are arguing over who’s right and who’s wrong. Their heads are full of the knowledge they have about what they believe is “right.” But their heads are too full to see or understand one another’s point of view. These two people may be intelligent, but they do not know how to solve their differences!
We humans are conditioned to believe that knowledge can solve all of our problems. In fact, knowledge can do the opposite. It can divide us and create conflict!
Perception
Our Neocortex can create images we believe are true.
“Hello, I’m a happy image.”
“Hello, I’m a scary image.”
These images convince our old Reptilian brain that they are real! But they’re not! WE created them! Our Reptilian brain does not check up on the Neocortex’s images – it just accepts them as real!
It’s especially important to empty our mind of information that keeps us from seeing what’s really real!
Using Your Mental Strength
“You are right about me being a nerd. It’s what I do best! So, would you like some help with math homework?”
When a bully calls you an ugly name, or threatens you, UNDERSTAND that the bully feels powerful calling you a “nerd.”
Once you understand, you can use your mental strength to not hurt back, run away, or fight.
You can STOP! LOOK! LISTEN! to your feelings – and NOT act on them! And come up with something different!
Seeing the Whole Picture
Different-Colored Points of View
If you’ve ever looked through a piece of carved crystal glass, you know it’s like looking through colored glasses. If you look at one angle, things look blue. If you look at another angle, the very same thing can look red.
This is often how people sometimes reach different conclusions although they are looking at the very same thing.
There are “experts” in the world today – or simply any people with differing opinions – who can all look at the same person, or the same situation, and see someone or something different. It’s because we look through different-colored points of view.
The Image of the Enemy
What is “an enemy”?
We have conditioned images in our minds of “the enemy.”
Is it a “friend” with whom we’ve had an argument? Is it a football team from another school? Is it people from another country? Is it people who practice a different belief system?
Tribes of the World
Long ago, cave creatures lived in tribes.
Here are flags of the tribes of the modern world. Are any of these “tribes” our enemy?
If we light up our Direct Observation abilities, we might be smart enough to notice that WE are the ones who create our enemies.
This conditioning inside us causes us to think of “others” as enemies, which creates conflict. This separates us from other people instead of bringing us together.
We are conditioned to believe that our own independent groups – community, countries, nations, civilizations – will provide us with physical and psychological security. But we are all in competition for the same thing: our own group’s survival!
The Fight Inside Is the One to Stop!
Just as clouds sometimes block the sun, sometimes we need to clear the clouds in our personal lives in order to see things more clearly.
