I write this today, as I reflect and ponder about afew things.
Firstly, how perception is becoming a major topic in raising higher consciousness.
Next, the spinning of well-being industry, and positive psychology as a way to encourage stressed humans to deal with life's moments.
Further, I look at "new-age" spiritual teachers emerging who share their views on how temporal and "unreal" this world and its contents are. They teach about perception.
Finally, I conclude what this new awakening means for humans who are opening up to the fact that they need some form of guidance toward finding themselves and feeling inner peace.
Perception in psychology, explains that we gather information about the environment from our five physical senses, sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. These are natural human instincts. How the information is relayed to the brain, how we manage it, what we do with it, how it affects our behaviour from its digestion in the mind, is called perception. That was a brief description of a complex process involving neurons, dendrites, energy, brain chemicals, central nervous system, hypothalamus, amagdala, prefrontal cortex, and so on and so forth; which will bore and confuse anyone uninterested. Basically, modern technology has enabled us to watch how the brain works and understand human behaviour better through the study of psychological science.
Having said that, we cannot watch how this knowledge affects spirit or soul, nor the energy particles of atoms and molecules within and contained in all that exists. I get confused, when the physical and metaphysical is not clearly explained within the new age philosophy, which according to me takes stands of knowledge and weaves it to suit situational circumstances.
It is clear that humans are under pressure to survive in a man-made world of technological advancements and fast paced life which involves working within constrainments of time and space. The well-being industry boom, is pounding on all social media for humans to take the time to re-charge, find inner peace and reduce stress. There are short courses to enable people who want to learn and train others in regards to well-being and flourishing, based on the minute information they have gathered, regarding perception. I see, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) offered as a short course. I see reminders of remaining positive in memes and posts. I realise humans are more aware of the need to relax. I wonder if they understand how temporal the world is. I worry about the manipulations of whizz industries which follow trends to make money, preying on humans and those susceptible fall for the campaigns or promotions.
New age spiritual teachers are teaching humans to release negativity, through understanding that what they see is an illusion. That what their senses pick up creates imagery through the mind. They teach that ego is a thing to reckon with, hence that needs to be curtailed if humans want to release anger and aggression issues or anything to do with what I refer to as low human desires. They also teach that the world we live in is made up of energy, atoms and this is all information transported to our brain which we then create our own world with, hence we have the choice to create or re-create our limited space. It is limited because our spatial view is limited. We don't see the bigger picture. But if we understand perception, we will realise that we can only see limitedness of our existence. They want to teach humans to expand perception and realise we are in control and part of an entire span of what is all ENERGY. My question is, what then shall humans do with the acceptance that we are all just energy, matter and antimatter? Does it mean we are spirit in human form or that we aren't physical beings? I don't get it? What are they trying to gather from what information is available through knowledge gathered from research? In positive psychology and among other kinds of treatment for depression or stress, a person who has a form of religious guidance is said to have better outcomes in treatments. So, are we then being fed treatment in the guise of new age "talk"? Certainly, it seems to makes sense to those who want to listen.
Finally in my opinion, all these teachings are great yet not absolute. There are areas in life that cannot yet be recorded nor researched when it comes to the spirit in human form. The energy we are all endowed with, that connects to all that is physical and meta-physical, matter and anti-matter, molecules, atoms and particles; which combined with all created is the mass of energy that flows and never ends, connecting us to higher forms of created beings and to the ultimate atomic battery that charges all , which I call Allah. Higher consciousness just means accepting, understanding and appreciating that we are spirit in human form. We are light. We are energy. We have choice. We can learn to control thoughts, which is an energy that creates an emotion/s; we all perceive things differently, it's called individual differences or preferences ; we are regulated by our environment, by our communities and by whatever we choose in life. We also need to have a higher belief system, which guides us toward ... a good ending. Islam teaches this within Al Qur'an, and the spirtual path of the seeker to the Truth (All Manifest- Al Mubeen) of Islam is called Sufisim. Spiritiual practices are important. I encourage humans to contemplate, "what is the meaning of life"? Where do we head when we cease to exist in the human form? I encourage the human to use innate intuition guided by positive spirituality from a good source, to manage the challenges life will offer. God created humans as the smallest percentage of all creation but according to Islamic teachings, the best of all creations. Sufism will teach humans how to connect by constant recitation, repetition and remembrance of specific supplications; through consistency in these, humans begin to feel better, humbled yet empowered, egoistic tendencies will reduce, better habits and behaviour will manifest; actions seeking higher ascension (solat/salah) in prayer; submission and prostration (head on the ground and assuming the most reverent position in humility to worship God-sajda) will increase, charitable acts will become second nature, inner peace will be illuminated and many more benefits will be apparent.
Spiritual culture (Sufism)
Sufism for well-being (research based) Part 1
Sufism for well-being part 2
Love, peace & light
LorraineNur@2019
