...from the Field Training Realities blog ...................... (www.fieldcenter.org/realities)
Last time, I wrote about practice in terms of our Particle tendency to react to things,
a tendency consistent with the Particle intention
that says:
“The world is cause, and I am effect.”
a tendency consistent with the Particle intention
that says:
“The world is cause, and I am effect.”
In this entry, I want to examine the notion of availability, because we can understand a lot about our life by turning our attention to those things to which we’re willing to be available.
Note that these things may or may not agree with what we want—that is,...
we can be available to things that we want as readily as we can
to things that we don’t want.
we can be available to things that we want as readily as we can
to things that we don’t want.
It’s a crucial point of theory
that desire alone is not creative,
but when we add
this element of availability,
we enter the causal realm.
this element of availability,
we enter the causal realm.
Why is this?
Because our availability and our willingness are identical twins,
and it is willingness that creates.
and it is willingness that creates.
Here’s a simple illustration. A man works in a company where he isn’t respected.
In fact, his superiors are in the habit of talking down to him,
making jokes at his expense, etc.,
and his colleagues take from this permission to treat him similarly.
In fact, his superiors are in the habit of talking down to him,
making jokes at his expense, etc.,
and his colleagues take from this permission to treat him similarly.
Now, if you ask the man if he wants this as a condition of his work life,
invariably he will tell you he does not, that he wants to be respected.
And yet, the situation persists.
invariably he will tell you he does not, that he wants to be respected.
And yet, the situation persists.
Let’s imagine that the man undertakes a study of Field training.
One of the first things he learns is that
as far as the power of consciousness to create is concerned,
it doesn’t matter in the least how much he wants the situation to change,
because desire is the essential beginning of practice,
but it is not the end.
as far as the power of consciousness to create is concerned,
it doesn’t matter in the least how much he wants the situation to change,
because desire is the essential beginning of practice,
but it is not the end.
He does not want to put up with this abusive treatment, but he is willing to put up with it.
He is available to it.
If he were not, he would walk away from it,
as there would be no belief,
no feature of his identity to hold him there.
He is available to it.
If he were not, he would walk away from it,
as there would be no belief,
no feature of his identity to hold him there.
His availability reveals his willingness
—
in this case, to be and have
what he does not want to be and have.
And so, Field training would explain to him
that he is in a state of contradiction,
that he is counter-intending,
---
and that the result of this
is always some measure of suffering.
—
in this case, to be and have
what he does not want to be and have.
And so, Field training would explain to him
that he is in a state of contradiction,
that he is counter-intending,
---
and that the result of this
is always some measure of suffering.
Shifting, then, requires the resolve, at the very least,
This shouldn’t be oversimplified.
One might expect naively that it is a simple matter
to close the door of availability on conditions that bring us suffering,
but in truth, every intention, and this includes every counterintention,
is appropriated for some good reason.
to close the door of availability on conditions that bring us suffering,
but in truth, every intention, and this includes every counterintention,
is appropriated for some good reason.
This means that it costs something—something of real value—to give it up,
even if the giving up has the aim of making us available to something better.
The required identity shift that is the heart and soul of deliberate creating
can’t happen, then, until a person is ready
to accept responsibility for divesting himself or herself
of the old payoff.
Facilitating is the process we have for supporting people as they approach, then move
...into that altered identity state.
We can learn a lot about our life—especially about experiences that seem to dog us,
chronic problems in health or love or finances or any other area,
by looking at those things to which we’ve made ourselves available.
One need not look any further than the idea of natural selection
to understand how this process is a creative one.
No one has the power to make us available to anything. No one commands our willingness. Even if it costs us our life, we remain sovereign.
Victor Frankl, the famous founder of logotherapy and concentration camp survivor,
said that during his time in the camps, he saw people on many occasions
walk over to the electrified fence and say “no.”
Who we are, even in the most extreme circumstances, is up to us,
and nothing can keep happening to us without our agreeing, wittingly or unwittingly,
to remain available to it.
So, asking, “What are the things to which I’m making myself available?”
---
is a potentially life-altering question.
And here is a most interesting way to ask the same question differently:
“Where have I been settling for too little?”
A single honest answer to this question can throw open the door to a better life, commensurate with our willingness to close the door on the old one.
http://www.fieldproject.net/realities/?s=field+theory
even if the giving up has the aim of making us available to something better.
The required identity shift that is the heart and soul of deliberate creating
can’t happen, then, until a person is ready
to accept responsibility for divesting himself or herself
of the old payoff.
Facilitating is the process we have for supporting people as they approach, then move
...into that altered identity state.
We can learn a lot about our life—especially about experiences that seem to dog us,
chronic problems in health or love or finances or any other area,
by looking at those things to which we’ve made ourselves available.
One need not look any further than the idea of natural selection
to understand how this process is a creative one.
No one has the power to make us available to anything. No one commands our willingness. Even if it costs us our life, we remain sovereign.
Victor Frankl, the famous founder of logotherapy and concentration camp survivor,
said that during his time in the camps, he saw people on many occasions
walk over to the electrified fence and say “no.”
Who we are, even in the most extreme circumstances, is up to us,
and nothing can keep happening to us without our agreeing, wittingly or unwittingly,
to remain available to it.
So, asking, “What are the things to which I’m making myself available?”
---
is a potentially life-altering question.
And here is a most interesting way to ask the same question differently:
“Where have I been settling for too little?”
A single honest answer to this question can throw open the door to a better life, commensurate with our willingness to close the door on the old one.
http://www.fieldproject.net/realities/?s=field+theory
