Waking up to STO living

[domwatts23]

I have started this thread because very recently I have gone through an extremely 'illuminating' change in my life and thought that some of what I have learnt may be of use to the forum. I am also eager to find out what others have to say on the subject.

During the last few years, i have 'kept myself to myself' concerning most subject matter of a 'controversial nature'. this is because when i first awoke to this kind of information several years ago and tried to share it i was treated with a great deal of derision by close friends (all part of the process!) so i began to go within myself and run all of the 'nobody understands me' programs (along with the inevitable 'why wont they listen!!!!' programs)

the most clear example of the way this kind of program has played out for me has been regarding my relationship with my father. he has always thought of me as extremely intelligent, yet having no common sense. one of the 'absent minded professor' types. any time i tried to talk about 'strange' ideas with my dad he would immediately 'switch off' and not listen, thus frustrating me. however, recently everything has changed.

at last, a large part of the 'beam' in my eye has been revealed. after several years of self observation with seemingly 'slow' progress (being miraculously completely oblivious to my obvious flaws), i have had what feels like a life changing breakthrough. funnily enough, networking was the key. it has shown me a simple truth which is so difficult to act upon consistently.

the truth is that for my whole life up until about a week ago, i have realised that i have literally not listened to people. i have seen that truly listening to people is so vastly different to how it is usually perceived that it is no wonder the world is in the state it is in. so often have i interrupted people because i THINK i know what they are saying, and people do this all the time. the funny thing i have seen since realising this is that even when it appears that somebody is saying EXACTLY something you already 'know', they always give a different, ILLUMINATING angle on it (obviously!!! i hear you shout!)

this post isnt going how i planned so i will just stop rambling and get to the bottom lines which i initially wanted to discuss:

- as soon as i showed my dad that i have FINALLY seen what he has tried to teach me all these years (you must get your physical life in order and stop flying around in the consciousness realms all the time), i literally saw him listen to me properly for the first time. ah, the irony!!!

- if we can truly SHUT UP in our mind and LISTEN to others AT ALL TIMES, every lesson we need to learn is plainly there to see (even if they do not think they are trying to teach you!)

- when somebody can see that you understand them, then they will listen to you. if they cannot see that you understand them, you have not considered externally properly and any effort to 'teach' anything is completely misguided.

- after attempting to set up a 'provisional, experimental' microcosm of an STO community at home, all housemates have realised that EVERYTHING is better with STO!

now i can move on to what i feel is a really important topic and is half of the motivation for this thread...

with regards to 'waking people up' - i have gone through more psychodramas than i would care to think about (as i know most people here have!!) and can now see much of what i could not before.

waking someone up needs not be abridging free will in any way. when people think of waking someone up, they assume this means giving them some information about the nature of the universe, or hyperdimensional realities, or conspiracy theories. it needs not be anything like this.

of course, as we all know, so many people have absolutely no desire to know about the laws of the universe or the structure of reality. thus, telling these people that higher dimensional entities are feeding off our energy is STS; you are not externally considering. i know this is obvious so far but bear with me!...

if your ONLY intention in attempting to 'wake someone up' is to help them improve their life, this is different to 'wanting them to know that the apocalypse is coming or that they are a slave'. even though we may feel that we have pure intentions when we try to tell people things like this, really it is projection of our own worries, fears etc. however, if you can see an area of someones life which could EASILY be drastically improved, (i.e. they have no 'common sense', like me) and you want to offer advice regarding this aspect of their life, is this STS???

An example is a close friend of mine. He is a very 'physical world' kind of person who is extremely hands on and practical, the opposite to me (well, the old me hopefully!! ) we have always got along well with one another, but in the last year our differences become painfully apparent and we began to grow apart. he was finding it difficult to relate to me as i was never externally considering and was always discussing 'high flying ideas' in an inaccessible way when he was around. so all the old programs set off again 'how can i wake him up, why doesnt he care' etc and no progress was made for either of us.

but! a week ago i had a very long conversation with him in which i made it clear to him that i could SEE the qualities which he has in abundance. (i have found that this is a good tactic to get someone to listen to you!!) then i proceeded to explain to him that i could see how much of 'an idiot' i am in this and that way, using examples and laughing at myself with him. then all that i said was that it would be a good idea for both of us to become slightly more like the other, and he agreed wholeheartedly and seemed excited by the idea! now each day he is teaching me to be practical and arrange my physical world properly, and he is asking me for advice regarding his inner life, for the first time.

reminds me of the fifth striving:

The fifth striving is always to assist the most rapid perfectioning of other beings, both those similar to oneself and those of other forms, up to the degree of the sacred Martfotai, that is, up to the degree of self-individuality.


rambling over now, i hope this came out how i intended, though i am now exhaustively used to not getting my point across!

 

[whitecoast]

I'm happy for the growth you've been aware of in yourself and experiencing. Sometimes it gets so hard to see progress on some occasions.

If we can truly SHUT UP in our mind and LISTEN to others AT ALL TIMES, every lesson we need to learn is plainly there to see (even if they do not think they are trying to teach you!)

I learned this a few years ago~ at the time I called it being a "selfish intellectual," because by listening attentively and learning things you were hoarding all the knowledge, while the poor speaker just heard their own words (or lack of understanding, as the case sometimes was) materialize from their thoughts, and didn't really learn anything. But listening is a very good practice to get into, even though it may scar our self-importance at times.

If they cannot see that you understand them, you have not considered externally properly and any effort to 'teach' anything is completely misguided.

I tend to disagree on this point just because some people are so narcissistically delusional that they are impossible to make heads or tails out of. In general though, yeah, people will reciprocate if you show sincerity in attempting to understand them. "Talk with people, not at them." ;)

waking someone up needs not be abridging free will in any way. when people think of waking someone up, they assume this means giving them some information about the nature of the universe, or hyperdimensional realities, or conspiracy theories. it needs not be anything like this. of course, as we all know, so many people have absolutely no desire to know about the laws of the universe or the structure of reality. thus, telling these people that higher dimensional entities are feeding off our energy is STS; you are not externally considering.

I think humility is an important part of this too. As much as we wish to bellow out these esoteric truths and mysteries, it is not suited for regular people for the most part. This often frustrates esoteric neophytes, who feel like they are not being given opportunities to help others, and hone their compassion and all that. But really, their self-importance blinds them to the ways they CAN help people.

For myself, the opportunities I am given to serve others more often than not involve dietary recommendations, being a human encyclopedia, some life coaching or psychological observations, and some EE if they have the patience to learn, and that suits everyone I genuinely help just fine. Whenever I feel like I'm not being appreciated by the universe for not being given more interesting tasks, I always come back to this quote:

[quote author=Carlos Castenada]
He [Don Juan] explained that one of the greatest accomplishments of the seers of the Conquest was a construct he called the three-phase progression. By understanding the nature of man, they were able to reach the incontestable conclusion that if seers can hold their own in facing petty tyrants, they can certainly face the unknown with impunity, and then they can even stand the presence of the unknowable.

"The average man's reaction is to think that the order of that statement should be reversed," he went on. "A seer who can hold his own in the face of the unknown can certainly face petty tyrants. But that's not so. What destroyed the superb seers of ancient times was that assumption. We know better now. We know that nothing can temper the spirit of a warrior as much as the challenge of dealing with impossible people in positions of power. Only under those conditions can warriors acquire the sobriety and serenity to stand the pressure of the unknowable."[/quote]

It's in helping people face and change the little things in their lives that provides the groundwork for greater leaps of will and self-mastery necessary for dealing with more macrocosmic problems. At least, that's what I take away from it. It's good to know that no effort toward making the world a better place, no matter how small, is wasted.

after attempting to set up a 'provisional, experimental' microcosm of an STO community at home, all housemates have realised that EVERYTHING is better with STO!

Go on..... I'm a little curious to hear what kind of changes and such were made or realized. :D

 

[anart]

It sounds like a very simple and very elusive realization finally dawned on you, domwatts, a realization that most people never, ever make. It is that you are not the most important person in every conversation/interaction. In other words, as Gurdjieff said, the key to happiness in the world is external consideration always and internal consideration never. From there, the possibilities are limitless.

 

[anart]

For myself, the opportunities I am given to serve others more often than not involve dietary recommendations, being a human encyclopedia, some life coaching or psychological observations, and some EE if they have the patience to learn, and that suits everyone I genuinely help just fine. Whenever I feel like I'm not being appreciated by the universe for not being given more interesting tasks, I always come back to this quote:

Whitecoast, I sincerely hope that you are not teaching EE. You are not a certified instructor and I'm pretty sure this has been brought up to you before...

 

[domwatts23]

thanks for your input anart, it feels as though you are exactly right. i am so grateful that i really feel like i understand what you have said, rather than it just being words. the 'simplicity' of the ego's illusion is startling.

 

[whitecoast]

Well I've just been showing the dvd and linking the online version of it to some friends and family that were curious about it. I'm not sure if that qualifies as teaching per se (and if you consider it so then I'll respect that request); in retrospect I may have just used the word to inflate my own false personality. Thanks for catching me on this.

 

[beetlemaniac]

I think I am starting to travel on the path that you are on domwatts23. I remember having been on and off the External Considering repeatedly, giving in to self-delusion/internal considering for long stretches of time. I think that only now I'm getting the real hang of it OSIT. I just had a phone call earlier and I noticed how I would constantly slip into Internal Considering from the triggers in her speech. When that happens things just felt much darker and gloomier. In this instance I felt she was being some kind of show-off talking about her son's great job and such. It's funny how it seems so natural and taken for granted, this internal considering. After stewing in that swamp for a while I observed myself and then brought my attention back to her, although it had to be done repeatedly as I could not help but keep considering internally.

 

[cubbex]

It's good to see you didn't go trough SCHIIIIISMM!! and that you just arranged things with your friend, you know, I tried to do the same with my father but he lies to me he was just a good father, and he didn even realized when he was hurting myself; so I just flew to my real home he was like a poison.

It sounds like a very simple and very elusive realization finally dawned on you, domwatts, a realization that most people never, ever make. It is that you are not the most important person in every conversation/interaction. In other words, as Gurdjieff said, the key to happiness in the world is external consideration always and internal consideration never. From there, the possibilities are limitless.

Indeed... indeed.

 

[RelaxBear]

I really enjoyed reading your post! Thanks so much for sharing..

- if we can truly SHUT UP in our mind and LISTEN to others AT ALL TIMES, every lesson we need to learn is plainly there to see (even if they do not think they are trying to teach you!)

Nice!
It can be good to see the purpose in others, the good in others.. and I think one can learn a lot from paying close attention to what people say in a certain situation, at a certain time, quite often it has fallen into place perfectly..even if to simply learn more of the nature of our situation, our reality here. I find that with some simple conversation, maybe a few questions, a lot of people have the power to remember these truths that lie in their souls already.. just clear away the smoke, the distractions for just a second.

I first had some experiences like this before when I thought about the nature of the Universe in a symbolic way; I wanted to be more like a Sun, propagating light and energy rather than just sucking and sucking up energy until just imploding on myself.. going into the natural direction of the energy of creation, supporting others..I would try and offer support instead of feeding my need to get my thoughts and beliefs out there and off my chest, when they might not necessarily want to hear it. But I guess it takes practice and patience since it can be so easily to fall into egotistical patterns all the time..I'm happy to hear of your progress.. :)

Cheers!!

 

[Iron]

I kinda have given up on waking up people.
At least as I used to do, in a concerted effort. Nowadays, If the opportunity arises, I just talk about something, never going into hyperdimensional territory. Mostly about psychopathy, cognitive science and science in general, and try to supply the other person curiosity as it arises.
Most of the time, I do ok, but I realize there is a moment here and there when I speak too much.

Im in the process of accepting that not everyone wants to walk all the way, or at least try.

Congratulations on you progress, domwatts.

 

[domwatts23]

You're right Iron, thanks for your post. I think the Cs are definitely right (even though i am now very wary of those two words being put together!) about 'wanting to wake up the whole world' being an STS attitude. Since changing my attitude from this (or trying!!!) I have, ironically, had many people trying to strike up conversations with me about waking up, rather than the other way round. Mostly people whom I never would have thought would say anything of such a nature to me. A good tactic I have found is asking them about themselves, about how they perceive themselves. Sometimes all that needs to be said is literally a sentence and they will start talking and talking about all these parts of their psyche which they completely forgot about, and then they will look at me as if to say....'What did i just say???'

Something I have also noticed is that sometimes when I become very introverted and experience a negative emotional mood, simply talking to other people about absolutely anything (i.e. letting their 'universe' guide the interaction) seems to make the negative emotions transmute almost instantly. Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[beetlemaniac]

Something I have also noticed is that sometimes when I become very introverted and experience a negative emotional mood, simply talking to other people about absolutely anything (i.e. letting their 'universe' guide the interaction) seems to make the negative emotions transmute almost instantly. Has anybody else noticed this?

Yeah I think I have felt somewhat similarly. I think it's about having less concern for self, and sacrificing my own desires to provide for others instead. I woke up feeling crabby this morning. I had my brother over and made breakfast for him, so delaying my own breakfast for his sake. I had to overcome my self-interested attitude and by doing so my negative mood just lifted away. But I think talking to others and letting them guide the conversation is also similar.

Although sometimes I find that when a person's "pathological" point of view comes into focus I do get uncomfortable. Then I need to practice self-restraint and not try to 'convert' the person into what I think is a "healthier" way of viewing the world. I have done that before and it just ends up being a war with my shadow projection on the other, which is a complete waste of energy. To go on a religious crusade to fight for my beliefs, that's just pathology in itself.