Perceiving things and situations differently

[Guest guest]

I LOVED reading this John..... I love personal stories, especially

ones that expand my ideas about the world around us..... ideas about

how other cultures do things differently.... we get so locked into our

belief systems and think they are the only way. I'd love to

read more of your experiences there......

 

Linda

" DrNature "

LawofAttraction (Newsletter)

1-DrNature

 

 

 

 

 

, John Kimbrough <johnckimbrough> wrote:

>

> I made my first journey to Indonesia in 1988.....It was a very

interesting experience for me....I was exposed to things that I had

not been exposed to before...At the time, it all seemed so new to

me....strange, fascinating, unusual.......Islam, simplicity, cold

water baths, wooden hotels and buildings, washing clothes in streams

and rivers........bathing and defecating in the same streams and

rivers........eating rice and vegetables all the time, lamb, no pork,

lots of chicken and fish..........Beautiful women with 8

children................lots of beaches, but no one swimming, and if

they went swimming, wearing their regular clothes, not swim

suits...Sarongs, mosques, people interupting visits and conversations

so they could do their prayers in the house.........Since I was in no

hurry and did not have to be anywhere except to catch the plane back

to Singapore on the last day of my visa, I took it very slow and easy,

following my heart....it was all an experience, the good and the

bad......I spent alot of time on buses and walked whenever possible,

knowing that if I got tired, I could always hop on a bus that came

by..............

>

> One day I was walking early in the morning and two young women,

probably in their late teens or early 20's approached me, walking down

the road to me, towards me.......Apparently they were coming from

their morning bath in a small stream............They were wearing wrap

around sarongs..What struck me was their subsequent action...One girl

took a shirt and covered her shoulders as she saw that I was

approaching..The other opened her sarong so that her underclothing was

visible to me, and then wrapped her sarong around herself...What

struck me about this was their completely different actions, though

they were from the same country, the same area, probably

friends........They perceived me and my approach to them in different

ways and acted on their perceptions of me.........

>

> This is how we live our day to day actions, based on our

perceptions..many times, many individuals are not aware of their

perceptions, do not question them or think about what motivated

them.......

>

> Through the practice of Yoga we become more aware of ourselves, what

we are thinking and doing...We start to questions it's

skillfulness.......This is not a journey of doubt/self-doubt.....it is

a journey of awakening to ourselves and others..................This

journey, like all, will have hard times, there may be pain, there may

be pleasure and excitement.................Some individuals do not or

can not make it.....It is too difficult for them to look at themselves

and the world in a different light.......... because we have to face

the fact that we have been or are wrong in some of our assumptions and

perceptions of ourselves and others...............

>

> When we encounter these feelings, these realizations, it is useful

to have someone to share with, who perhaps has been down the road

before, in life and in Yoga....Or just sit down and write, and post

our feelings or just keep them for ourselves.....................I do

not remember anyone really ever sitting down and telling me about life

and how it is, how it can be, how it should be....Buddhist and Yoga

scripture frequently refer to the mind as being our friend or our

enemy..............and nothing else as being really relevent...Of

course, we all want someone to love and accept us, to understand us,

but so many other individuals are dealing with the same issues that we

are, maybe it is unwise to expect that from others.......I, myself,

remember signs of love and encouragement, kindness and understanding

in the strangest places, for the quickest moment.............For many,

it can just be a smile and a nod.....In Yoga, we develop an inner

smile, that we can think of as being joyful

awareness............awareness of pure energy, of other's experiences,

of everyone's humaness...................we can make an inner and

outer connection that brings us strength and wisdom and

insight..................each day!!!!!!!

>

>

> Yours in Yoga,

>

> John

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> Send your FREE holiday greetings online at Greetings.

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