The Three Principles Discussion Thread

[NoSugar]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

I remember the first time I took off in an airplane on a yucky, gray, rainy day and we quickly passed through the dark clouds and into the beautiful sunny blue sky above. I was so shocked that the bad weather was only right at the surface and that it took only moments to pass through it.

After I started understanding the 3Ps, that image became the one that comes to my mind each time I’m feeling upset or worried or somehow distressed. I know that at the moment the “weather” is bad but that ultimately, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and I am fine. Our thoughts and subsequent feelings will always change, just like the weather.

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

"All we are is peace, love, and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we are not".-Jack Pransky

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

"The Little Book of Big Change" was an amazing book. It led me to a lot of insights. I have found another 3ps related podcast-"Insightful Conversations" with Del Adey-Jones. The episodes are only 30 minutes long. The episode with Bill Petit is a good one on mental health. It amazes me that just listening to people talk can have such a lasting impact on my life.

"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, Love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my life moves"-Nisargadatta Maharaj

[NoSugar]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

I agree, [MENTION=18464]JackieM[/MENTION]. This understanding has totally changed my life and yet it is so hard to explain to others how it works without sounding all woo-woo. Yet, there is nothing woo-woo about it. It really isn't more complicated than having a general understanding about how gravity works --- with similar benefits. Just like I don't think it is reasonable to simply step off the roof of a tall building, I no longer believe that everything I think is TRUE and that I have to respond to it. If I didn't understand gravity, every stumble and fall would seem like a personal attack on me by the universe, just like I thought all the slights and disapproval I made up were real. Thanks for the podcast link. I just love Bill Pettit and his understanding of all mental illnesses. Hope you're doing well, NS.

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

[MENTION=18725]NoSugar[/MENTION]-
Yes, it is hard to explain this understanding to others. I have gotten people to understand things on an intellectual level. It is the curtain-lifting, holy s***, life-changing insight that cannot be put into words. I remember the day I got Jack Pranksy's "Somebody Should Have Told Us!". I opened the book and read this:A Hidden Realization, As told by Gary Zukav

This is a beautiful story a Sioux friend told me. The Creator gathered all of creation and said, "I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality." The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the moon." The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find it." The salmon said, "I will hide it on the bottom of the ocean." "No. They will go there too." "The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the great plains." The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the earth and find it even there." Then Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said: "Put it inside them." And the Creator said, "It is done." For whatever reason, reading that was a game changer for me. I could barely contain my excitement. I showed it to other people.They just read it and handed the book back to me.

[NoSugar]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

That is a great story, [MENTION=18464]JackieM[/MENTION]! What a great way to think of it. I think I have that book and will go over it again. It is so interesting how you can hear or read something for the second or third time and suddenly is makes sense.

The response I've gotten from most people is dismissing it as an idea that "everything is relative" and that I'm saying nothing is real. I really ran into trouble when I claimed that Trump's presidency is a neutral event and that how we think about it creates our experience of it. My very liberal pals think this means I'm saying it is "ok" to cage immigrants. My response is, No, I think that is horrible. But clearly, other people are thinking it is just fine and just as I am very upset by our political situation, other people are pleased. To me that is PROOF that we are creating our own reality. When I hear that people on the other side are "living in a different world", I totally agree!!

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

[MENTION=18725]NoSugar[/MENTION]-
I recently heard "A circumstance is just a circumstance until you label it". Nothing could be more true.

[NoSugar]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

I get a daily email and today's hits on what we've been talking about:

Epictetus could not have summed up Stoicism better than when he said: “It’s not things that upset us, but our judgement about things.” What he meant was that the world is neither positive or negative, it is simply objectively indifferent. A hurricane is a hurricane. Striking gold is simply discovering metal in the ground. It’s our opinions of those events which decide that one is horrible and the other is a blessing.Of course, Epictetus was not saying there is no such thing as “good” or “bad,” at least as far as morality is concerned. While morality is a judgment, it’s an acceptable one when we apply it to actions that are within our control (that is, our own behavior). The trouble is that we can’t seem to keep these judgments contained to that area of influence. We make up categories and then try to organize the world into them...and are often miserable when fate doesn’t get the memo.
Death, of course, is the ultimate example. It’s neither good nor bad. It simply is. Each of us is going to die. That’s a fact. It’s not really a positive or a negative fact, particularly since it carries with it the end of our ability to have an opinion about it. Yet that doesn’t seem to stop us from worrying about it, from spending a lot of time trying to decide what it means and whether we like it or not.
How miserable this makes people! How many awful and stupid things they do to prevent it, from betraying their friends to missing out on enjoying life in misguided attempts to prolong their existence. As Epictetus said, “Death...is nothing terrible, but the terrible thing is the opinion that death is terrible.”
Hopefully you can chew on this a bit today. Death is not bad. It’s simply a fact. Indeed, everything is simply a fact. We’d be happier and more present if we could accept this. If we could stop fooling ourselves into thinking our opinions change anything (except to make stuff worse, most of the time).
No judgment. No need to label or categorize. Just take life as it comes.

[paulywogg]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

That is a great story, [MENTION=18464]JackieM[/MENTION]! What a great way to think of it. I think I have that book and will go over it again. It is so interesting how you can hear or read something for the second or third time and suddenly is makes sense.

The response I've gotten from most people is dismissing it as an idea that "everything is relative" and that I'm saying nothing is real. I really ran into trouble when I claimed that Trump's presidency is a neutral event and that how we think about it creates our experience of it. My very liberal pals think this means I'm saying it is "ok" to cage immigrants. My response is, No, I think that is horrible. But clearly, other people are thinking it is just fine and just as I am very upset by our political situation, other people are pleased. To me that is PROOF that we are creating our own reality. When I hear that people on the other side are "living in a different world", I totally agree!!

This is a great example NS, I have the opinion that my way is the right way but I guess I really is just how "I" react and view it

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

I just read "It's All In the Mind, You Know!" by Phil Hughes. He offers up many metaphors to help the reader see that thoughts are just thoughts. An easy read but very insightful.

[NoSugar]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

I just read "It's All In the Mind, You Know!" by Phil Hughes. He offers up many metaphors to help the reader see that thoughts are just thoughts. An easy read but very insightful.

Thanks for the recommendation! I am really enjoying reading it and getting new perspectives on how we operate :smile:!

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

[MENTION=18725]NoSugar[/MENTION]-

Glad you are enjoying the book. I love how different people have their own unique way of pointing to the same thing.
I never get tired of reading 3Ps material or listening to podcasts. I have listened to several talks by Bill Pettit in the past few weeks. I find his approach fascinating.

[NoSugar]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

[MENTION=18464]JackieM[/MENTION], I so wish my daughter, who is a mental health(??) care provider would "get" this! I love how Pettit admits he knew a lot about mental distress and illness but nothing about mental health. This understanding has made it so much easier to deal with the stuff of life. I rarely make up big stories about what other people are thinking or feeling about me or anything else anymore. I used to drive myself crazy with that business!

[JackieM]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

[MENTION=18725]NoSugar[/MENTION]-
I honestly don't know how/why I "got"this. I know you and [MENTION=16547]kuya[/MENTION] pointed me in the direction of the 3ps but I am not sure exactly what lifted the veil. It's like you put sticks of dynamite in the dam, something ignited them, and the dam crumbled.If I could only find the ignitor....

[lifechange]

Re: The Three Principles Discussion Thread

Hi again..
I've been reading from the Little Book of Big Change.. and there's a lot of good stuff to take in.
Here's a paragraph that hit home for me.. ""While we don't necessarily have any input into the thoughts or commands that appear in our awareness, we do have a say in whether or not we obey them. Neuroscientists refer to the ability to veto any thought that occurs to us as 'free won't'. The presence of urges (or any thoughts for that matter) is not our business--our free will cannot determine what shows up. But the choice to respect or act on those urges is where we do have some say. We have free won't. No matter how loud and powerful your urges are, you (via wisdom and your higher brain) make the behavioral choice. It may not feel like you have a choice at times, especially if you haven't fully seen that you in charge.. but the choice is always possible.""
I'm taking this out of context, in that the book is meant to be read from beginning to end.. not skipping around. But I do love the idea of free won't.. being able to veto thoughts/urges.