Personality
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2 AnswersDr. Charles J. Sophy, MD , Adolescent Medicine, answeredPeople lie to cover up and to avoid conflicts, condemnation, reprimands, punishment, criticism, judgment, ridicules, rejection, shame and embarrassment. However, they forget that speaking the truth can set them free from the oppression, confusion and negative consequences of lies.
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2 Answers
Your real or authentic self encounters your inner and outer worlds with awareness; your real self or authentic self does not encounter itself. There are ways, however, for the authentic self to recognize its own "tracks." Your real or authentic self is creative, aware of the present moment, is non-judgmental, and does not criticize or condemn itself.
Your authentic self is not that voice in your head that compares you to others, that tells you everyone else is to blame for how you feel, and that tells you that you are worthless and irresponsible. Your authentic self is the awareness that is aware of that negative voice in your head.
Meditation is one way to experience your authentic self. Since meditation is the practice of moving your attention to the here and now, and since your authentic self has the ability to focus your attention, you are being your authentic self as you purposefully meditate.
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1 AnswerDeepak Chopra , Alternative & Complementary Medicine, answeredThe secret cause of suffering is unreality itself. Recently I saw dramatic evidence of this in a very ordinary way. I chanced on one of those television programs where people who were born with physical deformities are given a free makeover using the full powers of plastic surgery, dentistry, and the beautician's art. On this particular episode, the people who desperately wanted makeovers were identical twins. Only one twin wanted to change her looks; the other didn't. As adults, the twins no longer looked exactly alike. The "ugly one" in a given pair had suffered a broken nose or damaged teeth or had put on extra weight. The dramatic thing for me was how minor these cosmetic defects were compared to the intense belief, shared by both twins, that one was extremely beautiful and the other distressingly ugly. The "ugly ones" admitted that not a day went by without comparing themselves to their "beautiful" siblings.
In this TV program one could witness all the steps that lead to suffering:- Overlooking actual facts
- Adopting a negative perception
- Reinforcing that perception by obsessive thinking
- Getting lost in the pain without looking for a way out
- Comparing yourself to others
- Cementing the suffering through relationships
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1 AnswerDeepak Chopra , Alternative & Complementary Medicine, answeredPain is a universal experience; therefore, it enters into every relationship. Nobody truly suffers alone, and even if you do everything you can to suffer in silence, you are having an effect on those around you. The reason that people find it so difficult to enter a healing relationship is that life in our family of origin often required a good deal of unawareness. We overlook what we don't want to see; we keep silent about things that are too difficult to discuss; we respect boundaries even when they put someone into a box. In short, the family is where we learn to deny pain. And denied pain is just another term for suffering.
Given a choice, most people would rather preserve their relationships than stop suffering. One sees this in abusive families where the victims don't speak up or walk out. (Some states have passed laws forcing the police to arrest domestic abusers over the protest of the spouses they beat up and torment. Without such laws, the victim sides with the abuser more than half the time.) A healing relationship is based on awareness; in it both partners work to break old habits that promote suffering. They have to walk a fine line because compassion means that you appreciate the suffering someone else is experiencing, as well as your own. Yet at the same time there has to be detachment, making sure that suffering, no matter how real, isn't the dominant reality. The attitudes that make for a healing relationship become part of a vision you hold for yourself and the other person. -
3 AnswersWilliam Stillman , Health Education, answered
Consciousness is a state of being in which one is alert, awake and aware of his or her self, relationships, environment, and sense of purpose in the world.
Consciousness can also pertain to its cousin, conscientious, meaning done according to conscience. When we are attuned to making selfless contributions for being self-knowledgeable, we elevate our consciousness by fulfilling our unique mission: to live to love.
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1 AnswerDeepak Chopra , Alternative & Complementary Medicine, answeredThere is a link between suffering and unreality. The way we forgetthe peace and clarity of "I am" can be broken down into fiveaspects. In Sanskrit these are called the five kleshas, the rootcauses of every form of suffering.
- Not knowing what is real
- Grasping and clinging to the unreal
- Being afraid of the unreal and recoiling from it
- Identifying with an imaginary self
- Fear of death
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2 Answers
Your ego lies to you about your worth and your responsibility. Your ego is built on the foundational notions that you are "not worthy" and you are "not responsible." In response, we spend our lives trying to be better than the next person, or thinking we are better than the next person, or thinking we are worse off than the next person, or that our life has no purpose or meaning, or that our life has more meaning than anyone else's.
When we believe our ego, we believe that others make us happy, or that that others make us angry, or sad. Then, on a deeper level, we resent others for controlling our emotional world. This makes positive relationships very difficult to maintain.
Most of us inhabit our ego to the degree that who we believe we are is our ego. But our ego is created and maintained by the attention paid to it and the belief afforded it by our authentic self. The ego is like the machines that try to take over their creators, as in the movie the "Terminator." The ego is meant to work for us, not replace us.