Free-Range Living

 

(longer 'freerange piece, following on from part 1)

Freerangin' on ---- Living Multi Dimensionally   

  Pt 2     'Expanding Individual Dimensions ---- '

Following on from the more general 'overview' part 1 section, part 2 focuses more on measures the indivjdual might take to better enable themselves to not only cope with a potentially not over helpful mainstream cultures, but also to be able to take positive steps to the fuller, more dimensional lifestyle - all 'grist to the mill' for freerangers - -----

  All other things being equal, it might well be that as a person travels through life they, by their own development, gain extral dimensions via expanded awarenesses through, say, gaining different experiences, with 'natural development' then happening. The individual when young may need the protection of 'being in the herd' but then as they progress, gaining more of their own individual internal strengths and values, (as opposed to those, say, imbibed from 'mass culture' (eg. via television adverts/programmes, social media)). There's an argument that modern life with its multitudinous array of 'messages', can be so 'intrusive' on the individual (compared with, say, Buddha's day), that it can be of help to the individual to take  'time and space' to consider 'own self support measures'.

Self support work :

Mindfulness Practice and Mechanics - locating self-work area

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 'All the holy words can count for nothing without action'  (Buddha)

If some of the pundits are right that many people are 'not their own true selves' but rather conditioned units of a conditioned society, then a 'de-conditioning' process (see below) could well be be of some use and importance -----to then leave a person free-er to explore their 'real persona', and to go in search of the same. A relatively simple and useful 'user friendly' process of mindfulness technique is fortunately available to help such a process, of seemingly increasing modern popularity, to then help a person come to know more their 'inner territory' and so increase their own 'diversity of being'. The technique and its 'mechanics are outlined below.

As a start, a practical way to put 'mindfulness' into action is to identify a less-than-productive personal trait, and whilst a person probably has a selection of productive traits, in this case it’s useful (to also help in the process of creating/strengthening objective self-assessment, and counter any 'non okness' anxiety), to select a trait considered to be ‘unproductive’, (and has a perfect 'unflawed' person yet existed?), such as, say, the  possible examples below : ---- 

( The idea of using an 'unproductive trait' is also to aim to develop more the ability to counter 'self perfection targetting', (adult females in the UK are said to 'beat themselves up' on average eight times per day), so heading in the 'increased reality' direction, in itself a potential 'de-conditioning' move. The process can be 'user friendly', private and taken at the individual's own pace --- or the individual can seek support via groups, books, net souces, mentors, and the like).

-  indecision

-  un-confidence

-  over-confidence

-  avoidance of problems

-  impatience

-  ‘rushing’ syndrome

-  greed'

-  predudice   

-  mean-ness

 - envy/jealousy

-  superiority stance/practice

-  hubris/over-active ego

-  over fixed mindsets

-  entitlement

and so forth ----

 - it's the individual's call ----

Such an approach aims to further acceptance of the reality fact that most - all? -  people are likely to have strengths and weaknesses, and that any 'perfection expectation' is likely to be inaccurate and unrealistic - a step towards strengthening 'real selfness'. The individual chooses an area relevant to themselves as the ‘area of self-work’, which may be ‘an undesirable trait’ or, for instance, a fixed mind set from, say, earlier years, but which is proving to be less than productive in later life ----- (eg. an over apologetic general approach in life).

Practising mindfulness self-work technique ------

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Taking say, the trait of ‘rushing to get things over with’, which may well in the longer term add to stress rather than relieve it, the individual identifies it (if relevant) as a ‘common trait’ and determines to address it. One way could be for the individual to ‘order’ themselves not to do it, not to 'rush'at things. This though can tend to have the effect of ‘putting a lid on it’, the potential problem then being that when pressure builds, the lid can then blow off, so no longer-term ‘fix’, plus  such a self-instruction is in itself ‘mind-generated’ , and so potentially strengthening rather than freeing any mental 'rules'.

 The alternative approach is to use a ‘mindfulness technique’ application, in which a ‘watching’ approach is used. When the ‘rushing’ trait appears, instead of automatically reacting into ‘rush’ mode, and/or reacting self-critically, the individual aims to instead ‘watch’ the trait occurring, not automatically reacting, and getting then into ‘rush’ mode, (and if it does occur, again, watching it happen), plus aiming to take a 'level' ‘non-judgmental’ approach (and it tends to be the mind that does the 'critical judging'), but rather taking an 'allowing' approach, the ‘it is as it is’ approach, which also has the advantages of encouraging/aiding wider awareness, acting as an aid for relaxing and helping to build increased 'self-care', plus developing the ability to be able to take a more a realistic 'non perfection' outlook.

 

This can take some practice, but the effort can be well worth it. By heading into ‘watching’ mode, the individual gives themselves (i.e. already being ‘kinder’ to themselves) that bit of space and time to then be able to make their own decision (‘real self’ operation), and may decide, say, not to react at all, just ‘watching’, or to adopt a differing response. Such a process will inevitably take a bit of time as it’s likely that the trait being addressed will be ‘well grooved’, and repeat automatically, but gradually over time via repeated mindfulness practice, will then lose it’s power, and the individual thus empowers themselves, now not being ‘at the mercy’ of such automatic behavioural responses (often called 'the tyranny of the mind') . The fact that the individual is 'taking action', with the real promise of future 'goodies', can be in itself a positive factor in the process. The process of consciously aiming to 'allow' rather than be 'self-critical' can help build a self-support ethos, one that's less self-critical and so 'being kinder to self '------ The mind can have a tendancy to want quick results but this is a process where repetition is likely to be needed  -----so the individual can 'give themselves time' (and the mind itself and its processes can be 'watched' to self-enlightening effect --- it can be surprising to realise at some stage how much control via pre-determined mindsets the mind exerts -----

 

'Patience a virtue - ?'

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Another example could be that of facing the trait of ‘impatience’, which could for instance stem from people being in the position due to cultural conditioning of feeling they have to be ‘instantly perfect’ (people can even get 'cancelled' these days --- ?! - the quality of mercy not over-strained --? ).  Again when impatience is experienced, the individual doesn’t now seek to judge or censor it, but rather ‘watches’ it occurring, without then automatically heading down the impatience behavioural path (the 'watching' brief helps in itself with stopping the 'automatic' response).

 Nothing else has to happen unless it’s decided that an alternative option is taken – the act of just watching repeated occurences rather than responding automatically, and being self-critical, then gradually reduces the power of such an automatic trait to control the individual, a powerful trend which further down the line can lead to an important change. The mind no longer then will be able to operate autonomously; rather it will then have become the ‘servant’, not the ‘master’, and the individual's  then taking a big step forward in terms of feeling more their own inner authentic strength, gaining greater awareness, and advancing along the ‘real self’ journey --- and as the Tolle quote (below) indicates, which can lead to an important event for the individual ----- In effect, the individual is freeing her/him self from the 'tyranny of the mind' and its commands to the individual, which could be called 'self freedom'. (Tolle also suggests it's a/the most important feedom for the individual ------.

 

The autonomous power operation of the mind has as above been labelled ‘the tyranny of the mind’, said to be a common condition in which the mind is in effect in control, a 'danger' then being that it can apply judgements formed in the past but not necessarily apt for current conditions, and  can act as an impediment to 'living in the now'. Mindfulness  practice can help the individual be more aware of such situations then over time 'change the record' and ultimately leading to the more 'real self' situation, as Eckhart Tolle eloquently explains in the quote below from his book  'A New Earth : Awakening to Your Life's Purpose'  :

'Awakening is a shift in conciousness in which thinking and awareness seperate ------ instead of being lost in your thinking, when you are awake, you recognise yourself as the awareness behind it. Thinking then ceases to be a self-serving autonomous activity which takes possession of you and runs your life. Awareness takes over from thinking. Instead of being in charge of your life, thinking then becomes the servant of awareness ------ '

There is a notion sometimes expressed via 'spiritual guidance', that the individual needs to have a dramatic 'life crisis', to then be in a sufficiently open state to progress to the 'awakened state'. Maybe though, more modern practices such as the mindfulness technique, with its 'mental freeing function', can facilitate the same process, in that it can encourage and aid the individual in a supportive way to appraise themselves reasonably objectively, and to work too to then be able to travel beyond restrictions and conditions such as any 'mind tyranny' - ? A key to the process has to be that it is self-governed, self-motivated. self-undertaken and self-guided (unless assistance is freely sought) -----  It's the individual's call ----- 

 

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Further self support ------ 

Self Expansion - via helpful self-work to help widen 'mental horizons', to then experience ' further dimensions'

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 Folks have probably never lived in a period such as the modern one, with a plethora of E-messages, adverts, social media activity and the like, many of them commercial, not only having a potential 'clogging up mind' effect but, often being also of an 'influencing' nature leaving then less room and impetus for the individual to 'make their own mind up' and to be able to 'practice their own strength', as not a few authors have pointed out --- -----  Add in the fact that the miniscule, powerlesss individual faces more 'large forces' (eg large commercial firms, 'large' government, large 'other eg. religious organisations) than ever before, and so can experience a 'dis-empowering effect', as again more than a few commentators have suggested, with then the individual likely in need of ' mental spring cleaning' and 'internal strengthening' before being able to take on board further self-productive processes (this process would appear to take place for many as life proceeds ---- ). 

 

Fortunately then the modern and much used 'mindfulness process' (as above), as well as 'mental de-conditioning' (see below), can be of considerable help, particulary in terms of opening up/freeing the mind and so potentially adding further dimensions ----- and facilitating the ihe individual's right to 'tread their own path' ---

 

‘De-conditioning’ self ------- 

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Without any ‘de-conditioning’, mental ‘spring cleaning’ processes, a person’s mind could well be full of ‘fixed’ mindsets from childhood, from parents, from siblings, from peers, from schools, from colleges/universities, from TV/radio sources, from social media  - and the rest, and from of course ‘own self’ -  quite a lot of ‘mental influencing’ in fact, with often no doubt strong modern commercialisation and 'mainstream conforming' content, and with a reasonably strong likelihood of picking up biases along the way ? (and now too there are people who specifically set themselves up as ‘influencers’---- and significant pressures to think certain ways, (or be 'cancelled' ---- (!))). Thought-patterns and mindsets can have the tendency to become ‘fixed’, whereas a more open, flexible mind is said to be conducive to ‘real-self’ development progress; there may be the need of a sort of  needed ‘rewind’ move to get to ‘open mind’ position where potential access to ‘expanded awareness’ can take place.  

(Zen people talk about developing ‘beginner’s mind’. Another possible move could be the consciously  'parking' of the current mind sets to one side, as it were, and thereby leaving a 'doorway' for new aspects to enter -----)

 

Some more useful example  'mental spring cleaning' moves might be :

– taking a consciously independent stance and looking at current 'fixed' thoughts/mindsets ‘separately’ watching them as they occur (similar to mindfulness work). Looking at too where they might have originated from, how ‘fixed’ they are and how repetitive they are, aiming at this stage to avoid any habit of judging them.

 -  repeated mindset watching, whilst not over engaging with them, can then reduce the strength of the mental activity, as can then questioning their validity/non-accepting their 'automatic' validity.

- looking at the ‘where are we now’ position and if that’s different to some of the 'historical'  mindsets, and if these reflect the  ‘real self’, or maybe they should be then redundant----- (or --- vice versa, reclaiming past valuable mindsets/values 'lost' in modern days).

- deeper reflecting to determine and clarify ‘real-self’ inner values, what ‘moves’ the individual - the ‘heart’ responses probably being particularly important  (some find that writing a ‘personal’ (and private) journal can help in this process).

- identifiying any acquired mainstream culture stuff which might clash with inner ‘real self’ values (eg. not feeling 'in tune' with whatever mainstream messages -for examples a political party, a social leader, world events. a social medium, 'big' money borrowing trends).

 

- assessing current mainstream culture’s level of  ‘individual influencing’, potential lack of 'individual nurturing' ----

Useful Ploys ---- 

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 One de-conditioning ‘ploy’ can be, as above, to use the ‘bye-pass’ method – existing thought-patterns and mindsets can be repetitive, so the idea is to accept them re-occurring but then ‘by-pass’ them (or let them ‘slide by’), not ‘hooking into’ them, which in itself can be useful in terms of building a stronger ‘real-self’, at the same time ‘dis-associating’ mindsets beyond their ‘sell-by’ date (some persistance is useful as they can tend to repeat.  This process is essentially the same as the mindfulness process : a realistic 'being where it's at' move, accepting any ‘less-than-perfect’ current 'realistic' position to then over time effect change).

Thinking and thoughts, due to much practice, can get to be too prevalent, too fixed and too repetitive at times   - another useful ploy can be to ‘tell them to shove off’ (politely or otherwise ---- ), which can also be a ‘real self’ strengthening move, and one that can be particularly useful in dealing with troublesome thoughts. This process can also likewise strengthen the sense that thoughts ‘are just thoughts’, and that they don’t have to be ‘permanent features’.

 ( the early sections of Eckert Tolle's book 'The Power  of Now'  (see above and bibliography below) focus on this aspect)

 

 Fixated ---- ‘

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Fixed minsdets, by their very nature,  repeat, so a system that takes account of this is needed, then gradually reducing the strength of the mindset ( rather, than, say, making up more fixed 'rule' thoughts such as 'I musn't think like that'). This is exactly what mindfulness practice seeks to do, in that every time the mindset crops up, the individual is encouraged just to ‘watch’ it occurring, resisting the urge to follow the mind’s urging, in this case, to be automatically critical of self, which then also has the useful function of allowing ‘self-nurturing’ and self-compassion', ('building self-strength'), besides encouraging and enhancing awareness beyond mental fixations ------

Support ----- 

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There can too be considerable support for the individual engaged in ‘de-conditioning’ from the culture itself. An interesting TV series (PBS America channel) for instance, was, entitled ‘Hacking Your Mind’, with the by-words :

‘A lot of the time we think we’re making careful, individual decisions. But how many of these choices are made on autopilot, and how often is this exploited through marketing?’  

Bill Bryson, a can-be thought-provoking author, states in his book ‘Notes from a Big Country’, that the average American views on average 1,000 commercials per week, and by the time someone is 18, they will on average have viewed 350,000 television adverts, all of which trying to influence minds. 

There’s now plenty of support material available via books or net in the area of helping and supporting the individual, such as, say, books /net content on mindfulness practice , 'simple living', personal spirituality and the like, offering often useful significant encouragement to people. (see bibliography below) 

 

‘Pithy Quotes --- ‘

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Another useful area of support can come in the form of quotations. Some examples are quoted below :

‘Another block to genuine happiness is being caught in the thinking mind (egs. lamenting over the past, worrying about the future). Living in our heads, we nurture the 'small mind' of self-centeredness, and it literally guarantees our unhappiness. As though our identification with small-self recedes, (eg. via mindfulness experience), and we become increasingly 'present', we gradually discover who we truly are ('real-self') - our natural being of connectedness and love ----- ‘

( The Authentic Life, (book),  Ezra Bayda )

Offering too another useful effect/benefit : over time growing the 'small mind' into the 'bigger' mind.

‘In the end such a (‘consumer culture’) civilisation can only produce a ‘mass man’, incapable of choice, incapable of spontaneous self-directed activities, docile, disciplined to monotonous work ------ increasingly less self-responsible --- governed then mainly by conditioned reflexes’.

( The Sane Society,  (book),  Erich Fromm )

Looking like the opposite to a ‘freeranger' individual - ?

‘On the individual level the toll for the loss of  spirituality is an impoverished, alienated and unfulfilling way of life and an increase in emotional and pyschosomatic disorders ----- ‘

( Stanalav Grof, founder : ‘Transpersonal Psychology’)

An interesting exploration area in terms of increasing dimensions : 'Has man 'thrown the baby out with the bathwater' by rejecting spirituality - ?'

and not to leave ‘the great man’ , an advocate of 'individual spirituality', out :

‘Work out your own salvation, don’t rely on others. If you find no-one to support you on your journey, walk on alone.’

   (Buddha)

Supportjng  a healthy variety of ‘individual independence travel’ from a 'top man' ----------

Considering the 'influencing' forces massed against the individual, a bit of help and support for the individual themselves is useful - essential even, maybe ----

 

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 More 'Self' support ----------

' Accepting self ------- '

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 ‘Acceptance of 'true/real self' is a key step to progress’

  (after : Jack Kornfield  ‘After the Ectasy, the Laundry’  (book) )

Even in today's times, in which any sign of 'negativity' can often seem to be 'unwelcome, as far as is possible, the next stage can still then be one of furthering the process of ‘accepting self’, complete with unproductive traits, imperfections, and the like, (has the 'perfect' person been yet invented?), even though there may well be powerful cultural forces/influences seeking to alternatively sway the individual.   Social sensitivities can of course be important but at this stage they’re put ‘on the back burner’ as the current focus is on individual progress. Practising ‘mindfulness practice’ (see earlier) can itself cultivate a self-nourishing greater self-acceptance process for the individual, which in turn can then have a further ‘socially positive’ effect. 'Perfection targetting' within a culture can of course act within an individual to develop mindsets such as 'I shouldn't be as I am, I should be as the perfection targetting is suggesting (eg.s looks, body shape, lifestyle, wealth etc) creating then 'mind desire to be 'elsewhere', and not in the current reality, and also tending to deny the essential resource - i.e. time - to get to the 'perfect' slot, altogether a recipe for diappointment, frustration and dissatisfaction - ?

 

 There may though be some resistances for people in identiying for instanve an 'imperfect trait and accepting they are ‘not ok’, which maybe can be linked to a type of ‘mass’ insecurity' such as in resistances to facing negative situations – until recently mental illness has culturally had for instance the ‘no no’ tag in the UK. Fortunately more effective and accommodating approaches are appearing – Prince William of the UK recently stating for instance ‘it’s ok to be not ok’ - in other terms it’s ok to have imperfections if that’s the reality, and to not have to pretend to be perfect or fake ‘ok-ness’.  To get to ‘OK’ position ‘Z’, the journey starts at un ’OK (‘imperfect’) position ‘A’ - it can take time to develop ‘ok’ ness and the self-work mindfulness technique involved in journeying for instance allows for that and is also encouraging and supporting of the individual, building ‘real self’ strength in the process ---- self-work that can directly increase and improve self-acceptance, then potentially leading to a fuller 'real self' realisation.

Cultures that have been historically considered to be ‘naive and backward’ may have in fact had more practical wisdom than perceived. Young Native American males were for instance actively helped by their culture to attain personal strength, spirituality and courage by undertaking a series of ‘supported’ trials.

This author experienced a breakdown due to conditions of prolonged mental stress, made in retrospect though considerably more taxing to be able to accept and deal with due to the limited social outlook at the time (i.e. mental illness/breakdown was a social ‘no no’ state). The ‘negativity countering’ help, direction and support over time of an understanding mentor (via book – see bibliography) then proved to be a vital part of recovery and re-build -------

The ‘overarching’ power of the prevailing social environment maybe though shouldn’t be underestimated, as the quote below can help to illustrate :

Carrie Fisher, a former American actor, now passed away, gave a telling comment :

‘You wouldn’t know real care doesn’t exist in Hollywood, as everyone is so good at faking it’    

The ‘working on self’ route though can help significantly to deliver authenticity ---- and the mindfulness process of locating and accepting a personal trait that’s less than perfect can be a useful, and not too drastic, way in to effective greater self-acceptance, and in the process encouraging the acceptance of ‘life realism’, potentially then leading to gaining authentic compassion via self-compassion. As the individual then proceeds with effective self-work to change from a less to a more productive outcome, positive returns such as increased confidence, self-respect, lower stress levels and inner strength can be gained, whilst any inhibiting power of the mainstream culture is then more limited, more 'countered'. This could be likely a similar process to that which can occur 'naturally' as people progress through life, but can also get 'hindered' via modern cultural life aspects  ---- 

 

‘Slow and Simple’ ---

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Further help for the individual from the incessant ‘raz mataz’ and pace of modern life, often, say, causing considerable mental activity and at times getting in the way of ‘self-acceptance’, can be had in undertaking simple meditation practice, for say, 15 to 30 minutes a day. Simple it maybe but often not quite so in practice as the individual may well be starting from a point of busy mental activity. The idea is at its simplest to sit in as relaxed a mode as far as is possible and let the self sort of ‘sink down’ into the relaxation, again as far as is possible, letting any busy mental activity occur, as it's likely to, but then 'pass by/through', accepting, as far as possible, that due to mental activity often being a long-term norm condition, it is likely to try to 're-assert' during the meditation period. This too can be 'watched' -----  

 

'Letting time pass ---- '

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 Mental activity will likely be present, and the individual is invited to accept this but rather than being fully involved with it, or being self -critical because of it, (seemingly a common mental process), rather to start the process of ‘watching’ the mental activity happening, and particularly where the mindset is ‘automatically’ critical and/or demanding. This can involve a degree of difficulty initially, but over time as some physical and mental relaxation occurs, the process can become progressively more productive - ‘persistance paying ---’. It can be useful to employ a helpful process such as being aware of breathing, so that when attention slips due to ‘mind wanderings’, it can be re-directed back on to the breathing activity. Another likely possible occurrence is that the mind can often desire ‘fast results’ - but this is not a ‘fast result’ process, and so it helps then to 'see' the mind’s wanting (unrealistically) fast results but then to ‘discount’ it (or ‘by-pass’ it), which also can again then help to strengthen/build ‘ real self’ power.   

Some would no doubt suggest that activities such as,say, spending time alone in conducive environments (eg.quiet countryside) can help to quieten/slow down mental activity - another possible productive activity ---- Some may well feel it helps to participate in helpful groups - for. say, mindfulness practice and/or meditation. Others may prefer the help offered by,say, one-to-one mentoring, whether in person, or as in the author's case, by other means such as books, 'e' communications, videos, and the like. (some levels of persistant mental activity may need professional asistance ---- ).

 

To briefly re-cap on some of the possible self-help moves :

 -------- practising 'mindfulness' technique

 -------- practising 'mental spring cleaning'

 -------- reading positive mindfulness/self-help material

 -------- reading 'support' words eg apt quotes

 -------- joining support groups, getting mentoring 

 -------- practising 'slow down' moves such as meditation  

 -------- 'alone' time etc 

 

Again, the 'doing' of self-help practices can have its own positive effects ---- 

 

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'Spiritually speaking ----- '

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(For those who may be interested in/drawn to exploring personal spiritual dimensions ----: )

The spiritual side can maybe be pretty tricky, in that there's not much concrete about it, in the sense that individuals are themselves encouraged to travel 'the spiritual way', to then discover for themselves that they in reality, could be 'spiritual beings' having an earthly sojurn - ? (some spiritual sources suggest for instance that earth life is the forerunner to the main event, life in the spiritual sphere, and exists to help people to develop their spiritual side ---- ) Some rational, control- minded folk might well be somewhat sceptical at this, one or two of which have put their opposition to 'spiritual life' forcibly out in print - but, how do they know so 'definitively' - ? A couple of writers put it somewhat succinctly :

'The problem with the scientifically minded  ---- is what they call 'reason' and 'right thinking' is not rational at all, it is simply the rationalisation of the 'spiritually flat earth' of their own inner world. Since they experience nothing transcendental or divine, they deduce there is nothing, which is actually just negative credulity, not science.'   

  (John Anthony West, American writer)

' The human ego can tend to resist non-rationality due to its perceived ephemeral nature'   (Spiritual mentor on net)

Zen people argue the case for keeping an 'open mind' - they call it 'beginner's mind', and not necessarily easy to do in cultures where, as one commentator said, there's so much 'media traffic', that it can be hard to retain 'common sense'. The strong emphasis on rational, scientific thought over recent decades has seemingly convinced some that 'scientific truth' is the 'totality' - John White (above quote) would not agree, and people who've experienced what's called 'a spiritual awakening', quite a few by all accounts, would likewise be with  John White on this one. It's suggested that the fundamental cause of fixed 'black and white' views, which can cause 'diversity' issues in 'dynamic life', is man's 'natural' insecurity, which some suggest, can only really be fully allayed by the individual 'finding their true selves' ('self-realisation'), and which involves taking a journey of 'self-discovery/development/awareness' ------ If this is the case - often, it's said, felt 'intuitively', - and who knows definitively? - could be good 'free-ranging' territory - ?

 ' Because quite a few modern cultures appear to be fairly preoccupied with 'wealth and power' , young, developing people, it's argued, don't necessarily get brlliant conditions in which to 'develop naturally'.   (Anon)

 Those alleged 'heathens', Native Americans (formerly referred to as 'Red Indians'), were apparently adept in this respect, in that it's said they set-up well designed and supported challenges and quests for their young people, so that they could then have the opportunity of 'taking the journey' and 'learning for themselves', to then develop 'naturally' ---- ( western-style cultures have tended to go more for 'mental conditioning' of people - --).

 

'On the 'self-realisation' journey - Is there the expanding dimension of 'personal spirituality' to be found?' ------ 

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 There seems to be increasing reports of folk encountering an authentic spirituality dimension as a stage of their personal journey. The 'personal spirituality' area can be interesting when considering  'further dimensions', even if it's tended to fall out of fashion in recent times, particulary maybe in the materially- focused west. In more ancient times apparently, the gaining of a spiritual dimension was considered to be an important personal, individual journey, but then seemingly taken over by the 'organisation' approach of religious orders. In more recent times there has been something of a revival in spiritual matters, the thinking that maybe the 'baby may have been thrown out with the bathwater', in terms of any religious decline in western-style materialistically-based cultures, and coinciding with a revival of the idea that the real esssence of spirituality is accessed by individuals rather than via, say, organisational promotion.. There seems to have been too something of a revival of the sense that 'man' is essentially a spiritual being, having, for reasons of spiritual/soul development, a relatively brief sojurn as a human being on earth ----  

'Yer pays yer money, and takes yer choice --- '  

 'For a person to reach full 'self-realisation', their soul needs to be touched'   (Silver Birch, spiritual guide)

 

'As nature intended ---- '

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Some folk have a strong feel for nature and the importance to live life in accord with nature and 'natural law'. Those that have travelled a good way on this path tend to report that life can become 'smooth and easy' when the individual is in full flow in conjunction with such natural energy forces, and that there's a feeling that ' this is how it's mean't to be'. Like a few areas, it's not staightforward to pin down, in that such impulses seem to come from an 'innate'  source, rather than, say, a 'mind logical' focus, which of course makes it difficult to 'make the argument' for such a 'natural living' process, especially maybe in such rational, logical cultural times ---- and particularly as a process called 'spiritual awakening' can seemingly often be involved, whereby the individual over a period of time (or more suddenly), can become more spiritually orientated, and less materiallistically geared (as again, can seemingly happen as life progresses).

 

 Spiritual-based folk  tend to suggest that 'spirit' is the 'main' life force (and 'matter' a subservient variety), and that 'man' has a 'natural connection' with other life forms, something David Attenborough (well-known UK naturalist) also alluded to with his comment that man is related to all other forms of animal life, in that there are common ancestors ----- and that at times some of the feelings/sensations that people can experience can originate from outside themselves - from 'spirit guides' for instance. Who knows for sure? Can anyone claim to have 100%'solid knowledge' about such 'indefinite' areas, which maybe then have been 'underplayed' in rational, logical 'head orientated' times -?  One of the reasons put forward to explain why spiritual matters are so 'indeterminate', is that it is so in that the individual has then to strive within themselves to gain true spiritual experience and faith - they can't just 'imbibe' it from other sources, a book, say ----- it needs to be what is generally referred to as 'direct experience'. Those that do gain an authentic spiritual side presumably then gain considerable 'extra dimension' - ----

  Considering modern western style cultures have often in recent times become secular, with religion, formerly a prominent force, then having to take more of a 'back seat, it came as something of a surprise when the results of a relatively recent survey of adults in the UK, revealed that to over a fairly massive 80+% of them, spirituality was an important area. Maybe 'mass' culture has, in its eagerness to travel down an ever-increasing materialistic route, mis-read its constituents - ? It may be not too surprising that religion as such has tended to be sidelined, as a reaction, for instance, against the previous 'heavy conditioning' style that religious organisations tended to employ (in the UK for instance) to 'spread the word' - ? Another influence may too have been the proliferation of 'material goodies' that have become available in recent years, offering an increased 'seduction' factor - ? Not particularly surprising then, that religious conditioning should ultimately be rejected, nor the idea that there could have been something essential ('personal spirituality') also lost, the 'baby thrown out with the bathwater' -? 

 All potentially interesting stuff, with the take on spirituality appearing to differ considerably from, say, modern everyday materialistically- focused living, so it's probably worth aiming to highlight some of the key aspects of 'living spirituality', as found on the net, then individuals can assess for themselves any relevance to them for their own lives.

 (it's taken as read that certain levels of material provision are of course necessary to support life)

 

   Examples of spiritual aspects/traits/ (taken from net sources) can be :                                                    

                                       _  people are essentially 'spiritual beings' having a human experience (rather than the reverse)

                                      -_  an awareness of greater/'higher' forces, and their own, everyday living 'smallness' in comparison

                                      _ a level of reverance for their environment, nature and 'natural existence'

                                      _ a 'caring' mindset, related to the above factor, extending to their own self , to others and to the                                                 environment

                                      _ a mindset valuing life and so-called 'ordinary' circumstances eg, family ties/everyday living, animals

 

     It could be then that the spiritual person is on a different track than the modern materialistically motivated 'mainstream', certainly some of the spiritual traits indicate a person with a 'moderate' approach, and probably less competitive and more socially-orientated than modern culture generally promotes - ?  Another relevant feature that seems to crop up quite a lot is that often an individual's active start on the spiritual path is often triggered by a crisis in their lives, in which they presumably become more actively aware that they are 'small' and that their abilities to handle life's situations can be limited. Such a situation can then lead to a 'spiritual awakening' in the individual, which again can apparently be somewhat traumatic, in that the individual starts to feel quite different to her/ his former self, and to others around them  (there are now 'spiritual emergency' help sources available on the net to help those experiencing such change). An interesting aspect for those of the 'freeranger' bent seems to arise : 'could the individual's 'spiritual path' be a/the route to personal fulfillment - ?'

    A more 'general' picture of the spiritual area is given below, taken from a book which transcribes the spiritual talks given via a spiritual medium (i.e.on earth) by a being known as a spiritual guide, and living in the 'spiritual sphere', a said-to-be 'higher' level' sphere than that of earth. The section below gives a brief, 'potted' version of the spirit guide's information :

                                      _ earth is a learning and testing ground for the 'main event', life in the spiritual sphere 

                                     _ karma' is 'alive and well' - one reaps what one sows (i.e even if it may at times not  appear so)

                                     _ material capital (eg. wealth) is temporary, spiritual capital is permanent

                                     _ the individual's freewill is sufficient to either embrace or reject the spirit source, but not unlimited

                                     _ 'real' spirituality is an individual-gained state, rather than an 'organisational' organised state, and is                                            deliberately less 'immediately attainable' in 'concrete' form

                                     - 'organised religion's' conditioning (of individuals) style has not been particularly effective in western-                                            style cultures                                

                                        and :

                                      - there appears to be liitle/no explicit knowledge about the exact nature of the 'Great Spirit',                                                        Mohammed, God, univeral law/energy ------

   This side of 'life', the spiritual side, is of course pretty different to 'ordinary life as we know it' and 'suffers' from the aspect that there's very little 'concrete' to do with it, which could be a reason why some folks reject it.  John Anthony White's quote, see above/ below, though, can indicate a potential problem in following a 'rejection' course of action, in that a rejecting individual might be being disadvantaged by not having had any personal experience of 'divine energy', and hence maybe 'throwing out the baby with the bathwater' - ? Some earlier, so-called primitive societies  organised participative events designed to let their younger generations experience for themselves such 'non-concrete' forces ----. The general idea is that authentic spirituality, divine energy and the like are only available to be a 'direct experience' at the individual level, and so then is a live 'holistic' experience of the individual. This is apparently one reason why it's a 'non-concrete' area, as if it's a 'directive' or 'teaching' it's at 'mind' level as against the fuller 'direct experience' level, and so will not provide the essential authentic 'internal' experience to the individual.

 Certainly people operating mainly at, say, 'everyday' awareness levels, much of the above may seem somewhat 'far fetched', especially as the current and previous cultures have been strongly 'logically' geared with non-logic areas (eg. personal experience/intuition) not being over represented within 'mass' culture, and the area of spirituality being 'non-concrete', again apparently purposely with the aim of folk needing to 'take their own journey' and 'build their own faith'.

 The 'problem' for some - many? - is  this lack of proof or evidence that there is, in 'concrete' terms, for this very different view of 'life on earth' - it is rather a matter of 'faith'- along with the strong 'materialism' focus of quite a few mainstream cultures. In scientific, rational-thinking times, such a lack of 'evidence' appears to have been quite a problem for some prominent authors, who take the position that such 'lack of faith' and lack of concrete evidence, demonstrates a non-event. As before, the author John Anthony White sees it otherwise and presents a logical argument to support his viewpoint :

   'A problem with the statistically-minded ----- is what they call 'reason' and 'right thinking', is not rational at all --- it's simply the rationalisation of the 'spiritually flat earth' of their own inner world. Since they experience nothing transcendental or divine, they deduce there is nothing, which is actually negative credulity, not science'.

  (John Anthony West,  American writer)

(This author has struggled with the 'personal spirituality' aspect (as he could suspect he's mean't to do), but has been unable to dismiss it due to experiences that proved to be inexplicable via ordinary 'material-based' analysis --- ---- and the experience of 'life crisis' initiating 'spiritual awakening' --- )

Freerangers ---- and spirituality-----

-----------------------------------------------

   From the above listed aspects of spirituality, there are one or two of maybe particular potential relevance to freerangers. The notions that 'spirit' is 'King', matter the 'servant'; spirit is permanent, whilst matter's temporary,  can link with the idea that's cropped up relatively often in the freerange pieces - that is, money in reality is better as a 'means', not an 'end'. Remembering again that good ol' boy Somerset (UK) farmer, saying :

 'you know what I think me boyo, ah thinks money be a good servant, but a bad master'. 

The spirit 'guidelines' would then seem to concur to some extent with this 'freerange' outlook, and even to some degree at least, help to 'validate' it, maybe needed in such strongly 'money-focused' times - ? 

 Then there's the idea that humans are essentially spirit beings having a 'testing' human-formed relatively brief existence to find for themselves, and then burnish, their spiritual side - the spirit guide book for instance, indicates that 'hard' and challenging times can be useful/needed for people to face, to develop and learn from - the same could come, as, say, 'building personal resilience', from a 'freerangin'' manual - ?  The 'spiritual manual' indicates too that 'spirit' is present in all forms of life, and that its source is basically beneficial and supportive, but as far as people are concerned, endowed with a measure of freewill, there's a need for the individual to be 'cooperative' with the flow of 'spiritual/divine energy' for it to be beneficial - in practice of course not necessarily always the case. The source of such an 'all powerful' energy (and 'natural law') does not exactly seem to be known, being called by the quoted spirit guide as 'The Great Spirit' (nice phrase?), probably known by other terms in its various forms - ?

. It seems then to some extent likely that spiritual experience is at the individual level and needing to be 'direct personal experience', and cannot be accessed by, say, conditioning or 'book learning - it needs the individual to be on their own 'search' journey, to then experience the spiritual energy 'directly'. Often, it's said, a person's spiritual side can be initiated by 'life crisis' , then resulting in what's known as a 'spiritual awakening', a dimension-adding process no doubt of particular interest and relevance to the 'freerangin' mode of being ---- . 

In terms of practical ways individuals can initiate and undertake their 'journey' whilst leading, say, full and busy lives, modern techniques such as 'mindfulness practice', which can be undertaken privately by individuals if needed, and at their own pace and time, (see section above), can be useful and 'self illuminating', in Socrates' 'know thyself' sense. He might have added that useful and needed steps of the 'know thyself' process are 'facing' actual real self (complete with imperfections,) and  'coming to terms', then leading to fuller 'self-acceptance'.  For those for whom the spiritual aspect is meaningful, it seems it can be quite something as an 'extra dimension'.

It seems possible that taking the 'personal spiritual development' road can lead over time to 'real self' realisation, and a 'living in the light', 'enlightenment' experience, the individual then experiencing a degree of 'union with universal creation'---- quite something to experience. It seems to be not kown how many experience such a 'peak' experience but it's thought that it may be more than might be commonly imagined - Maslow (the 'Hierarchy of Human Needs' researcher) himself was for instance apparently somewhat shocked at how many of his 'positively healthy' research subjects reported experiences of 'peak joy and energy'.

It's also thought that the mind itself might act as a common barrier to this process, in terms of 'being in a hurry' due to 'expectations', a 'wanting to get to the goodies', rather than  'being where it's at' along the way ------part of 'acceptance' --- 

(wasn't it Buddha again who suggested that human desires - leading to 'expectations' - that were the source of unhappiness - ?).

 

                                                                    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

End piece ----------  (to parts 1 and 2)

=============

Many possible areas could potentially narrow vision to less than multi-dimensional. Money and wealth accumulation is maybe a pretty obvious candidate, especially given money's potential 'addictive' propensities, and 'limited depth'' aspect, as the case studies in the text above indicate (and reports indicate that the wealthy are unhappy and seeking therapy, worried about their position in the 'rich list' league ---- ). 

In a further case study of a  buildjng supplier firm, going for the 'quick profit' could endanger longer-term business health and security, introducing a further dimension into any 'wealth seeking' equation :

 'It's ok 'going for broke', aiming to get maximum prices out of customers in the pursuit of maximising revenues and profits', says K, an older guy who's the  supplier's manager, ' but the strategy can come back and bite you in the longer term, customers will not 'feel the love' and in the longer term may then well choose to trade elsewhere, especially if they hear of an outfit that does seem to be 'customer friendly.'

  Such a business as the above supplier then gains better longer-term viability and security, whereas the max profits aiming firm can have to try hard to get customers in the long-term, having then to put on sales campaigns, offers and the like. Shorter-term profitability might well be somewhat lower for the non short-term maximising supplier, but their business is likely to be longer-term more secure, with associated longer-term viability,  such longer-term aspects bringing extra dimensions to no doubt quite a few situations ------?

The modern strong commerciial focus on making big profits ('profit maximising') then, can  narrow perspectives to just the shorter term, possibly then resulting in 'short-term gain, long-term pain'.

'Our firm used to be pretty reasonable, but then has morphed into a profit monster',

 as some employees of this large energy firm were reportedly quoted, as was the fact that in the same year, a large energy firm lost a significant percentage of its customers.

'People work for money' was the truism that sometimes managers who weren't too keen on complexity used to pronounce, by-passing the fact that the employees money 'reward' was just the medium by which folk then satisfied their multi-dimensioned needs and 'wants', and so potentially oversimplifying and 'dimensionally reducing' affairs, and so contributing to any 'dumbing down' trend - ? The people needs were/are many and varied, as Maslow's hierarchy of human needs seeks to show - from basic needs such as shelter and hunger satisfying' to longer-term security needs, then a group of social-based needs, to a pinnacle of self-attainment/esteem needs.

Money rewards for specific work productivity outcomes, called 'jumping for the jelly beans' by one motivation researcher, can be 'focus narrowing', also potentially leading to a longer-term 'money addiction' mental conditioning effect, the 'narrowing' dangers of which are no doubt relevant to multi-dimensional living.

 Another reservation concerning 'money motivation' used to be the fact that once heading down that road, then it in itself cultivated 'expectationary' focus amongst staff - they then, due to the conditioning effect, expected additional financial award for further efforts, and there was some concern that the additional rewards had then had to become larger and increasingly larger to produce the desired effects of on-going additional staff efforts, resulting in a route of escalating costs to a firm ----- 

( motivation via money prompts, it was argued by motivation theorists, wasn't 'true motivation', which rather was 'internal' to individuals, whereas responding to money inducements was an 'external' prompt (to the individua), called by them 'movement' rather than 'motivation, and often known by the dramatic phrase - 'jumping for the jelly beans').

P's college scenario case study (as earlier) can act as a useful illustration of the 'movement v motivation' phenomenon :

P and his colleagues were downcast when a 'performance related pay' scheme was introduced in their Higher Education college, particularly by the seemingly superficial, banal and and 'off-target' parameters which were proposed to be used to measure performance.

 'The whole affair seemed so 'off target' and irrelevant, together with a management -generated assumption that staff had to be 'externally driven' (they were of the self-motivated variety), that it had quite a 'de-motivation' effect for the staff, as well as a significant lowering of their confidence in, and respect for, senior management', said P.

This case study  highlights the high levels of productivity that can be achieved with a 'motivation geared' people approach, given the establishment of the right conditions. One of the additional difficulties in adopting a 'money inducement' approach to getting people to work, is that it can 'cut accross' any existing motivation based system, in that people can then draw the conclusion that internal motivation is 'redundant' and that their management is now working via the assumption that they need to be specifically rewarded for specific work contributions, something that can be 'alien' to inner motivated individuals -------- 

A classic case of applying a pre-determined approach to a situation, trying to direct and limit dimensions to a few 'surface-type' examples not suited or geared to it, thereby potentially resulting in counter productivity -? 

Some might say that 'human biodiversity could be in the 'eye of the beholder' - plainly people are affected by 'cultural conditiong', presumably the more 'authoritarian' a culture is, the less chance of 'individual biodiversity' - ? Cultures themselves though can be said to be 'naturally biodiverse' , given the chance, some more than others -  the western-style 'individual freedom' based type differing for instance considerably from the authoritarian mode. Given some of the factors acting in the individuals life - innate character, early conditioning, influences - eg,s parental, community, national, family, schools, media influence levels and the like - and then adult-level factors such as peers, work influences/ shaping, media, family, management style, living pressures, community, national - and the fact that each individuals set of factors is likely to be unique, different, and/or at differing levels, it would seem reasonably safe to say that a fair level of biodiversity is 'naturally' the case ------

 Indigenous folk from the past appear to have had a level of awareness of 'human biodiversity' as a quote for instance from a Native American Sioux chief indicated that each person is 'placed on earth' by 'the Great Spirit', to be 'individually different' in the first place -------:

'All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with animals and human beings. The reason Watantanka ('Great Spirit') does not make two birds, two animals, two human beings exactly alike is because each is placed here by Watantanke to be individually independent and to rely on their own self'`

Undoubtedly people can 'grow' more into their (true) selves as they progress through life, and with experience become 'internally stronger', (and/or with self-work such as the mindfulness practice process help), unfolding then 'real self' reality. One spiritual guide suggests that spiritual development of the individual is the purpose of 'life of earth', and that such a process is a precurser to the 'main event', life in the spiritual sphere. Such knowledge is though maybe not necessarily easy for humans to digest, along with the spititual guides's further advice that within the spiritual sphere, multi-dimensions await ---- 

Maybe the human 'freerange' urge to be to some extent independent, and to 'walk an own path' is part of the human 'development plan', going beyond the 'small self' and any limitations due to the 'tyrannies of the mind'---- ?

'Yer pays yer money, and teks yer choice' -  be interesting though to find out ----- good freerangin'

 

 

Bibliography :

-----------------

Ezra Bayda           The Authentic Life

Silver Birch           Light from Silver Birch

Michael Foley        The Age of Absurdity

John Heider          The Tao of Leadership

Gary Hennessey    The Little Mindfulness Workbook

Jack Kornfield        After the Ecstasy the Laundry

Yamate Kunihiro    The Way of No-Mind

John Lane             Timeless Simplicity/ Timeless Beauty

Stephen Levine      A Gradual Awakening 

Thomas Moore       A Religion of One’s Own : Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

Robert Pirsig          Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Mike Robin             Real-Self Realisation - An Authentic Route to Fulfilment-?  (‘Freerange’ site books page)

Fritz Schumacher   Small is Beautiful

Eckhart Tolle          A New Earth :  Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

Eckhart Tolle         The Power of Now

Claire Weekes        Self-Help For Your Nerves