1. Each one of us is born with mental equipment which is open to all manner of stimuli and experiences, transcending boundaries of race, religion, language and nationality.
2. Although our context plays a big part in shaping our outlook or worldview, in a way its role is incidental, as we have it in us to accomodate diverse influences, to be open to contrasting ideas and cultures.
3. The tapestry of our mind need not be frozen and static, as often happens, because we are born with an innate capacity for openness to influences and experiences, capable of making space for new ideas and approaches and then integrating these inside us.
4. We have the capacity to select as well as transcend the beliefs and attitudes which are sought to be imposed on us by the social system in its own interests and in the interests of our survival in it, and it is only when we are unaware of our paradigm that we tend to think in narrow chauvinistic terms which limit rather than liberate us.
5. Examining our positive and negative slants about others is perhaps the easiest way to get in touch with one facet of our paradigm, and reflection will bring home the message that we can choose not to react from such group conditioning and respond instead with openness and accommodation.
6. By staying open to the surprises, opportunities and experiences in life, we can broaden our outlook and our sense of well-being, by either feeling controlled by powerful forces outside us or by feeling in charge of our destiny, in which our upbringing and environment also touch our personalities at a much deeper level.
7. People who blame others and the environment for their ills are indirectly admitting that their "remote control" is with the external world, and they see themselves as the effect rather than the cause.
8. As against this widely shared negative approach, there are people who are not easily depressed, take the initiative, accept responsibility for their actions, do not blame others at every opportunity, feel in control, see opportunity even in crises and in the demands made on them, and are the real movers and shakers.
9. Our paradigm thus represents the distilled essence of all our experiences, is a living pattern of insights and perceptions arising out of them and the conditioning we have gone through, and determines how we look at the world, and how we interpret new information, ideas, people and experiences.
2. Although our context plays a big part in shaping our outlook or worldview, in a way its role is incidental, as we have it in us to accomodate diverse influences, to be open to contrasting ideas and cultures.
3. The tapestry of our mind need not be frozen and static, as often happens, because we are born with an innate capacity for openness to influences and experiences, capable of making space for new ideas and approaches and then integrating these inside us.
4. We have the capacity to select as well as transcend the beliefs and attitudes which are sought to be imposed on us by the social system in its own interests and in the interests of our survival in it, and it is only when we are unaware of our paradigm that we tend to think in narrow chauvinistic terms which limit rather than liberate us.
5. Examining our positive and negative slants about others is perhaps the easiest way to get in touch with one facet of our paradigm, and reflection will bring home the message that we can choose not to react from such group conditioning and respond instead with openness and accommodation.
6. By staying open to the surprises, opportunities and experiences in life, we can broaden our outlook and our sense of well-being, by either feeling controlled by powerful forces outside us or by feeling in charge of our destiny, in which our upbringing and environment also touch our personalities at a much deeper level.
7. People who blame others and the environment for their ills are indirectly admitting that their "remote control" is with the external world, and they see themselves as the effect rather than the cause.
8. As against this widely shared negative approach, there are people who are not easily depressed, take the initiative, accept responsibility for their actions, do not blame others at every opportunity, feel in control, see opportunity even in crises and in the demands made on them, and are the real movers and shakers.
9. Our paradigm thus represents the distilled essence of all our experiences, is a living pattern of insights and perceptions arising out of them and the conditioning we have gone through, and determines how we look at the world, and how we interpret new information, ideas, people and experiences.