Programming isn't totally terrible. I can't override my helpful, smiling, polite programming but it makes me a superstar in the hospitality industry, when I'm really not that into people. Or when I'm stuck in an angry pattern. A cashier smiles at me and says hi, I smile and say hello back. We exchange a joke. The anger goes in the bin.
Good points. I love your story of your story and how it shows that even when we’re not feeling it, these small acts of kindness can make a huge difference :)
Absolutely. It doesn't cost anything to be nice, and you might put a smile on the face of someone who REALLY NEEDS IT! People shoulder terrible burdens all the time, and they often don't talk about them. Anyway I can soften the harshness of life, I can maybe help improve the quality of humanity on a whole in a simple, selfless, small way.
Gurdjieff often talked of the robotic mechanicalness of humanity, his take was that if man is to overcome the machine it is necessary to understand the machine. I think that is an absolutely integral entry point to wakefulness - to understand that your standard operating mode is the robot - to become human requires an immense effort of will, lest one fall back immediately into this default, semi-hypnotic, sleepwalking way of life.
Programming isn't totally terrible. I can't override my helpful, smiling, polite programming but it makes me a superstar in the hospitality industry, when I'm really not that into people. Or when I'm stuck in an angry pattern. A cashier smiles at me and says hi, I smile and say hello back. We exchange a joke. The anger goes in the bin.
Not at all!
Programming is wonderful.
The trick is the ability to choose.
Good points. I love your story of your story and how it shows that even when we’re not feeling it, these small acts of kindness can make a huge difference :)
Absolutely. It doesn't cost anything to be nice, and you might put a smile on the face of someone who REALLY NEEDS IT! People shoulder terrible burdens all the time, and they often don't talk about them. Anyway I can soften the harshness of life, I can maybe help improve the quality of humanity on a whole in a simple, selfless, small way.
Fully agree with you :)
Gurdjieff often talked of the robotic mechanicalness of humanity, his take was that if man is to overcome the machine it is necessary to understand the machine. I think that is an absolutely integral entry point to wakefulness - to understand that your standard operating mode is the robot - to become human requires an immense effort of will, lest one fall back immediately into this default, semi-hypnotic, sleepwalking way of life.
Ahh…indeed, the most momentous event in our lives, the birth of will… https://homecookedanalysis.substack.com/p/will-precursor-to-power.