Entering the Castle begins with an awareness that there is a castle.
You want to say DUH, don't you?
However, it isn't easy to realize you've been swimming outside this huge source of life. Teresa of Avila used the imagery of swimming in a moat completely oblivious of the castle. She even went so far as calling this phase "being reptilian"! YIKES, don't hold back Teresa.
The wild woman of Avila was brilliant, and correct. Most people live forever leading what is often termed, an unexamined life. This means, most people are swimming around in the same pool they were born into; living the life their personal environment created and acting in accordance to whatever cultural codes they learned in that specific pool. This is very similar to the reptilian brain that acts through instinct, and not through a higher level of critical thinking.
This sounds pretty harsh. Teresa's words are not for those knee deep in ego, thats for sure.
So, this is where the original DUH statement rolls full circle. We are all conditioned from birth to think and act according to the beliefs and patterns we are born into. Think about.
What wakes people up? Oh, gosh, that could be a number of things. Perhaps a relationship with someone from a different culture? A class that expands the mind? A drug? Past life experiences? Whatever the reason, some people become aware of the castle, but not everyone chooses to cross the moat.
You want to say DUH, don't you?
However, it isn't easy to realize you've been swimming outside this huge source of life. Teresa of Avila used the imagery of swimming in a moat completely oblivious of the castle. She even went so far as calling this phase "being reptilian"! YIKES, don't hold back Teresa.
The wild woman of Avila was brilliant, and correct. Most people live forever leading what is often termed, an unexamined life. This means, most people are swimming around in the same pool they were born into; living the life their personal environment created and acting in accordance to whatever cultural codes they learned in that specific pool. This is very similar to the reptilian brain that acts through instinct, and not through a higher level of critical thinking.
This sounds pretty harsh. Teresa's words are not for those knee deep in ego, thats for sure.
So, this is where the original DUH statement rolls full circle. We are all conditioned from birth to think and act according to the beliefs and patterns we are born into. Think about.
- Rewind the life of a white supremacist to his birth and change his surroundings. Instead, of growing up into whatever circumstance created the hatred, have him raised by a loving african american family and I guarantee the dude is not a racist.
- How about a staunch, conservative catholic who waives anti-abortion banners? Take that same person and have them raised in a tribal environment that truly believes in killing babies who are in anyway different. I bet that same person kills a child with the intention of saving its soul.
What wakes people up? Oh, gosh, that could be a number of things. Perhaps a relationship with someone from a different culture? A class that expands the mind? A drug? Past life experiences? Whatever the reason, some people become aware of the castle, but not everyone chooses to cross the moat.
