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Chapter 3: Value of Opinions

At the risk of sounding coarse, I would like to again remind the reader not to accept what is written. Observe yourself and if you find that what is written applies to you then accept it and take heart and try to live by it.

Life offers us choices and we make our choices based upon our opinions. So it is important to understand how opinions are formed and whether or not they have any value. When discussions center on the esoteric aspects of life and the mystical world, quite often some of the participants make statements such, as: "I am a very practical person. I only believe what I can see, hear, touch, smell and taste"; or they may say, "I am a practical person. I like to have my feet planted solidly on the ground and not have my head in the clouds".

People who make such statements have not taken the time to really think clearly. First off, if we accept the way the universe appears to function as perceived by our senses, then we should believe that the sun goes around the earth and that the earth is flat. Clearly, our understanding and knowledge of the physical universe have grown beyond this naive view of the physical world. And what is it that has helped us achieve this knowledge? Not just our physical senses but our physical senses combined with a disciplined and discerning mind.

Further, I would like to point out to those practical persons who insist on having their feet planted firmly on the ground that the earth itself is not planted solidly on anything but is in fact spinning through space supported by unseen forces-forces that are so powerful that they support the weight of the earth in orbit around the sun and yet they are so fine that our satellites can travel through them and orbit the earth without any measurable resistance. It is therefore a very good practice to recognize that one's point of view is generally just that: one's point of view and not the truth.

To be sure, we all have opinions. We cannot help but form them. But rather than recognize their limitations, many of us insist on justifying our opinions without analyzing how we acquire them or form them. So before we defend our opinions and argue with those who disagree with us, it is important to examine the basis of opinions. So just how do we form opinions?

We generally form opinions based upon the interpretations we give to certain experiences. Invariably, the interpretations we give to our experiences and the opinions we derive there from are those that satisfy our mind and reflect our sense of values. We do not hold onto opinions that do not satisfy our mind. Our mind in turn is preconditioned by the circumstances of our birth. It is generally accepted that we have no control over the circumstances of our birth. No one asks a child whether it wants to be born a boy or a girl, nor does it have any choice over any of the other circumstances surrounding its birth. Yet we know that males have a view of life that is very different from females.

Similarly the other circumstances of our birth have a very profound effect upon shaping our attitudes and minds. The family we are born into, the race, country, religion etc. all influence and shape our minds very strongly. Besides having no control over the circumstances of our birth, we also do not have any control over the school we are sent to and the conditions under which we grow up. All of these factors shape our minds and influence our attitude. As children we have very little resistance to and no control over the forces that condition our mind and attitudes.

Even as adults, most of us also do not have any control over our respective minds and have little control over the forces that assail our minds and senses and try to influence them. Our mind is literally out of control. It is in constant turmoil and jumps from one thought to another.

So what then is the basis of our opinions? Can they be relied upon if they are formed by a mind that is out of control? Are they real? Yes they are but they only represent a personal reality. They are not absolute, nor are they permanent. Our opinions on the same subjects change as we grow and change. So how reliable can they be in the context of realizing the Truth about creation and the Source of all Sources?

A cat, a rat, a dog, a monkey, an earthworm, a fish, a bird and a man all experience this earth. Each will have a different experience and therefore a different opinion of the earth based upon their individual capacities. So whose experience of the earth is real?

We look with our eyes but we see with our minds. We hear with our words but we listen with our minds. What we listen to and see are influenced by two things:

· Our attitude at the time. Attitude which itself is shaped by the circumstances of our birth and our previous experiences.
· The knowledge we have accumulated based upon previous experience which is itself also shaped by our past attitudes.
So we can see from this that our opinions are illusory. They are merely reflections of our own mind and the prejudices formed from previous experiences and attitudes, both of which can also change over time. These then bind us in a vicious cycle of our own making. This is one reason why history keeps repeating itself and we repeat mistakes.

Because of this conditioning, we do not see the world the way it is, but we create in our minds our own world based upon our own attitudes and experiences. We all share the same earth, but each of us lives in a different universe created by our own opinions. We are really trapped within this cycle of attitude and experience. Our attitudes shape our experience and our experience shapes our attitude and together they create the illusory world each of us lives in and continues to alter as we develop different attitudes and experience new situations.

That is why the Hindus have an ancient prayer, which when translated reads:
· From the unreal lead me to the Real
· From darkness lead me to Light
· From death lead me to Immortality
If you examine yourself as you are reading this, you will observe that you are forming an opinion about this article and me, its author? Each one of my readers will have an opinion about me. I too have an opinion about myself.

So the question is, "Whose opinion am I"? The answer obviously is that I am nobody's opinion. I am not even my own opinion. What I am is beyond opinion.

Opinions are formed within the human mind, and what I am is beyond the human mind. To know the truth about who I am, and the ultimate I Am that I Am, one has to go beyond the human mind.

So long as we live a life based upon our opinions we remain trapped within our consciousness and cannot grow beyond it to higher planes of consciousness and awareness. So what to do?

To find the answer to this question and read the rest of the chapter you will need to refer to the book
The Journey of Life Eternal: From the Source Unto the Source

Bahram R. Shahmardaan, PhD
Author: The Journey of Life Eternal
Love and Hate: Manifesting Love and Transforming Hate.

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