“Our perceptions and worldviews are a part of our makeup, but we must keep our eyes open to see the shifts. People who don’t notice the shift are the ones with primitive outlooks/worldviews because they refuse to adjust/intake knowledge or information that differs from the ones they hold dear.’…
This was a comment made by blogger Cami when we did our last book club discussion last week Thursday, which the topic was the thought provoking paper assigned to us by Blogger YW called Nacirema,.. American spelled back ways. It was truly a brain teaser as we had no Idea that the tribes discussed in the paper was indeed describing Americans, until Yw let us in on the big reveal. There were questions pertaining to the paper and everyone had their own thoughts and ideas of these very crass and weird people described within the paper.
As a spiritualist, I read it looking and searching for the spirituality within them and their culture, as I believe I am awake and as such able to see beyond what “Normal”, people see, I saw nothing but a bunch of dense people whose minds were trapped within a culture without substance or base. I saw no spirituality, none. I became slightly confused about these people who as I read seemed like a bunch of psychopath to me (know that my approach to everything is always objective), and had to read it over when I realized that the author spoke about American (s).
Cami’s comment along with the article itself made me think, and think and think, and I realize,(well I knew it already, but I just never put DEEP thought to it, or wrote on it), that perception,……. perception is very important…..we ought to pay keen attention to our observations, and of course not only view things objectively, but the approach of how we view things it is best to examine things from all angles, but then with that comes,….. perspective…aha! With these thoughts, I realize that one views brings you over to another and it becomes a link which if you hold onto the chain and continue, you slowly become awake! Or quickly, depending on who you are and how awake you were already.
This is what has distorted the mind and how human beings function. We are taught to see things the same way, of course education will eliminate some indoctrinated mindset, however religion stills binds the educated man, and although he reasons well and is an academic, he still is boxed in by his mind conditioning through religion or other things which he cannot see beyond which his mind still holds on to. It all boils down to Hoax (I believe, and in my opinion), we are a part of a huge hoax which has clouded our abilities, and until or unless we can remove the scales off our eyes and begin to think for ourselves, see for ourselves, conceptualize our own thoughts from our very own perceptions, ( as oppose to seeing things through the eyes of the world, media or other wise) and build upon that which has been destroyed which is our minds, through whatever medium, we will never be truly awake.
These are my thoughts, please add yours. Yw, has written a brilliant piece which will tickle you and send you off into thought somewhere, I hope. We are so blessed to have him here with us, whenever he choose to stop by. We appreciate you Yw, we all do, and your lovely wife Ty, how blessed of you both to have found each other in a world with so much bad people when put together makes for a terrible couple (me an de duttie baby fadda), two souls of like intelligence and twin like (almost), in personality, it is a rare thing!…So I Obara Meji and with the Ase on which I was given by my mother Osun, the Orisha of Love, family and all sweet and good things bless your love and marriage and family forever..Aseee!!!..
We are blessed for you both being here with us, we thank Orunmial and Osun..Aseee!
Bloggers, today I spoke to our Nunu, and there is nothing wrong with her and she assured me so as I persistently inquired, but I did not like how she sounded, her voice was a little low and normally Nunu is light and upbeat, but I love all you as my own and so we must lift her up in prayers. She is our family, and again let me reiterate, she did not complain or make a bad report to me, but as a spiritualist/traditionalist I know that we need to put her in prayer. So for the next 16 days beginning from today, let us mention her in our prayers, if is even fi sey “God bless Nunu”.
Please also Add Yazzy to your prayers in the same way as Nunu. We as a collective, if we pray for each other, it will reach, of that I am sure. Iron sharpeneth Iron and the countenance of one brightens the other, our sweet Nunu needs us now, we must stand up for them, we must!
Communication
Communication may seem like a simple thing but it really is very complicated. When two people converse there is: speaking, listening, intent of message, and comprehension of message. We are all aware of the talking and listening part but the intent and comprehension parts are a bit more subtle. When we develop a thought in our head we need to convert it into a format to deliver the information we want to the person listening. Simply put we need to put words to our thoughts to convey them to another person. With that part complete the other person then needs to break down the words to get to the thought(s) that you are trying to get to them. Of course, here you can see how misunderstanding can so easily happen.
Many things affect our ability to effectively communicate, especially verbally. Our mood, past experiences, variances in lifestyle/ability to empathize, interest in topic (or person speaking with), and more all play a role in how we deliver and receive information (communicate). Past experiences are a premier facet in how we communicate because that is what dictates (most times) our expectations. If a child is “cowed” down constantly for asking questions, soon they refrain from asking. Okay. From here we will skip on to the concept of perception…
Perception
Perception is an interesting concept because it has so many parts and permeates so many areas of our lives. It is directly impacted by information we gather and information we already have – slow down here!! Information we gather and information we already have… Hmmmm, information we already have comes from past experiences but information we gather comes in the moment or at the time of. See the conflict? If we are not careful our past experiences will cloud our objectivity to information we may gather in the moment. With this realization we all must look within ourselves to assess and evaluate why we do the things we do. Do our past experiences dictate our behaviours? Do they dictate our thoughts? Are we allowing them to dictate the way we perceive things? That is where the trap lies: religious indoctrination, gender views, expectations in relationships, etc.
Now there are many layers of perception. A good way to think of levels of perception is like vision. Our vision is graded on a scale of 20 – 20/20 being the best. The worse our vision, the more blurry our sight is. Perception is clouded by past experiences. If we need clarity we get lenses to correct or improve our vision. To gain clarity in our perception we must look within and question ourselves. Clarity can only be achieved through self inquiry. This brings us to cognition…
Cognition
To explore the concept of cognition, I think it would be helpful to define certain words or ideas. The reason for this first step is because words may mean different things to different people. The words I would like define are:
Perception – ability to perceive
Perceive – to see or notice, to become aware
Cognition – the faculty of knowing or perceiving things
Cognizant – aware, having knowledge
If we look at the definition of “cognition” we could say that it is our other sense (our sixth sense). However, it is my opinion, that it is a higher sense than our base five because it enhances them. For this post we could look at cognition as an amplifier to our five senses and how that effects our perception of things around us.
When used without cognition our basic five senses tell us of our physical environment. For example: when we enter nature, we see the trees, the sun, the earth, etc.; we feel the wind and sun; we smell whatever scents we can in the air; we may taste certain smells on the air; and we may hear various sounds from the outdoors. Now, we also do the same when we interact with people. We notice their voice, their appearance, maybe the way they dress, maybe their smell (perfume/cologne), etc. Why is this important? What does this have to do with spirituality?
Okay. Before we answer those questions let us add one level of cognition to the five senses in our above mentioned nature example… when we enter nature, we see the trees swaying, smell moisture in the air and note the grayness of some clouds. From that we conclude that it may rain. Now, let us amplify cognition when meeting someone: We look at their posture, their body language (hints to emotion/mood of person), tone of voice (again mood hint), intention in eyes (key), use of words (hints to innuendos), etc.
Here is where it gets a bit tricky because most of us are at different levels of cognition. If you believe that we have a higher self, then cognition is the sensory faculty of our higher self. This means that to get in touch with our true self, or our spiritual self, we must develop our cognitive skills because our cognitive level determines the depth of things we can perceive. Put another way: like ogres, many things are like an onion – they have layers (from Shrek part 1). As we develop our cognitive abilities, we are able to peel back more and more layers until, hopefully, we get to the core i.e. truth. Hopefully this answers the questions asked earlier.
If cognition is a sense of our higher self (or our spiritual self), then increasing our cognition would open us up to perceive things on and of a spiritual nature. That may be a reason behind some people being able to “see” auras, ghosts, spirits, future, past, etc. Like our basic sense of sight, our sense of cognition can be blurred which would hinder our ability to perceive. I believe that our experiences on this material plane may serve to cloud our cognitive skills because, as mentioned earlier, perception is linked with past experiences and thereby memory. This brings us to memory…
What can you take away from this post? Well, you would have to discuss that with yourself. My suggestion would be to do so in a quiet, private place where your sanity will not come into question (this brings us to meditation). As a side note, the previous paragraph ends with a sentence to show that every thought can be linked. One thought can lead to another and another and another – as far as you are willing to take it….
Orúkọ rere sàn ju wúrà àti fàdákà lọ. /
A good name is better than gold and silver…….Yoruba Proverb!
[Pursue a good name; it is priceless.]
All religions are valid as long as it teaches peace and love…..Obara Meji!
There are no disappointments in life, only lessons learned…..Obara Meji!
There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.
Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.
Studies have shown that 90% of error in thinking is due to error in perception. If you can change your perception, you can change your emotion and this can lead to new ideas.
Our minds influence the key activity of the brain, which then influences everything; perception, cognition, thoughts and feelings, personal relationships; they’re all a projection of you.
Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you’re needed by someone.
[…] ShawnyRob our sometime blogger made this comment once on the perception post Yw did read here […]
Shawnyrob , I like the analogy of the chess board…I think out it as seeing the big picture….instead of dwelling on the minutiae or stuff right in front of us….many times, we need to step back and see the big picture…it puts our lives, blessings, goals, disappointments, and failures into perspective…
Great reblog…. Societal norms not only dictate our perceptions of norm but also abnormal….using the color blue, it gives a certain frequency which when perceived by our eyes, we are told is blue…it is considered a great eye color to have…even though it is linked to the most obscure eye conditions more than any other eye color, such as retinoblastoma and macular degeneration…yet still the epitome of beauty in out society is blond with blue eyes….
Hey Courtney.
Hey Hun how are you? I’m trying to tame my wild red fro to face the day
Very good read the second time around. Sometimes the mind is not yet ready to recieve the messages put forth at that particular time. Great reblog O
Reblogged this on Embracing Spirituality and commented:
I do not believe that this very important post got the detailed attention it deserved, so I have decided to reblog tis post
Hello all, this was yet another good post, briefly ones perception is ones reality, the way we perceive it colors the way we believe it. Our cognition is directly linked to our perception , the way we think about and process information is essentially our perception. Ones perception can be influenced based on the perspective from which one views things. For instance if one plays chess and views the board while siting close up on it ones perspective is limited and myopic , but when one pushes back from the table, or stands up , creating a birds- eye view, a whole new perspective is created and one can see angles and options which existed but were not recognizable or discernible from the previous not-so advantageous position. You see , sometimes we must reposition ourselves (spiritually, emotionally, mentally , and physically) in order to fully experience and access the information that is available to us, and thereby make informed decisions, and observations, based on the full utility of our faculties and resources.
Speaking to YW point regarding babies and their indoctrination into the ways of the world, I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately the systematic dogma of our society ruins us all from the beginning, by limiting our thoughts, imaginations and creative processes with cognitive conditioning. We are socialized like Pavlov`s dog to respond to certain institutional stimuli and social realities. Did any of you ever wonder why certain things in our lives are referred to or we recognize them by certain names? For example lets take something simple like the color blue,the reason why we recognize and perceive blue as blue and not red is because of social reality. Yes social reality, society told us that when you see this particular color you call it and perceive it as blue. My point being the same way were are programmed to recognize blue is the same way we are conditioned not to recognize spirit or other-worldly things which some of us know exist , and recognize in spite of the contradictions in society. Yes people perception.
A nice conclusion to Yw’s view points by using the Chess board analogy, ShawnyRob.
Using the color blue was also a good one. From that we can add the colour blind concept…if one doesn’t see blue, but sees blue as green they are not of the “norm” in society; the one who should dare to refer to the color blue as green is the one with an illness of the eyes (perception), hence the need for an adjustment/correction to conform to the “norms” of society.
[…] try to continue, and expand on, the concept of cognition. In the last post on Perception – http://embracingspirituality.com/2014/09/04/communication-perception-and-cognition-a-curious-look-by… – Cami mentioned “…data which suggest that babies are cognitive of the spiritual realm […]
*water*…
Onu tek Sunday off serious,lol.
Yw! yes me a disturb yu dis day…what is yu perspective on when people a dead and dem request wate to drink?
Me Bro Yw, you should be doing a class on perceptions. I’m reading and trying to recall data which suggest that babies are cognitive of the spiritual realm until about age 2, then they go into a reprogram stage to learn about “our” world. Something about your article brings this to mind.
I think I heard about that somewhere; very interesting idea(s). I think that when we are born it takes time for us to understand what we are seeing – how do we know what any object is when we first encounter it? This is what we call early “education” and if we stay in that mode of learning we end up conforming and indoctrinated into “majority rule” thinking. The aim is to change our mode of thinking.
MORNING! BRO! Last night was good, gi Ty a extra kiss today! lol OBARA MEJI! MAWNING! NuNU, MTH AND EVERYBODY!!! MAWNING!
Yes, the early “education” concept is important and has we progress (using Maslow’s theory) and free will of mind then we can shift, readjust as we progress…oh oh me just a notice the common theme goes right back to you and Obara opening…lol
Me gone fi now, see you all later.
Thanks.
Teach can you please check your email.
I saw M
RIP Joan Rivers, last week i felt like you tubing her a lot, I have always loved Joan and her tell it like it is personality, this completes the three. Robin Williams, Lauren Bacall and now Joans Rivers, so sad,
Oh my goodness! I just heard that she got out of intensive care, mi neva know seh shi dead!
Ok! Here is another one.. Perspective + Empathy = Experience… WHA!!!! Ok not true experience but a preview of possibilities. Of course with this you cannot see everything but you can get an idea of what could be. It is a form of foresight, I think.
Yw? why not true experiences? Causen sey if a person nu expose to something until someone introduce it to them, then dem can’t and shouldn’t have a perception to it…HOLD ON! lol As me end the sentence I automatically see that empathy would come about because the information from the one who experienced the event tells it!….mek me know if me right or wrong.
I say is not true experience because, to me, when we use that approach we leaching off their emotions and feelings – because we are using empathy. I am using the word experience here to say we have already gone through something.
To me, for every situation we are put in there is a range of possibilities in which we may react depending on our mood, if others are there, who the others are, etc; Or circumstances surrounding the event. I don’t think we ever truly know how we will react until we go through some things, then we have to be careful not to use that experience to expect the same outcome…again because of present or new circumstances.
Yw, it is the opposite for me, I too was a strange child, except in my strangeness I was a seeker, I craved books and knowledge (still do, to the point that I would/will forfeit food for knowledge, climb the himalayas, heng out wid Tarzan and Jane, just to learn), I loved my family, but when we migrated to America I realized that they did not love me, no of them, not one!
I wanted friends but was rejected also, well now I understand, I wanted all of us to hang out in the library’s and book shops all day everyday, so I suppose I can now see why they didn’t think that was cool.
I forgave easily, and my children still insists that I do, but not I believe that once I spot the “Devil” (please note that I do not believe this guy exists, at least not as a single entity, and if he did, I find him a great comedian) for lack of a better word den mi juss done wid yuh, ah simple sin ting. yuh zi mi!
It is difficult to “see” certain things because most others may not. Again Perspective…We do not know how each other “see” things because we only know our point of view; You cannot know my vision because we wear two different glasses. When we are young there is very little chance of us correlating with others our age because they simply will not understand us. With adults, some may think we think we too smart (implying their own ignorance), some may just be afraid. So we may be forced to deal with that in between age but that holds it hazards too because as much as we may know they hold experience over us (most times). This is most delicate when dealing with the opposite sex….
Cami has written a post which ties in to Yw’s post which I will put up for tomorrow, hers is interesting as well, can we all say School!, lololol
School!!
Di schooling deh ketch!
Exactly, Yw. this is why after the book club discussion, i began to take a deeper look into things which I paid no mind to!
Perspective is a topic that is completely absorbing to me too, Teach. Sorry if I am rambling but there is so much in my head about this topic…Used another way, think of driving and looking at the car in front of you. Now you will react based on the movements of that car. However, look at the car in front of that and you can anticipate what the car in front of you will do and be better prepared to react. Take it further and you can anticipate and prepare more. This does not mean that you will not meet in an accident only that you are giving yourself a greater chance to avoid one based on increased range of observation.
Turn it up and you get an aerial view. Carry it out and you get a global view. Further out and you can see the solar system. More and what do you see
?…..
Ase Yw, I studied Physics, but before then, I knew that,I thank Olodumare!
Now as I look back, my mother may have done what she did out of dislike for me, even though I can swear to you all, I never did her any wrong other than get pregnant young, but I realize that I was to be somebody in life spiritually and I would impart certain knowledge onto people who I came in contact with, so she was chosen to push me into the world and toughen her heart, it was not her fault, she was chosen, only she could do this and I thank her for it, because I could not do that, my heart is way too soft. Her task was a difficult one, now as I look back it all makes sense to me now!
now that I am far removed from what I went through as a teen age mother, who was rejected and driven out of her family house by my parents, mother I should say caws ah she run tings, meaning anything she said my father agreed with. It was since I began to blog I realized upon writing a post once, as I wrote it came to me that the woman did me a great service. It was a great revelation to me, because I had never hated her or resented her for what she did to me, I loved her even more and wanted to please her and did not understand why, when she obviously did not like me, except for when I gave her gifts and ,money, I was her least favorite, She could not stand to even see me!
Obara Meji….I was…..a strange child…People never really meant anything to me. I mean I loved my family but, maybe, only because I thought I was supposed to. As I grew older I started to look at my family members as people, and I would ask myself: Would I like this person if they were not my family? Most times the answer was no. In my family there is a lot of manipulation and that maybe one of the reasons that I despise manipulators so much. It was hard and I struggled with that for quite a while. There was a time when I was particularly cold. It wouldn’t matter who the person was, if you do something that I did not like: CLICK that was it – no longer a part of my life. I remember looking forward and thinking if I kept on that path I didn’t like the future I saw…There is a certain mindset and behaviours that come with being that cold. So, I prayed about it and over time made a conscious effort to change. I’ll stop right there for now…
It is odd that I started to do this as well, I found most of the time that I would like my family members and I count myself blessed for it. But I remember thinking that exact same phrase.
Then that mean yuh woulda isolate yuhself, nuh suh
More than isolate…you become numb and then nothing matters…then you are stuck in monotony and stagnate. Most likely you would try something to mix up the pot. That would most likely lead to poor decisions and loss of potential because various opportunities would close. I don’t see anything worth going down that path for me personally….
I wanted to clarify this – I loved what I thought people could be but from as far as I can remember I did not like who most people choose to be… They took the Human out of humanity and just leave ity; ity bit of compassion. Sad view…
Physics teaches that energy cannot be created or destroyed merely transformed. Then why would people even consider the notion that at death our life energy disappears into nothingness? The body is just a shell for us to move about on this material plane but the soul is the energy source of our body.
Yw that’s why education to an extent is important, and the willingness to learn on the other hand but indoctrination and confusion muddles alot of things
I think education is important but I often wonder about what makes a bright student. I think learning comes from within, so no matter who the teacher (how awesome or great they are) if the student is not ready or blocked, then they cannot learn. If we think that something is hard it will be hard…
Agree with you Nunu, just putting the thoughts I think you had into my words (communication practice)
Yes Nunu but this topic has a lot to be said of it, I have been literally meditating on the subject and with the post that Yw, has written, this post the correlation he has made are also crucial links to understanding the influence or the importance of the subject at hand
A lot of principles can be applied to various concepts to get a different perspective. Ex. Economics talks about opportunity costs – applied to life that could mean that every option we chose opens a new set of doors and closes another set. Here we can truly appreciate Eshu because from this view we can see a kind of tree with many branches and at every intersection to further up, who is there?
That opens a whole other door now Yw! Eshu, the tree, branches and the deepest roots. That’s saying everything at the same time
Mth, it crucial that you all do the prayers for them for 16 days, the number is not random it is important!
Yw, this is why ancient people had so much wisdom, they had no real distractions, they studied nature and that was how they understood life, gone are the days when people sat alone and think, as you say meditation is crucial, I want to start doing a group meditation possible on group skype, some techy out there please tell me how can this be done!
I stand united in prayering up Nunu. Nunu is mi likkle sister aldoe shi used to cross Obara when Obara used to guh primary school. Teach your motherly instincts picked up that something isnt right with Nunu. I love that.
Yazzy, mi loud fren. I willpray for you. Nothing like a Yazzy post with one bag a excitement. So Nunu, Yazzy and all bloggers I will lift you up. I am sure that there are peepers who also need prayers. I lift you up as well as there is no distance in prayers. Love & light…
Thank you M mi sistren from long time! The ES fam always get honorable mention in my prayers, I’m super duper thankful for y’all
Nunu, the one post whey YW gi we fi guh read, had me looking deep into life, I had to ask him to write on this, I may want all of us t write on this, I cannot let this subject go!
Mi seh teach! Mi deh tek to the schooling as mi granny woulda seh! Mi cyaan wait fi tonight causen mi nuh want chat off mi mout before 8 oclock class! One bag a “new” realization deh hit mi!
This post really has me thinking, and you are correct, we are not on the same level, but most are on a lower level than others because of preconditioning!
exactly Yw, but we were born (most of us) into conformity, born to accept certains at face value or as Bible, so to view or perceive something for what its worth or to find the truth, generally unless you are a free thinker, or mind explorer like myself, your perception is off, and this is done by a already preprogrammed mindset of certain things. This in truth holds us back from evolving, we have got to begin to examine ourselves and see who we really are and what have we accepted and is it real and if not then how can we allow our selves to really see the truth!
Yes, conformity built into the system. Education system teach us what them want us to know. Parents teach us how dem want us to grow. Church teach us how much dem want us to give. As you say, we must explore our self to gain INsight. This makes meditation critical. That could simply be walking with NO phone and just clearing your thoughts. Think if there is anything troubling you and then what is it…
YW ifyu reach a school before mi lata kip a seat sidea yu fi mi cause mi naah waan can ‘share’ notes cause yu know mi nuh scappy.
Den mi ah go rename YwMTH!! Yu seat safe side ah mi.
Hear dis a one yah now!!!! M
I wanted to highlight the importance of recognizing that we are all at different levels of perception. If a person is at a certain level of perception, they can utilize this to manipulate others. We MUST be aware of this so as to protect against this. Manipulation used negatively is abominable to me.
This a deep post, and it needs thorough examination
me too Nunu, from the book club discussion of American spelled back wards, i have been preeing the whole concept of perception and perspective
Yes teach I didn’t realize how big a part perception plays in the grand scheme of things. Perception is everything! We go about our business without really defining anything, we don’t take the time out to observe, assess and “isolate”and because of that we miss so much and can’t “peel back the layers” so we get stuck in a rut
Attention all my bloggers this is a very important blog, come out and show your intellect, I have lots of bright people here!
Big up Teach, all my classmates and all di peeper dem (unno can drop in a word or two, enuh). Large up MTH and NuNS!!!
Yailings bredda Yw!
The first thing I’d like to address is the line in Teach’s intro where she states, “I realize that one view brings another and it becomes a link, which if you hold onto the chain and continue you slowly become awake. Yw mention of the word “angles” is one of the things that sticks out to me. One should be willing to look at things from various angles in order to make certain connections, if you don’t you’ll never be able to create that ‘chain’much less to hold on to it. It ties into tonight’s lesson with Professor Ty about the “Esu principle”
Later inna class wi bruk it down further cause mi love how Yw and Ty posts correlate
Nice Nuns. That is a concept that is dear to me because as you explore it you begin to see that we are all linked…then you expand on that and see the link in mind and spirit…expand on that and you begin to touch on the universal consciousness, which is simply amazing!!
Thanks again Teach for the love up top! Words can’t adequately express how much I appreciate all of you fi real fi real!
Good morning folks! This was beautifully written Yw. I love the breakdown, made it easier to follow. This is definitely food for thought
AMH (hands akimbo), Where have you been???
getting the littles ready for school and working working working. Also we have been trying to enjoy nature before the weather or my state 😉 prevents us from doing so. I have been peeping as much as my schedule allows, but I usually get interrupted by a child or a phone call before any comments can be made. Please know my thoughts and prayers are always with you all.
Good Morning and loads of blessings to everyone, especially sweet Nunu and Yazzykins.
This post is so provoking and wonderful. I will be sharing it all over the place.
Thank you Yw for the wonderful insights and thank you Mother O for the platform in which we all can grow and learn
THank you AMH and hope to see you in tonight’s book club!!!
Morning my people, my people, my people. Mek a guh read wey mi fren YW a sey.