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Changing Your Mind vs. Changing the World—Part 1

by William R. Yoder on November 21, 2009

The only time when we need guidance about happiness is when we are unhappy (unpeaceful, afraid, angry, worried, etc.). It is then that we need to make some kind of a change.

I always have some reason why I am unhappy—something that my mind tells itself to explain or justify the unhappiness. Typically I come up with a reason involving something outside myself. For instance, I am angry now because my friend made an unkind comment to me. Or, I am afraid now because there may be a bird flu epidemic coming soon. Or it may be something that happened in the past—a past that is “outside” of the present moment. [click to continue…]

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Changing Your Mind vs. Changing the World—Part 2

November 28, 2009

[see previous post] Because many people think they need to change the world in order to be happy, we find lots of books that tell us how to manipulate others and the world. There are many approaches available: goal-setting and action-plans, using subliminal persuasion techniques, working hard and saving wisely. And then there are the [...]

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Changing Your Mind vs. Changing the World—Part 3

December 5, 2009

[see part 1 and part 2] From my perspective, there are two big problems with what I call “the technique approach.” The first problem is that this approach is based on lie, at least in my experience. Unhappiness (like happiness) ultimately comes from within. We are unhappy first, and then we find something to blame. [...]

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Changing Your Mind vs. Changing the World—Part 4

December 12, 2009

[see part 1, part 2 and part 3] So what is involved in changing your mind? As we saw earlier, it’s not merely a matter of doing some special technique or practice. What needs to change is the mindset and way of thinking of the doer. As long as your underlying core beliefs are inconsistent [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 1

December 19, 2009

Happiness: how do we lose  it, and how can we re-claim it? The typical way we think about ourselves and our world (both consciously and subconsciously) is based on certain presuppositions, certain core beliefs about the nature of reality. These core beliefs are actually incompatible with perfect happiness. As long as we maintain these beliefs, [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 2

December 26, 2009

The principle of one power is the foundation for a way of thinking that allows us to experience deep and lasting happiness. As I said in my last post, the principle of one-power is simple. There is only one power—not two powers, not three powers, not several powers, only one power. This power is not [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 3

January 2, 2010

The principle of one power or love is a key to our happiness. But it our day-to-day experience seems to contradict this principle. Yes, we do experience conflict and fear and suffering. But our question here is whether the experience of suffering is inevitable—whether the experience of suffering is an intrinsic part of the very [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 4

January 9, 2010

The principle of one power is the key happiness (or at least the key to happiness when we are starting from a belief in two powers). In the previous post, I said that the principle of one power means that there is only one power, and that power is love. And to say that this [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 5

January 16, 2010

When we start from a belief in two powers, the principle of one power is the key happiness. As we saw in a previous post, to say that this one power is love means that it is the infinite eternal creative potential for ever-expanding well-being. The creative process of extension that gives rise to everything-that-is [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 6

January 23, 2010

So we do in fact find ourselves in the midst of a life experience defined by contrast and difference, a life experience of a mixture of good and bad, of well-being and un-well-being. In theological terms, you could say that we find ourselves in the midst of experiencing a mixture of both the Godly and [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 7

January 30, 2010

Within a two-power or dualistic thought system, “good” means a conditional and limited good—a good that is co-defined with bad. “Good” means “not bad.” That is not the same good as the unconditional and non-relative good inherent in the principle of one power, a good beyond which there is nothing. If there really is only [...]

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Principle of One Power—Part 8

February 6, 2010

It may seem that it is always better to choose a both-and alternative over an either-or one. We strive to be inclusive rather than exclusive. But you cannot believe in only one power and at the same time in more than one power. When you perceive anything that is seemingly bad, you have to choose [...]

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