What is conditioning? https://blogs.humanwisdom.me/ In this blog, we will explore the subject of conditioning- which is a process by which all of our past experiences are stored in our memory and then act from behind the screen of our awareness to influence our thoughts and actions. When we are young, we may think that the opinions we have are ours, and the decisions we make about our life are also ours, but in truth, they are just a response to our particular conditioning. Let us go through some examples of conditioning. If one person reads a right-wing newspaper that is critical of immigration, for example, then that becomes their opinion. If someone else reads a left-wing newspaper that supports it, they begin to think it’s a good thing. When they meet and have an argument about immigration, they just repeat what they have read- except now it has become ‘their’ opinion which they want to defend. They have been conditioned – in this case by the media. Or if you are born in Belfast, depending on which street you lived you would grow up as a Catholic or as a Protestant and adopt the views and beliefs of the people around you. Or if you live in the US, you may think it’s every person’s right to carry a gun, but if you live in Europe you think that’s not right. If we have suffered some traumatic experience it conditions us, and in some cases for a lifetime. In this way, we are conditioned by our parents, our society, the media, our culture, and all our experiences. Our conditioning affects every aspect of our lives including our relationships, our opinions, our career choices, our sense of what we can do in life, and our daily habits. This process of conditioning is common to all human beings and we never question it because we are not aware of the process occurring in the background. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent every year by various organizations to try and influence people to think in a particular way. They would not do that if they did not think the human mind can be easily influenced. In order to live an intelligent life, and not be controlled by outside influences and our own past, it is absolutely vital to wake up and question our conditioning and see the link between that and our thoughts and actions. That awareness brings its own intelligence and change occurs without effort. We realize then that we do not have to be slaves to our past, and all our conditioning. We cannot erase our memories as that would be foolish, but we can break that link between our past and our present through inquiry and awareness, and live a much more intelligent and rich life. Understanding the process of conditioning may also allow us to live with compassion because we can see that others are just acting from their particular past, just as we do from ours. To find out more please visit humanwisdom.me.
