Conditions

Conditions.

I remember a very astute professor making an observation about human nature. While in elementary school, we are assigned seats in the classroom, as we fight and rebel that regulation. We do not like to have boundaries drawn around us by someone else. By the time we finish college, we willingly sit in the same seat day in and day out. Not only do we not resist that same seat, we welcome the safety and comfort of the all-familiar environment. We draw our own boundaries, while rejoicing in our freedom to do as we please. Except there is no freedom in the unconscious behavior. It is only the illusion of it.

The boundaries extend beyond the borders of the physicality. We certainly may put our bodies in the same seat on a daily basis. That may be just fine. I am more interested in the boundaries I draw around my thinking. The willingness to expand the mind beyond the daily experience. If I have never tasted ice cream, would I be willing to experience it? How many conditions would I have to break through, how many stories would I tell myself either for or against seeking out that new experience? 

Boundaries are created for the sake of safety and comfort. The ocean is big and the pool is manageable. My relationship is small but I feel safe. What I don't know about is called crazy. That is until it enters my experience. Then it is I who becomes crazy for thinking the limited thought. 

Conditioning.

It is a product of our past. It is meant to be re-examined. It serves no real purpose. It proposes no solutions. It keeps the status quo. It forces the life inside to close up and assume an unnatural shape. It provides no safety or opportunity. It is trash to be taken out with last week's garbage collection. It is the skin that is to be shed on a daily basis, so each day is free for exploration. 

Unconditioned. Unconditional. Without the boundary, without the condition, without the preconditioned mind  is when humanity's bud can begin to open up. And while I may still sit in the same seat day in and day out, it will be chosen in the context of serving the entire room full of people.