Exploring My Thoughts!
As a child I was always fascinated with exploration. I loved to go into the woods and explore looking for something new to be found. I loved stories of pioneer days when men and women traveled into uncharted areas of the west looking for adventure. Exploring the universe has always been exciting to me but now at age 56 I have found a new frontier that may be my greatest adventure of all.
Exploring my own thoughts is the greatest challenge of all. Looking deep within and examining why I think a certain way or how I reach certain conclusions about life is fascinating to me. This is my new frontier. There is an old Buddhist’s saying that speaks to this. Let me quote:
Whoever thinks as, from, or on behalf of, an entity which he believes himself to be, the more so if he tries to work on himself, by, with, or for such an entity - which is only a concept in mind - has not yet begun to understand what it is all about. - ‘Posthumous Pieces’ by Wei Wu Wei
I truly want to understand myself. I have given up on understanding anyone else because I know I have way to mcuh work understanding myself first. I think this frontier of exploring my own thoughts is vast and yet I am drawn to it more and more. I don’t want to live as a robot that simply thinks as they are told to think. I want to think with as much freshness and purity as possible. To do that I must be willing to strip away all preconceived ideas about how I should think and begin to allow myself to explore.
To EXPLORE means you don’t know what lies ahead. To EXPLORE means that what lies ahead might be very uncomfortalbe. To EXPLORE means that what lies ahead might also be glorious. It is an adventure that few are willing to take and yet it is the most important journey of our entire lives.
Socrates’ guiding rule was, "Know Thyself." To do this one must be willing to explore this vast frontier of our thoughts. I suspect that if more of the human race would take this journey there would be less war and greater appreciation for who we are as fellow travellers on this earth, but as I said earlier, I can’t worry about others until I find my own way in this great exploration of my own mind.
What I can do is share as I go. Maybe if we would all share as we go it would make the journey a little easier. Well anyway, that’s enough sharing for today. I have some exploring to get done.
Happy Trails Ahead,
Clifford the Great Explorer
Hi cliff very interesting post.I’m not into introspection.i had enough of that when under the doctrines and traditions of men.But through the knowledge of this great gospel i can say that i’am free for the first time in my life to be just me.And i’m free to serve others and share in there God given talents.
God our fathers oppinion of me is all that matters to me cliff.I know he has freeded my mind to see other’s, and first of all myself, as he see’s and know’s me.I just wish i had known this when i was younger.How different my way of thinking would have been.I do agree with you that we can fine and move in this world to our God given potenial, now that we are free to do so.The gospel has a power all of it’s own cliff.One that is always transforming the heart and mind to see thing’s as God our father see’s them.And it is just beautiful like all his creation to see through his eye’s, ourselve’s, and others for whom christ tasted of death for.heb2v9.I just live, move and have my being in him.
Now that bring’s me contentment.I need not seek anything else.I do like to explore just as you do cliff.And i have explored many ways that i have thought over the years.i can see how my way of thinking has indeed changed about many things.i think we all are explorers cliff in some shape or form.I look forward to hearing your finding’s as you travel on in your quest for greater knowledge of yourself.
G&P
kenneth
Cliff and Kenneth God loves has open are hearts and minds to His awesome love.I think of Paul when he said he went to the third heaven he did not know if it was in his mind or he really went there all he knew that he was there.
We are all on this journey of love and grace this love and grace is surely tranforming the way we see things and the way we think.
Love Dan
Kenneth & Dan……Maybe that’s what Paul met when he talked about the renewing of the mind. Renewing is a lifelong process. I believe we have always been loved perfectly even before the Cross, but the Cross was intended to help us with our renewal process. My exploration is not about finding perfection but rather understanding my perfection.
Might I also say that my opinion DOES matter to me. It doesn’t matter concerning God’s love for me but it does matter because as I think of myself so I act. What Adam lost in the garden was his self esteem (bad opinion of himself). His opinion of himself was wrong but God knew he had to let him work that out. Maybe that’s also what Paul met when he said we must work out our salvation. We’ve all been given salvation but we must seek to understand it to get its full reward here on earth. Being loved perfectly and knowing I am loved perfectly is two entirely different things.
Anyway, great observation by both of you and I am so glad you are willing to share your journeys on this road of perfect renewal of the mind.
Every time I open BoldGrace.com I am in AWE of the new writings I find here! I must say that the best teachers of Grace and Peace are here! And the funny thing is NO ONE here is trying to teach anyone else! Ever time one of you shares your life and journey I am enriched! You women and men here @ BoldGrace are truly AMAZING!
Peace
Once again you struck a chord with me. I too want to know who I am.
DAD,
I TRULY BELIEVE THAT EXPLORING MY THOUGHTS HAS BEEN WHATS KEPT MY MIND OPEN ALL MY LIFE AND ULTIMATELY HAS KEPT ME WALKING DOWN A PATH OF PEACE. DON’T GET ME WRONG THE ROAD HAS BEEN BUMPY.
GOD PLANTED THE SEED. YOU AS MY FATHER CARED FOR IT. I PICKED THE FLOWER.
LOVE YOU AND LOVE THIS POST.
CLiff, can I come too?
We maybe miles apart from one another in this world but God has knitted hearts together in love.Gods has rooted us all in His love and we are begining to see who we are children of the Father.
Sitting here writting this just brings such joy to the heart and mind.
Love Dan
For some reason, reading your post made me think of the following quote:
“Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.”
Kind of puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?
Yes it does Connie, that’s the one thing that is the same about us is that we are unique.
And yes Bruce, you can come to, although I think you went a long time ago.
A worthy endeavor, Cliff. And while you’re exploring your thoughts, pay special attention to the erroneous assumptions and hearsay on which the majority of all thoughts are based.
For example, you accurately quote an admonishment by “Wei Wu Wei” from his 1968 book Posthumous Pieces, but you attribute it to an “old Buddhist” (or perhaps you fantasized that was an old Buddhist saying?). “Wei Wu Wei” was the pseudonym of Terrence Gray, a British gentleman, Egyptologist, theatrical producer, and astute sage of nondualism. He was not a Buddhist, however.
As for the Ancient Greek aphorism “Know thyself,” it was inscribed on the porch of Apollo’s Temple at Delphi, has also been associated with many Greek philosophers, and happens to have been inserted into the mouth of one of Plato’s characters, namely, Socrates. But of course we have no idea whether “Know thyself” was Socrates’ “guiding rule,” because Socrates never wrote anything.
Good luck with your new great adventure. But do be extra strict with yourself, and force yourself to come to terms with (as “Wei Wu Wei” wrote above) the total non-existence of anything as preposterously confabulated as “Cliff.” Otherwise, you’ll just be spinning your wheels, and at 56, you can’t afford to waste another moment!
Don Pardo, Thanks for the corrections and it is very important to me to “NOT BE SPINNING MY WHEELS”. Your thoughts and observations are always welcome at BoldGrace.
You’re most welcome, Cliff, and thank you for accepting my comments in the spirit in which they were offered. Be well!
Cliff, I don’t think you’ve ever wasted a moment, nor do I think you ever will.
Bruce, maybe your right about that because maybe God doesn’t let any of us waste a minute. Maybe he has built-in to every moment the exact thing we need to experience or learn.