'Expectation' Articles
The mind is inherently inclined to prediction and to operate with the idea that you should have no expectations is non functional. The problem is not with having expectations. The real issue is the difference between the minds natural behaviour that leads us to expectation, and what I will call blind expectation. The opposite of blind expectation is the process of awareness that arises from experience. This process of expectation is often called intuition, but it’s basically the same thing. The secret to not falling into blind expectation is to not fall out of touch.
“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.” Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)
“The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius (China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC)
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian” Dennis Wholey
Our Expectations
Everyone expecting the class? First off, I will start with why I asked that question. Do any of you have no expectations at all? I have at least one. I find it hard not to expect. My duality brings some, but I try not to acknowledge them. I always have at least some, even though I try not to invest too much in them emotionally. Ah, that’s good. I have heard a lot of negativity regarding expectations. The mind is inherently inclined to prediction and to operate with the idea that you should have no expectations is sort of… Well,… Seek More
It Is A Party, Dance
We are in a world that is moving and growing. We are living in it and with it. What the process of expectation is with the blinders off is being aware of your place in the dance. Being aware of your neighbours as well as knowing what you do will affect others, and what they do will affect you. You are special in that there is a you and you choose, but that single soul alone is not a living soul. You didn’t create yourself, nor will you receive yourself when this phase in your existence ends. What you do… Seek More
Empowering Expectation
Quick poll. For who do expectations feel disempowering? I really felt them to be at work limiting. I felt they limited what I could achieve. I’ve never felt disempowered. They can be discouraging if they are given too much emotional weight when they are not met. For who have expectations felt empowering? Not me. Me, I get all tingly. I haven’t felt empowered either. Sometimes maybe some dread. It depends on the expectation. Sometimes I feel happy from a pleasant anticipation associated with the expectation. Expectations can be empowering, in that like say “flying a kite”, we can anticipate a… Seek More
Rigid Expectation
Did today go as you expected friends? There is a lot of teaching against expectation in today’s spiritual circles is there not? Almost as if it were a serious moral faux pas. Anyone gotten rid of it yet? If you have rid yourself of expectations, how did you do it? Don’t plan anything just let it happen. I don’t expect. I try to create. This is very good. I think you might be jumping ahead a bit. I like that. It just means people understand. We create the expectation of the class by being here? No. You never create expectations.… Seek More
Be Where We Are
Circumstance. People really believe in that idea don’t they? Circumstance, yes. People giving me the long list of how I could do something, but they can’t even though they say they want to. People have long lists of circumstance. The blind expectation thing again. With proper awareness expectation can embrace a range of outcomes, and allow you to make the desirable choice in that context. If it doesn’t really matter where the object goes, etc, then an open handed expulsion is perfect, but you have to be aware of the nature of the act, the dynamic of throwing. It is… Seek More
Dynamic Awareness
If you are afloat on a river in an inner tube, it’s an absolute certainty you will go down river. Yes, you might be able to get out in a rough spot. You might be able to make a huge painful effort and force your will on the situation, but is that necessary? And are the consequences really ever good? I have seen people heroically rescue themselves and suffer injury when an opportunity would have been easily at hand and no injury. I have seen people heroically rescue another, and get themselves injured or even killed when just a moment… Seek More
Life’s Flow
There is not one way and we should all be on it. There are many ways, like many blood vessels in the body. Thank God/ nature/ providence for that, no? The best results are the ones I couldn’t have thought up or expected. But you can be in touch with what takes you there. We all can with awareness. You likely even now in your lives have a sense for how your life is going to go, and it very likely contradicts your ideas. This is why people speak how they do about life and see it as scary, but… Seek More
