August 26, 2014
This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is Filter in KHTK.
This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.
The basic idea introduced in this essay was that a person’s viewpoint acts as a FILTER.
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This essay examines the layers of considerations, experience, education, and thinking, that we look through; and their affect on our viewpoint. Here we apply in earnest what we learned in the first three essays of KHTK.
A viewpoint is generally defined as a position from which something is observed or considered. The simplest viewpoint would be a location in space, from which you view your surroundings, such as, looking down from a mountain top into a valley, or looking at distant mountains.
Suppose a person walks into a room sees a large cube in the middle of the room, he may not recognize it as a table because he is taught that a table has four legs. Suppose a little puppy in the room barks at him. This makes him momentarily afraid. Underlying this reaction may be an experience of being bitten by a dog as a baby. Suppose he now notices a woman in that room and looks away feigning disinterest. He may have a consideration that women are not nice because once a girl in school rejected his advances just because he was fat.
Thus, beyond perceiving from a viewpoint, one’s perceptions are colored by one’s education, experience, considerations, etc. It is like looking at the world through some sort of “glasses.” In other words, we “look through” a filter, which influences our perceptions in ways we are not aware of. Thus, we do not see the world as it is. The filter determines how things appear to us. We then act based on that appearance.
It is very likely that this filter has something to do with the conditions that have been stalking us throughout our lives. Maybe by exploring the contents of this filter it is possible to overcome some of those unwanted conditions.
The purpose of this fourth essay is to help develop the following:
BECOME AWARE OF “WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING THROUGH.”
In other words, take a step back, and look at the very filter that you are looking through. You may see a picture, or just an idea. It does not have to be a long mental video. But you may discover some things that, unbeknownst to you, have been influencing perceptions from your viewpoint.
The components of this filter – experience, education, thinking, and considerations – are tightly interwoven into each other like the strands in a rope. In the following exercise you just look at these components as they come up.
Exercise 4-1
CHOOSE A BROAD SUBJECT AREA FROM THE FOLLOWING,
(1) Bodies
(2) Personalities
(3) Relationships
(4) Friendships
(5) Survival
(6) _________ (add your own)
Look at what is there in that subject area. You may start with a broad view or narrow down to specifics. Recognize the various components of the filter – experience, education, thinking, and basic consideration – as they come up. Do not resist or suppress back any feelings, emotions, etc.
DO NOT COMPUTE UPON WHAT COMES UP. DO NOT RESIST ANY RESPONSE. END OFF WHEN THE ATTENTION IS OPTIMUM.
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