Ayleth [NG]
Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 156
I’ve recently come across a podcast that talks about identity and what it means in practice. As a disclaimer, I’ll write some information that is taken directly from the podcast, not everything is in my own words.
First do a quick search about the difference between identity and personality. I'll not write it here as it might become too long. It's basically this idea of what makes you you versus what makes you act like you. There's some deeper layers about reincarnation and soul here, but let's first understand it mental-wise.
"We think personality is who you are, but it's actually defined by three characteristics."
1. The way that you perceive information,
2. Your internal reactions to your environment,
3. The way that you behave in response to your environment.
These are tied to cognitive patterns and habits that can block or unblock self-discovery. These 2 points below, 'risk' averse decision making and prioritising comfort are what must be overcome.
Conditioning: how you prioritise what's perceived as "good" or efficient rather than trying to explore what you want. You need to let yourself be in a period of exploration and searching even if it does not make sense for now. In one of his sermons High Priest talked about how it is better to do things and analyse later, not overcomplexifying which results in non-action due to paralysis. See here "How To Succeed In A More Easy Way: Creative Flow Control"
This numbing pain of comfort above all: a strong preference for staying in comfortable, familiar situations. This aversion to discomfort prevents putting oneself in challenging scenarios that could reveal hidden strengths, leading to a feeling of being an "NPC" in one's own life without a "main quest." What's the whole idea about existence even? Is it one part about discovering your unique responses to the world, and see if they make sense to you and your actions? You find what you’re capable of, and you might actually see that it’s above what you thought.
Now that we're hungry for identification, I really want to ask myself and you as well: do you understand what your own Zevist identity is? How do you perceive it?
I want to do this exercise, so I’ll try for now and respond to those three characteristics:
- the way that I perceive information: I recognise I’m feeling-based when it comes to first-time impressions, but I always take a second look, a second breath, and try to analyse what’s in front of me. It’s similar to a mental process of trying to find meaning in what I knew before. (I do try to find sermons that talk about that specific thing or event in my life.) I let a bit of time pass to “digest” the information. It will come up again later, and I can usually see a new perspective on it. The challenge here is to not become passive while waiting. I must search for new things in the meantime or organise the previous ones.
- my internal reactions to the environment: for now, it’s a good mix of pain and drive. It might sound ridiculous, but this also gives me a lot of hope.
- the way that I behave in response to your environment: for this, I could write pages and pages, I’ll leave some thoughts for now:
Zevism for me gives meaning, and it has this “magical” (pun intended) feeling of wonder. There is this 'unseen' spiritual side of the world, the astral realm that I am very curious about: my main force of moving is discovery. After that I see it as something that allows me to witness so many people, patterns, and teachings about everything in life. Yes, some things are very ugly today, or I don’t like everything I see and feel, but every time I come across those, I know there must be something better, something more beautiful and harmonious for our life here.
I truly identify as an Aquarian because I do see the potential in everyone. And this potential is big, very big with us here at the Temple. However, I discovered a fear as well. What happens if this potential stays unmanifested?
The everyday chatting we do in VT, the blessings of the Clergy, the scheduled rituals… I like to know these are part of my identity. It helps not only spiritual wise, but mental, physical and emotional as well. I’m an artist at heart, and I recognise my wording here might sound like “dream big or go home” but what if I want to have both? I haven’t come across any system apart from Zevism that can integrate so many beautiful things together. We see and try to find about the ancient religions and their teachings, and that people before us had a reason to live other than mindless consumption. At the same time, we understand the importance of everyday life, what a good routine does for you, meeting family and friends, having wealth, providing, and creating. I see and feel the love and care of the Gods, and it’s connected with this longing to discover and understand more.
Now I'll pass this to you: what's your Zevist identity?
First do a quick search about the difference between identity and personality. I'll not write it here as it might become too long. It's basically this idea of what makes you you versus what makes you act like you. There's some deeper layers about reincarnation and soul here, but let's first understand it mental-wise.
"We think personality is who you are, but it's actually defined by three characteristics."
1. The way that you perceive information,
2. Your internal reactions to your environment,
3. The way that you behave in response to your environment.
These are tied to cognitive patterns and habits that can block or unblock self-discovery. These 2 points below, 'risk' averse decision making and prioritising comfort are what must be overcome.
Conditioning: how you prioritise what's perceived as "good" or efficient rather than trying to explore what you want. You need to let yourself be in a period of exploration and searching even if it does not make sense for now. In one of his sermons High Priest talked about how it is better to do things and analyse later, not overcomplexifying which results in non-action due to paralysis. See here "How To Succeed In A More Easy Way: Creative Flow Control"
This numbing pain of comfort above all: a strong preference for staying in comfortable, familiar situations. This aversion to discomfort prevents putting oneself in challenging scenarios that could reveal hidden strengths, leading to a feeling of being an "NPC" in one's own life without a "main quest." What's the whole idea about existence even? Is it one part about discovering your unique responses to the world, and see if they make sense to you and your actions? You find what you’re capable of, and you might actually see that it’s above what you thought.
Now that we're hungry for identification, I really want to ask myself and you as well: do you understand what your own Zevist identity is? How do you perceive it?
I want to do this exercise, so I’ll try for now and respond to those three characteristics:
- the way that I perceive information: I recognise I’m feeling-based when it comes to first-time impressions, but I always take a second look, a second breath, and try to analyse what’s in front of me. It’s similar to a mental process of trying to find meaning in what I knew before. (I do try to find sermons that talk about that specific thing or event in my life.) I let a bit of time pass to “digest” the information. It will come up again later, and I can usually see a new perspective on it. The challenge here is to not become passive while waiting. I must search for new things in the meantime or organise the previous ones.
- my internal reactions to the environment: for now, it’s a good mix of pain and drive. It might sound ridiculous, but this also gives me a lot of hope.
- the way that I behave in response to your environment: for this, I could write pages and pages, I’ll leave some thoughts for now:
Zevism for me gives meaning, and it has this “magical” (pun intended) feeling of wonder. There is this 'unseen' spiritual side of the world, the astral realm that I am very curious about: my main force of moving is discovery. After that I see it as something that allows me to witness so many people, patterns, and teachings about everything in life. Yes, some things are very ugly today, or I don’t like everything I see and feel, but every time I come across those, I know there must be something better, something more beautiful and harmonious for our life here.
I truly identify as an Aquarian because I do see the potential in everyone. And this potential is big, very big with us here at the Temple. However, I discovered a fear as well. What happens if this potential stays unmanifested?
The everyday chatting we do in VT, the blessings of the Clergy, the scheduled rituals… I like to know these are part of my identity. It helps not only spiritual wise, but mental, physical and emotional as well. I’m an artist at heart, and I recognise my wording here might sound like “dream big or go home” but what if I want to have both? I haven’t come across any system apart from Zevism that can integrate so many beautiful things together. We see and try to find about the ancient religions and their teachings, and that people before us had a reason to live other than mindless consumption. At the same time, we understand the importance of everyday life, what a good routine does for you, meeting family and friends, having wealth, providing, and creating. I see and feel the love and care of the Gods, and it’s connected with this longing to discover and understand more.
Now I'll pass this to you: what's your Zevist identity?