
Do
you view suffering as random? Do you view it as punishment
for sinners? Do you view it as Divine Intervention
in human affairs? Do you feel that events have meaning?
If so, what is the meaning? If you feel that they
have no meaning, examine that as a world view. In
other words, do not assume that events have no meaning
beyond what you can see, and you can see none. Assume
that your understanding that events have no meaning
is not necessarily the case. It is your world view.
Then ask yourself if you are comfortable with that
world view.
However you interpret
the events that you encounter, look at your interpretation
of events as your way of understanding phenomena that
are larger than you can comprehend. That is your world
view. Allow your experiences of suffering, your own
and other’s, to illuminate for you the world
view that you hold and, whatever it is, consider the
possibility that your world view is not necessarily
the way the world is. Therefore, you can choose the
world view that is most comfortable to you, and the
most healthy that you can imagine, and experiment
with it.
ADDED NOTE: This
OPPORTUNITY is not only to identify your world view,
but also to examine the impact it has on you once
you find it. Your world view is not what you think
about the world, but what you really feel about the
world. It is not as easily changeable as a thought.
Does the way you see the world make you feel relaxed,
expanded, safe, valuable, supported, or loved? Does
it make you feel tense, constricted, in danger, insignificant,
alone, or unloved? Does it give you hope or put you
into despair once you really see it clearly? Does
it make you feel safe exploring your life or frightened
to explore your life? Does it nurture your unlimited
creativity or force it into certain channels? These
questions have no right or wrong answers, but each
answer can help you see if your world view is the
one you want to keep - even if you are convinced it
is obviously “true” and all other world
views are imaginary (each world view appears that
way to the person who holds it). If you are frightened
to think about seeing the world differently, that
is part of your world view, too. Experiment with beginning
to see the world differently, if you chose, by opening
to the possibility that your view of it is only that
– your view – and you are the one who
chooses it.
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