"Learned Helplessness"

“Learned helplessness is a psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to act or behave helpless in a particular situation, even when it has the power to change its unpleasant or even harmful circumstance” (Wiki).

This is how we become victim to a “world” outside the mind. The mind essentially learns that it is helpless to change events or situations, no matter how much guilt may be experienced. Even when you can apply control upon the world, you do so in the realization the slightest breeze in the opposite direction could scatter your “goals” to the four winds.

The world presses its demands upon the mind and since the mind believes that the world made it (ie, physical birth) the mind acquiesces to the world’s system of values. In whatever choices the mind makes, the world must be consulted first and all plans must in some way conform to outside directives.

You learn that, often no matter what you do, the world can and often must, oppose you. As the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte stated, “the best well-laid plans can be completely annihilated by the smashing of a tea-cup.” The rules of the world teach that you have little to no control and that you are, essentially, helpless. Learned helplessness can only result in a state of chronic low-grade depression leading to an eventual overall attitude of defeat. Look at the starvation, poverty, conflict and destruction in the world.

The world exhibits defeat and expects you conform accordingly.

When you learn helplessness, you can only deny that you have any power or that the power you might access is very limited. How can the absolute power of the mind be tapped, when it has learned it is helpless? Even religions and spiritual philosophies that purport to empower the mind, actually reinforce its learned helplessness.

Do you rely on a guru or master to teach you truth?

Have you learned that only through various meditative strategies and practices can you achieve the elusive “spiritual enlightenment/awakening”?

When you go to hear the avowed “master” speak, does he or she sit upon a stage while you merely remain an audience of anonymity?

Is the text depended upon as irrefutable and therefore beyond all question ?

All of this depends on YOUR learning helplessness. When you come to the master or the text, make no mistake, your learning is contingent on your helplessness requiring rescue. If you were not helpless, what would you need to learn? If you were NOT asleep in helpless ignorance, or so they teach, why seek awakening? These perspectives rely on the fear that you continue to believe you are helpless and less than what you could be, but are NOT.

Being less than, demands fear because it is defined by being unfulfilled. To be unfulfilled is to lack and to lack demands filling NEEDS. Therefore, the helpless must learn what they NEED to finally help themselves. This “learning” is a never-ending circular pattern that you are helpless to escape because it perpetuates and maintains fear.

The Peaceful Self is empowered through the mastery of fear. Helplessness engenders and perpetuates fear. The world taught you fear, but the Peaceful Self learns it is always at peace and that is how it is Created. Nothing else need be “learned” and nothing IN the world can teach it. (besides, what has the world ever taught us that has significantly reduced our suffering or the suffering of the world?)

The Peaceful Self dwells within and is NOT corrupted by an “outside,” merely because outside is IN. Therefore, "outside" participation is enhanced and increased because there is no fear. (think hard on this one)

The Peaceful Self participates in conflict-free thought, which is thinking determined NOT by the world’s values, but by the values of Deep Spirit, which are denied by an “outside” world, but can be seen "outside" but only by those who see without fear..

The Peaceful Self is completely confident and empowered in the Source for its knowledge because the Truth is within and always available whenever YOU chooses to detach from fear and repudiate helplessness.

The Peaceful Self is very quiet and still even in the most extreme and traumatic situations, realizing that panic is a result of chaos and chaos is only a product of fear and fear demands helplessness.

The Peaceful self waits for Truth in the certainty that it must come to the mind free of fear because it is the peaceful mind that can listen to what Truth teaches.

The Peaceful Self does not reach out, but reaches IN with the certainty that what is outside can only join with it.

The Peaceful Self is powerful beyond the world’s comprehension of power, simply because the Peaceful Self has learned there is NOTHING to fear and the world has always based its definition of power on fear and helplessness.

May the new year find you powerful beyond measure as you master all fear and discard helplessness.

Peace Angels!