Why Are You Anxious?
We get upset, we get in power struggles because we think something is wrong or something is missing, but is it? Or are we just mistaken about our assumptions, expectations and judgments? On the most superficial level, things seem wrong, things are missing, and we experience what we don’t want. On that level, we believe something is being withheld, something is lacking, and that we have what we don’t want. We are upset and anxious and engage in power struggles. We are unaware that our good is present and we are unaware of where it is.
Anxiety is our friend because it tells us that we are mistaken, and that mistake is the greatest good news in the history of the world. What is that mistake? You are mistaken about your beliefs and you don’t know it. You don’t even know what your beliefs are. That is the message of all anxiety, and if you can understand it, you will see that anxiety is the bearer of good news.
The fundamental human mistake is that we think we know, but we don’t know the truth of the situation, only our story about it. Are we ready and willing to learn? If we knew the truth about reality we would be free of our anger, frustration, loneliness, boredom, addictions, fears and deadly habits. Our anxiety is an exact indicator of our unawareness of this mistaken story.
On the level of ordinary human perception, there are problems and conflicts. But on another level, there are not. We live on the psychological level of our story, and not on our spiritual level. The superficial psychological level is where we focus our attention and get stuck. The psychological level of our life has taken over. We feel like trapped innocent victims. Relationship problems all occur on this superficial psychological level. Our spiritual level is quite foggy and fundamentally unknown.
And thus we have misdiagnosed our problems and mis-prescribed our solutions. This mistake is universal. We like to be right, and this keeps us stuck. Anxiety is the chief indicator of this mistake, and of this gap between our psychological and spiritual awareness.
A whole world of depth has been overlooked, forgotten, and untapped. Everything that you think is wrong, missing and lacking is still here.
On Level One, the superficial psychological level, things do seem wrong, things are lacking, and you feel unhappy. On Level Two, the spiritual in-depth awareness, nothing is wrong, nothing is missing and you are potentially happy. Level One seems to be reality and Level Two seems like a fantasy, but suppose it is just the reverse! Suppose that Level One is a story we made up, and that Level Two is reality. Wouldn’t that be a switch!
Level One is the finite superficial world of limited good; Level Two is the infinite depth world of unlimited good. The world of the limited good is taken for granted; the world of the unlimited good remains a mystery.
The nature of reality is this: It is hidden, and it is hidden and it is hidden.
Paul Kurtz
Even with all of our great scientific strides, we continue to swim in a sea of mystery.
Michael Murphy
Our mis-diagnosis is that we have taken Level One as reality and Level Two as a fantasy. Our mis-prescription is that we are trying to fix Level One and it can’t be done. Anxiety-Enlightenment Therapy acknowledges this mis-diagnosis and mis-prescription predicament and acknowledges that anxiety is our friendly indicator of this mistake.
Level One is your ego story; Level Two is the truth. Anxiety is the difference. Until you shift from the unawareness of Level One to the Awareness of level Two, you will be anxiety-driven in your behavior. You will continue to mis-judge yourself and others. You will continue to alienate even your beloved and your family.
Perhaps now you have been blessed with a crisis, a wake-up call. You are asking what is wrong. You are ready for a change. You don’t know what this change is or how to make it. You are tired of all of the manipulating and arguing. Criticisms, blame and threats are not working. You are the perfect candidate for awakening.
My father says that almost the whole world is asleep - everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and they live in a state of constant, total amazement.
Joe Versus The Volcano (movie)
“Asleep” means that we function almost entirely on Level One, unaware of Level Two. “Constant, total amazement” means that we have shifted to Level Two.
Your crisis is your invitation to shift to Level Two, to get to know yourself. If you are not living in “constant, total amazement” you do not know yourself and you are still stuck on Level One.
Anxious behavior tells you which level you are on. Anxious behavior is story-controlled. Most people are stuck in anxious behavior and don’t know it. You can be stuck in anxious behavior and not feel particularly anxious. Anxious behavior means that we have selected certain strategies for survival and that these habitual patterns are supposed to keep our anxiety experience under control.
Arguing, for example, is an anxious behavior designed to hide the fact that we are very anxious. Arguing accomplishes nothing and it could stop immediately if either party admitted to himself or herself that he or she is anxious. Anxious behavior occurs because the relationship is stuck on Level One, and neither party is using his spiritual awareness. Each arguer thinks the other is at fault. Each arguer feels that the other is blocking his or her experience of the good. Neither is aware of his or her own Infinite Good on Level Two. The arguing crisis is your invitation to wake up to your Infinite Self on Level Two. You are blessed and don’t know it.
Anxiety is our friend because it tells us that we are mistaken, and that mistake is the greatest good news in the history of the world. What is that mistake? You are mistaken about your beliefs and you don’t know it. You don’t even know what your beliefs are. That is the message of all anxiety, and if you can understand it, you will see that anxiety is the bearer of good news.
The fundamental human mistake is that we think we know, but we don’t know the truth of the situation, only our story about it. Are we ready and willing to learn? If we knew the truth about reality we would be free of our anger, frustration, loneliness, boredom, addictions, fears and deadly habits. Our anxiety is an exact indicator of our unawareness of this mistaken story.
On the level of ordinary human perception, there are problems and conflicts. But on another level, there are not. We live on the psychological level of our story, and not on our spiritual level. The superficial psychological level is where we focus our attention and get stuck. The psychological level of our life has taken over. We feel like trapped innocent victims. Relationship problems all occur on this superficial psychological level. Our spiritual level is quite foggy and fundamentally unknown.
And thus we have misdiagnosed our problems and mis-prescribed our solutions. This mistake is universal. We like to be right, and this keeps us stuck. Anxiety is the chief indicator of this mistake, and of this gap between our psychological and spiritual awareness.
A whole world of depth has been overlooked, forgotten, and untapped. Everything that you think is wrong, missing and lacking is still here.
On Level One, the superficial psychological level, things do seem wrong, things are lacking, and you feel unhappy. On Level Two, the spiritual in-depth awareness, nothing is wrong, nothing is missing and you are potentially happy. Level One seems to be reality and Level Two seems like a fantasy, but suppose it is just the reverse! Suppose that Level One is a story we made up, and that Level Two is reality. Wouldn’t that be a switch!
Level One is the finite superficial world of limited good; Level Two is the infinite depth world of unlimited good. The world of the limited good is taken for granted; the world of the unlimited good remains a mystery.
The nature of reality is this: It is hidden, and it is hidden and it is hidden.
Paul Kurtz
Even with all of our great scientific strides, we continue to swim in a sea of mystery.
Michael Murphy
Our mis-diagnosis is that we have taken Level One as reality and Level Two as a fantasy. Our mis-prescription is that we are trying to fix Level One and it can’t be done. Anxiety-Enlightenment Therapy acknowledges this mis-diagnosis and mis-prescription predicament and acknowledges that anxiety is our friendly indicator of this mistake.
Level One is your ego story; Level Two is the truth. Anxiety is the difference. Until you shift from the unawareness of Level One to the Awareness of level Two, you will be anxiety-driven in your behavior. You will continue to mis-judge yourself and others. You will continue to alienate even your beloved and your family.
Perhaps now you have been blessed with a crisis, a wake-up call. You are asking what is wrong. You are ready for a change. You don’t know what this change is or how to make it. You are tired of all of the manipulating and arguing. Criticisms, blame and threats are not working. You are the perfect candidate for awakening.
My father says that almost the whole world is asleep - everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and they live in a state of constant, total amazement.
Joe Versus The Volcano (movie)
“Asleep” means that we function almost entirely on Level One, unaware of Level Two. “Constant, total amazement” means that we have shifted to Level Two.
Your crisis is your invitation to shift to Level Two, to get to know yourself. If you are not living in “constant, total amazement” you do not know yourself and you are still stuck on Level One.
Anxious behavior tells you which level you are on. Anxious behavior is story-controlled. Most people are stuck in anxious behavior and don’t know it. You can be stuck in anxious behavior and not feel particularly anxious. Anxious behavior means that we have selected certain strategies for survival and that these habitual patterns are supposed to keep our anxiety experience under control.
Arguing, for example, is an anxious behavior designed to hide the fact that we are very anxious. Arguing accomplishes nothing and it could stop immediately if either party admitted to himself or herself that he or she is anxious. Anxious behavior occurs because the relationship is stuck on Level One, and neither party is using his spiritual awareness. Each arguer thinks the other is at fault. Each arguer feels that the other is blocking his or her experience of the good. Neither is aware of his or her own Infinite Good on Level Two. The arguing crisis is your invitation to wake up to your Infinite Self on Level Two. You are blessed and don’t know it.
posted by Dr. Joe at 7:03 AM
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