Although books can be a good source for wisdom and guidance, they need to be recognized for what they are─ manmade tools. Each and every book ever written, sacred books included, are the product of people’s thoughts, ideas, experiences, and beliefs. In short, they are the lives of people expressed in writing. Thus, the more a person turns to books is the more they turn to people for the solutions they seek. And as already mentioned, this can be particularly dangerous when an individual relies on a single book for all the answers.
One of the main aspects of New Paradigm living is a return to nature. In this case, people in the New Paradigm are turning away from the manmade sources of wisdom and guidance and returning to the tools that nature gave them, specifically an open heart and an open mind. Just as nature has provided every species with inherent qualities, such as instinct and intuition, to navigate and thrive in this life, so too, she has given humanity the capacity to think and feel its way through this existence. Thus, turning away from sacred texts isn’t a recipe for disaster, where a person becomes hopelessly lost without direction or inspiration. Rather it’s a recipe for unlimited success, where an individual can rely on the living, vibrant tools that nature has provided, thereby ensuring an unbiased and non-judgmental source of insight, direction and hope, something that is the birthright of every living being.
Open Mind
If you are reading these words, then the chances are you already have an open mind. After all, why else would you be visiting a website that is all about the evolution of human consciousness, unless you possess a strong curiosity mixed with an eager appetite for exploration and discovery? These are the things that enable a person to truly live life first-hand. When you rely on the words and experiences of others, then the best you can hope for is to duplicate their lives, essentially losing your own in the process.
Still, having an open mind doesn’t mean you have to believe everything you hear or read. On the contrary, it means you get to decide what works for you and what doesn’t. This opens up unlimited possibilities when it comes to finding ideas, solutions, and even inspiration, especially in an age where there is a virtually infinite amount of information right at our fingertips. Every answer to every question ever asked is just an internet search away. With so much information available, it’s no wonder that human consciousness is evolving, adapting so as to make use of this ever-expanding resource of knowledge.
Perhaps the greatest benefit to having an open mind is the ability to accept new insights as they become available. This is best seen in the area of science. With each passing year new and exciting discoveries are being made, discoveries that in many ways rewrite our very understanding of the world in which we live. Those who practice strict adherence to sacred texts tend to dismiss many of these discoveries, especially when they fly in the face of their given tradition. As a result, valuable information that could be used to not only improve life, but also to save life, is often discarded regardless of its inherent value.
Alternatively, those with an open mind embrace new ideas, even at the expense of previously accepted ones they had trusted implicitly. Not only does this allow a person to move forward in their thinking and understanding, but it enables them to make use of the latest and greatest information available, giving them an edge in every way imaginable when it comes to solving life’s challenges.
Perhaps that’s why this is part of the evolution taking place today. After all, never before has the world been faced with such an existential crisis, one that causes the term ‘extinction event’ to be bandied about in an alarming way. Trusting in ancient texts to solve our modern problems has not produced the results we need to save the planet we call home. Nor has the outright rejection of scientific ideas regarding the crises we face and the solutions that are called for.
However, the increase in open-minded thinking is shifting the paradigm, causing more and more people to reject the practices that have led to our current state of affairs, and instead to embrace the practices that will see us enter a better era. It is a shift that is not only changing the lives of individuals but is preserving life as a whole. In short, it is the shift from the dogmatic ways of the Old Paradigm to the open and innovative ways of the New Paradigm.
Open Heart
Equally as important as having an open mind is having an open heart. This is where the two sides of ‘mind’ conjoin. While an open mind can help a person to think their way through a situation, an open heart will help a person to feel their way through it. At first, this may not seem so important, especially when you consider how much information is available to anyone at any time. However, it’s this infinite amount of information that can actually make having an open heart more important than ever.
While most solutions to a given problem can be fairly straight forward, there may be times when more than one solution seems equally correct. This is where thinking your way through a problem may not be enough. Fortunately, Nature has provided a tool for those times when intellect alone fails to get the job done. That tool is intuition.
Whenever you have a ‘gut feeling’ about something, either good or bad, that is your intuition giving you insight for the situation at hand. Sometimes that insight is consistent with what your mind is saying, however many times it isn’t. In fact, the voice of a person’s intuition is usually loudest when they are thinking their way toward disaster. The biggest problem, unfortunately, is trusting a voice that seemingly contradicts logic and reason. The good news is that more and more people are making that leap of faith, trusting their intuition even when everything else points the other way.
While there is an unlimited range in how using intuition can shape a person’s life, there is one area that is most relevant for this particular section. In short, those who rely on open-book thinking to navigate life will base their morals and values mainly on what their particular book says. Although this may not sound so bad at first, consider the fact that some ancient texts proscribe the death penalty for loving the ‘wrong person’, practicing the ‘wrong religion’, and even working on the ‘wrong day’ of the week. With this in mind, it’s quite miraculous that humanity has survived for as long as it has.
Fortunately, those who develop their intuitive skills know that the best way to judge what is right from what is wrong is to simply follow your heart. Those things that are wrong, such as violence, greed and hate, will inherently feel wrong. Alternatively, anything that is good or simply neutral in nature will either feel right, or at the very least, not feel like anything at all. In a world where new experiences can occur on a daily basis, it is vital to have a moral compass that can keep up with such an ever-changing environment. No book, no matter how well written, can change with the times. This is why those who strictly adhere to ancient texts seem to be so very lost in the modern world.
Furthermore, when a person combines an open mind with an open heart, they have access to not only the knowledge of humanity, but the knowledge of the Universe itself. After all, that is the very essence of intuition. To feel your way through a situation is to virtually allow the Universe to act as your guide. This is perhaps the greatest difference between relying on the ‘word of god’ (sacred texts) to guide you and relying on the voice of the Universe itself (intuition). With such a tool available, why would anyone choose to turn to a book for all the answers ever again?