Over the past week, I have been asking friends I know, “What is the actual “source” of humanistic values and behaviors? By humanistic, I mean behaviors we describe as: empathy, compassion humility, understanding, acceptance, and love. Essentially, behaviors that are spontaneously done with “absolutely” no expectation in return. Even acknowledgment or “thank you.” And certainly, no hidden agendas. These are what I call small acts of transformation.
Back to my question: Most people say, the source is not the mind. The programming of the mind is typically, “quid pro quo.” If this is a valid assumption, then we would have to go “out of our minds” to access it or have it access us. It would appear that such practices are common during crises or tragedies, but not as common during our normal life activities. We are commonly instructed to “get ahead of someone,” “to make sure we are first” (commonly at the expense of others, if necessary). I guess I was just wondering if there is a place for “human beings” in the world we aspire to have. These two quotes commonly refer to external ways of achieving (temporary) fulfillment.
A way of achieving internal fulfillment, is to compete with yourself in exceeding your continually expanding capability. I would suspect that if we constantly challenged ourselves to just live up to what we are capable of, without ANY excuses, we would be astounded; and simultaneously fulfilled in a much more permanent way. More than anything else, we would begin to learn what it means to be a human being where humanistic behaviors are a natural way of life.
Answer: I guess I have learned that humanistic ways of behaving are sourced from higher states of consciousness that we often refer to a spiritual.
Capability refers to activities that are a product of our passion in life. (Be sure to read the White Paper on Passion to learn what your passion might be.)
What are your ideas about the source of a humanistic predisposition followed by the corresponding behavior?
William A Guillory, Ph.D.
Co – Executive Director
The Way of the Heart
