Paradigm shift

Paradigm shift, in simple words, is a change from one way of thinking to another. For example, we can think of religion as compassion instead of a set of rituals and prayers. A paradigm shift can bring about miraculous changes in our life. A prisoner, for instance, will make his life miserable if he despairs of his condition or can make his term a happy period if he chooses to do something creative under the given conditions. Aren’t we all prisoners in this world?

Awareness is a necessary prerequisite to all meaningful changes. One plain truth is that we love to live in our comfort zone. Only when we become aware of facts like our comfort zone is not the best of zones available and that there are many other better possibilities and options open to us, will we be able to change.

In the beginning of his novel, Illusions, Richard Bach tells a story about some water creatures. These creatures spend their entire lifetime clinging to the rocks and twigs at the bottom of the crystal clear river. One day they see another creature like themselves floating on the water above them. They think that creature is going to be their messiah since he is performing what they perceive as a miracle. They beg the messiah to save them. The floating creature tells them that he is no messiah and that if they want to save themselves they should let go their clinging. The creatures cannot imagine letting go. All their life they have been clinging. Clinging was the way of life for their ancestors, it is theirs as will be their future generations’.

They refused to let go and continued to cling. Maybe they made up imaginative stories about a messiah who made an apparition to them once upon a time. Maybe they made a religion in the name of that messiah, created rituals, composed prayers. And continued to cling.

Letting go is the paradigm shift. Can we let go some of our silly prejudices? Can we let go some of our attitudes to success, wealth, and whatever else we think is very important? Can we open our minds, our consciousness, to new truths which are waiting to reveal themselves to us?

Are you ready for the paradigm shift?

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