First Things First - How to Proceed with Living

As in most things "human", we tend to live life backwards. Like looking through our rear-view mirror to go forwards.

When you meet or confront other objects, identities, or separatenesses - a person tends to put their own individuality first. "Hi, I'm Joe -" and then then extend your hand. Just before that is perceiving that the other person exists.(And some act as "blind" and literally bump into things before they can "see" them. While those without vision will sense something earlier than others who supposedly use their eyesight every waking moment.)

This really tells why it's so important to get enlightened/clear/satori early on. Because you have to be able to get your own individuality out of the way before you can truly perceive with any accuracy.

The sequence is actually

1. Grok
2. Perceive
3. Individuate

And the reasons for this is that a person is reactive by habit. Their programs are on full-tilt, telling them what they should be doing and how they should be reacting. And these just get in the way (which explains why humor works and why politics, "news", and entertainment are so fascinating - they don't make any sense.)

Only shaman can approach accurate perception, but only shaman who learn to get their "own self" out of the way and perceive simply what is, first. But before anything can be perceived, it has to be grokked fully.

This, of course, takes a fair bit of practice before your accuracy comes in. And why the ancient Hawaiians named their European visitors "haole" which means "those who don't breathe." For Hawaiians were taught to breathe deeply before speaking - which relaxes the body and mind, making perception easier.

Before you start seeing or hearing, you need to be grokking. Most people simply go through life throwing up their programs out ahead, before they even truly look at what is happening around them. Or even at objects that are just sitting there, waiting to be perceived.

The biggest "breakthroughs" are when you can get a person to sit still and just observe what is actually there. This is just inviting them to quiet their mind and quit using it instead of their actual perceptions.

However, the next step is to get them to just drop everything else and simply grok the world around them. You will find many more realities exist in that space than you can perceive through the senses or the mind. It is apparent that the "mind" is really only good for operating as a defense mechanism in the first (subjective) level.  And it only gets in the way when you start operating on the other levels.

To really utilize your capacity for living, you'll need to learn to grok more fully - in every waking and sleeping moment.

Grok first, then perceive, then mind what's around you. "I don't mind" would be a good motto to adopt as you break that bad habit you've had for so long.

Have fun with this...