Well I agree with the doctor up to a point: a significant amount of our perception is actually not perception at all, it's "concepts and conditioning". Sometimes we call this "preconceptions" or "prejudice", although it's really more complex than that -- perceptual conditioning influences the way we interpret input dramatically in ways that are not always easy to notice. This "structure of interpretation" has a massive impact on how we see ourselves and life, which in turn affects many things about our lives, including our actions. However, when I hear a statement like the quote from Dr. Dyer, I get suspicious -- because usually the subsequent paragraphs of such statements launch into lengthy advice about how to manipulate one's own viewpoint in order to make life "better". To me, this is a mistake. I'm generally opposed to manipulating thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes. I realize this is an extremely popular strategy, with many different adherents advocating different kinds of self-twiddling. While it's clear that a certain limited amount of change is possible using these methods, they all fall short of what I believe is the real Mother Lode of adult development: realization of true self, prior to concepts and conditioning. At best, self-manipulation allows us to reduce some of the destructive or addictive behaviors we might be engaged in. At worst, it becomes it's own prison, preventing one from progressing beyond such methods to a deeper understanding of one's own mind and life. EDIT ================================================ gtravels: (This is basically a miniature crash course in Zen, without the crucial years of practice required to make it really come alive... ) When I'm speaking of "true self", I'm talking about an aspect of ourselves which is "unconditioned".... i.e. it isn't dependent on what happened in the past, our ordinary sense of identity, our prior training, etc. Sometimes this is called "the Absolute" or "original nature" in Zen. It's what allows life to be whole and complete just as it is right now, without "fixing" something first... it's the source of unconditional love, freedom, creativity: wholeness. To "realize" true self means to BECOME oneself at that level, at least to some degree. It's not about having some insight, it's a shift in how one locates "myself". In order for this shift to take place, a person has to be able to see the "false" kinds of self clearly enough to be able to sense what it is that makes them inauthentic and unstable. (I put "false" in quotes to indicate that it's not quite the same as saying this kind of self is a lie... more like false self is a sort of temporary or provisional identity which allows one to function prior to the realization of true self. It's like a mask which can be discarded when no longer needed, but which serves a legitimate purpose in the psychological structure of a person.) So awareness is the tool used to expose the false selves: false identity is constructed from concepts and conditioning. By concepts, I mean things like self-image, abstractions like "I'm a bad person / I'm a good person", all our self-defining ideas: what I do for a living, what my preferences are, my personal history, accomplishments, social standing, beliefs, etc. Basically anything which can be expressed as an idea or image, and which the mind uses to identify "me" is the conceptual aspect of false self. Conditioning is somewhat different. By conditioning, I mean "automated perception / response patterns". For an example of such a pattern, go out and stand in the middle of a quiet residential street in the middle of the night when there's no traffic. Now sit down on the asphalt. What happens? For most of us, a certain anxiety arises... even though we know there's no traffic, and we can see in both directions sufficiently to avoid danger, it just "feels wrong". That feeling is a conditioned response -- an automated output of the mind which has been trained not to sit down in the middle of the street. (Lots of people have guilt in their lives which results from violating some conditioned rule, even though they understand intellectually that their behavior is "right" -- the mind still learned differently in childhood) Awareness practice doesn't remove concepts and conditioning, what it does is illuminate them -- to show them for what they are, in a direct and immediate way so that the mind can see it's own "construction of self" for what it is: a fabrication of thought and automated responses. As an individual becomes ever more adept at spotting the fabrication in their own life (and in real time), this other unconditioned aspect of the mind becomes increasingly noticeable: there's a kind of "me" which isn't just a product of the conditioning, nor is it defined by the concepts normally used for self-identification, and that "me" is totally free: unfettered by the past, not bound by constraints of concern for reputation or ego, devoid of automated responses for life, able to meet each moment with fresh eyes and respond creatively and appropriately without referring to some database of "correct" actions. Having said all that, to tie back in to your question: I don't know Dyer much, but I suspect that he leans somewhat toward the "postive thinking / self improvement" camp. If that's not the case, you can disregard the rest of this! :-) The problem I have with positive thinking or other approaches which attempt to change one's attitude or "reprogram" oneself, is that at the end of such efforts (even if they're successful), we're still left with a dominant "false" identity, although perhaps it's now a positve one instead of a negative one. Or (for re-conditioning approaches), I'm now a positive-thinking machine instead of a negative-thinking machine... but I'm STILL a machine, and that's not what really resolves the sense of incompleteness that keeps people chipping away at spiritual and self-help books and programs. Ok, sorry it's so long... as Mark Twain said, "I lacked the time to make it shorter"! :-)

That quote is true about absolutely everything in life that I can think of. How you frame something (context) has enormous implications to how you understand and interpret information. Your framework can flip what is right and what is wrong up-side-down. I do apply this in my life by trying to look at things from more than one perspective. Sometimes I even try to get other people to look at things from a different framework. I will be sure to use this quote in the future. :-)

WOW at the long answers....I can sum it up for you with my favorite saying! And this to shall pass! We can cry over what we've lost or look at what we still have and may have in the future!

Most definetly. It's really not the situations or the circumstance's you face in life. It's your REACTION to them that makes ALL the difference in the world.

Its all about how you look at things. A simple Eg: If You have lost a job or broke up with your lover, instead of crying over as though your life is over, You couldnt simply look at it in a positive way and think to yourself that Hey just maybe theres a better job out there waiting for me or Theres someone out there more deserving of me and the love i have to offer. I foollow that qoute very deeply just because I see too many people looking at the negative things in life while they miss out all thats good and wonderfull around them. I really beleive that there is atleast one good thing in everything that happens, its just upto us to look at it. :)

I find this to be too true, and I always look at everything with positive eyes. It makes life easy to live and less complicated. Life is beautiful if you do the right things and mind your own business. I practice living my life this way and I rarely encounter problems or complications. Having faith is a Bonus!!

Many times in life I must stop and try to see things from the perspective of others. I remember my daughter describing things when she was young and not knowing what she meant until I got down to her level and viewed what she was seeing. It is an important concept we should all keep in mind.

Love that quote. Actually asked a question about it a while back. http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/170802

every single day ! great question. +5 examples. i am have having a bad hair day grrrr (cancer patient has hair falling out and would love to have a bad hair day) 2. oh gosh i have to carry all of the groceries in. (struggling person oh i wish i had the money for bread and peanut butter) it is all about perspective.

Very much so. Way back in the day, when I first became a Christian. I harbored so much guilt, walked around looking at the ground constantly lamenting over my past failures and how I had failed others. Just could not let the guilt go. One day at church while walking down the hall (looking at the floor) my Pastor's secretary stopped me to talk. She asked me what I was doing, always looking down. I explained it to her and she said God forgave you why can't you forgive yourself? Do you think you know more than God? She explained there was no reason to continue to punish myself like that and said; It's like driving a car and always looking in the rear view mirror. If you do that you can't see what is ahead and where you are going. She told me I needed to let it all go and in so many words that I had become stuck in the mire. That was a life changing moment for me. I spoke the words, I forgive myself. My thinking began to come into line with those words (such a small rudder) It was a very freeing moment.

every single day ! great original question. +5 examples. 1. i am have having a bad hair day grrrrrrr (cancer patient has hair falling out and thinks i would love to have a bad hair day again) 2. oh gosh i have to carry all of the groceries in. ($ struggling person, oh i wish i had the money for bread and peanut butter) it is all about perspective.

Attitude affects everything around you. I try to maintain a positive attitude and also try to see things from the other person's perspective.