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 %ATTRACT TRAP PRISON PERVERT PERCEPTION EXPERIENCE 911027

     We  may  be  attracted  into  a  way  of  perceiving,
experiencing, being, thinking,  feeling and relating which
in  the end turns out to have been a trap which  imprisons
us;   so  that  within  our trap  our  misguided  ways  of
perceiving,  experiencing,  being,  thinking,  feeling and
relating  blind  and confuse us,  so we  cannot  encounter
essential truths about ourselves and our relationships.

     What  we perceive may depend in perverted  ways  upon
what  trap  we  are caught in;  as much as  upon  what  is
objectively  present  to  us.   Highly  prejudiced  people
perceive  what is around them in ways which are in keeping
with their prejudices.  Militarists perceive occasions for
defensive  military action,  where others do not  perceive
such  occasions.  Judgmental legalists perceive immorality
in  the  open and honest intimate behavior  of  people  of
integrity.    Exclusively  objective  scientists  do   not
perceive  essential mystery in situations where  essential
mystery is present.

     In  similar  ways the trap we are imprisoned  in  may
dominate  our experiences,  being,  thinking,  feeling and
relationships;   without  our  being  aware  that  we  are
imprisoned  in  any  trap.   We may  regard  all  that  we
perceive,  experience,  are, think,  feel and relate to as
being reliable and real as we know it;  and regard what we
know as quite independent of all aspects of ourselves.

     We  cannot  be  truly  honest  in  our   perceptions,
experiences, being, thinking, feeling and relationships if
we  are unable to entertain the hypothesis that we may  be
caught in a perverse trap.  Only if we are free to  openly
and  honestly entertain that hypothesis,  do we  have  any
chance  of  escaping  from  such invisible  traps  as  may
imprison us and blind us.

     If we are entrapped in a perverse style of living  we
are   unknowing  victims  of  dishonest  experiences   and
dishonest perceptions;  such forms of dishonesty being far
more   perverse  in  nature,   than  our   having   honest
experiences   and   perceptions,   and  then   dishonestly
reporting them.

     The   concepts   of  "dishonest   experiences"    and
"dishonest perceptions" are a bit strange. Yet, for people
who  are  the victims of a coherent  set  of  assumptions,
presuppositions, beliefs, convictions, and collusive games
of   mutual  self  deception---within  a   society   which
functions  like an addict;  their style of life  dominates
not only their expressions, but also their experiences and
perceptions  in dishonest ways.  The "objective world"  of
their   experiences   and  their  perceptions   does   not
correspond at all well with the objective world of healthy
people   of  integrity,   living  within  a  community  of
integrity.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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