the koan of fear and asking permission

[Guest guest]

I'm still stuck on this so it must be significant for me, but this is my thought...

 

via Yoga Bhajan, the negative mind only sees the possible negative consequences of a course of action (and is the home of fear, usually left hemisphere)...

 

the positive mind can't register the possible negative consequences of a course of action (usually right hemisphere), and

 

the neutral mind is in the middle and can see both, and is not restricted to one sided thinking.

 

A person can "ask permission" from the positive, negative or neutral mind.

 

So for example today, I am teaching a man to swim who sinks like a rock, and I ask permission "Can I put my hand under your hips and help you float?"

someone might project and say that I am afraid that I'll startle him,

or that he'll think I'm goosing him,

but the truth is that when I asked permission, I was not "afraid"....the determining factor is what my brain function was when I asked.... I was respecting him, in neutral mind, and "fearless"....

 

I'm working with another teacher and I am trying to teach him the need to ask permission, and he is mouthing the words, but he still has no idea that the Y is worried that parents will be worried if he startles some little girl when he tries to support her hips, so he is "asking permission", but he is clueless, on the learning curve about asking, but on the other side of it, he has to learn to be more "Fearful" in a way ..he ends class with chicken fights just after the pool director talks about the Y worrying about lawsuits....and he clearly doesn't get it.

 

but maybe another component is who is perceived to be in the position of power.... I'm not sure that I saw the whole thread on this, still working with it...but I think there are people in certain circumstances who "ask permission" without being motivated by fear, and Mother Theresa is a stereotype example of a "fearless" humanitarian.

 

I hope I didn't take this out of context...but I didn't mean to change the context from asking permission to asking a question, I know there is a difference, it was sloppy/too latenight posting, I apologize.

 

take care, Patricia