THE MEANING OF UNIVERSAL AWARENESS

3. More on Mental Maps

How the idea of our mind creating 'mental maps' of reality may influences the way we live our lives.

Recall that, although the Theory of Universal Awareness accepts that the physical world-reality-exists, and we are part of it, the world as we experience it is always 'in our head' not 'out there'. And whenever we communicate with others, we do so on the basis of our own personal, unique representation or map of our world at that moment, as do those communicating with us. These premises are hardly new revelations; they have been debated by philosophers for centuries. But of concern here is what it all means for us in our everyday life. How does being mindful of this influence the way we feel and behave as we go about our daily lives?

Now, it is obvious that although our mental maps of the world are unique to each one of us, it is not the case that we create entirely different worlds from one another. If it were, it would be impossible for us to function as social beings! There is only one world 'out there' and it seems that, with extreme exceptions, we all create very similar and accurate maps of reality (keeping in mind a map is nothing like the territory it represents). But one important difference is how we interpret our maps. For example, two observers of the same scene are likely to create very similar mental maps, but their reactions, their opinions and attitudes about what is happening, what matters to them and what doesn't, and how they feel emotionally-may be quite different.

One area of human activity in which these ideas have been very influential in the last 40 years is 'talking therapy' for mental health problems and illnesses. Our emotional state (happy, sad, depressed, anxious, angry, etc.) depends on how we are representing the world at the time. Even when our emotions are negative, if our representation is accurate and realistic there is no anomaly there. However, when someone is constantly experiencing extremes of anxiety, low mood, anger and so on, that are disproportionate to what is happening in their lives, it probably means that the mental maps that their mind habitually creates are unrealistically threatening and pessimistic. One method now commonly adopted by therapists and counsellors is to help the person to be aware of when this is happening and to learn more constructive and realistic ways of representing their world.

This is something we can all try to put into practice ourselves. And we can do this in a more general way. For any individual, there are many things they perceive in the world to which they will respond negatively, feeling sad, depressed, anxious, angry, disgusted, etc. And in many cases for good reason, say when there is a real threat present or they are witness to actual suffering, cruelty, or injustice. It would be totally inappropriate to suggest to that person that there is a problem in the way they are representing the world. But many things that we witness that give rise to negative feelings often do so quite unnecessarily. Here, I am thinking of how intolerant we can be of others about the way they appear, behave, their lifestyle, the choices they make, their likes, dislikes, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and so on. Either we don't want such people to be present in our lives or, if that isn't possible, we demand that they possess attributes with which we feel more comfortable. More constructively, however, we might come to feel better about life if we were more prepared to accept that, although we live in the same world, there are many different ways we come to internalise that world, owing in large measure to differences in our prior experiences of life.

Hence, being more mindful of this in our daily lives may promote greater mutual understanding and acceptance despite our differences. Indeed, a stable and healthy society is one that can tolerate a diverse range of beliefs, customs and practices. And surely, life for all of us would be the better for it