The crucial factor influencing how well we can respond in any given situation seems to be the level of mindfulness we can bring to bear upon the moment. If we don’t care to be present, unconscious decision-making systems will function to get us through to the next moment, albeit in the grips of (often flawed) learned behaviors and conditioned responses. If, on the other hand, we can increase the amount of conscious awareness present by manifesting mindfulness, we expand the range of our possible responses. Even if disposed to anger, we can choose to act with kindness. This is the essence of our freedom in an otherwise heavily conditioned system.
Andrew Olendzki, “Karma in Action,” Tricycle Winter 2008
More on topic:
- The purpose of life and human conditioning
- How our conditioning affects our relationships
- Ending the conditioned response
- Reclaiming myself on the ground of myself
- Our conditioning is part of our toxic load
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