Living in the Now:
How to Overcome Conditioning

Excerpted from The Art of Living:
Living Within the Laws of Life by Benjamin Creme

Conditioning is education, but it is wrong, distorted education. Conditioning is acting, thinking, experiencing that which is not new, that which is already known. And if all your experiences are already known and are actually a function of memory, then they have nothing to do with the art of living. The essence of the art of living is that every moment is new. It is a creative experience coming from the soul.

We are souls in evolution. Therefore all that pertains in our life which reflects that reality, the soul reality, the creativity of the soul, is in tune with the best art of living. That which is known, that which is already defunct, is simply memory. That which is carried over from the past and is useless but liked, sentimentally held on to by millions of people, is detrimental to the right structures for the art of living.

We overcome conditioning by the discipline of self de-conditioning, by the process of becoming more and more detached. That is difficult to do because it needs discipline, but in essence it is simple. It only requires that you practise the three rules which Maitreya gives – honesty of mind, sincerity of spirit, and detachment:

Honesty Of Mind, Thinking In A Straight Line
Maitreya says most people think one thing, say something else, and do something else again. What we think, what we say, and what we do are all different. There is no honesty of mind.

Sincerity Of Spirit
We copy one another and condition ourselves by copying. Conditioning is copying by not being yourself. You have to be something at any given time, and if it is not yourself, it is something that is, in part, the not-self. So we are often the not-self.

Occasionally, under certain circumstances, we become sincere in our hearts, in our minds, and act in that way, speak from the heart to the heart. But most people, in many of their actions, relate to other people to impress them, to create a vision in the mind of their companions which is favourable to themselves.

We act a part because we feel that will impress. “They will think highly of me. They will think I am very intelligent and very sure of myself. Of course, I know I am not sure of myself, but they will think I am if I speak with a loud voice and I come over crisply and strong to them and not so shyly. If I am outgoing and use big gestures they will see I am at home in the world. I can control the world. I know that I cannot control the world. I am scared of the world, but if I give the impression that I am in control of things, they will look up to me, and they will like me. They will make me a friend, and then I will feel happy. I will feel safe. And if I do that with everybody I will have a lot of friends. And if I have a lot of friends, I will be really happy.”

That is the insincerity in which many people live. Am I not right? Think of yourself. Is that not the case? How many people are really, utterly and entirely themselves? A child with its parents, yes, because the child as yet is unconditioned. A young child with its parents is absolutely honest until it is corrupted. Then, of course, it acts up and says: “I know if I keep this up I will get what I want. You bet.” And so they will cry and cry and cry. Corruption sets in quite early, but at first the child is totally honest. It cries when it is hurt or hungry or tired and it smiles all the rest of the time.

Those of you who have children, think on it, because we make life difficult for our children by conditioning them in a way we think is protecting them. It is not on the whole protecting them. It is getting them to do what we want them to do – that is, mainly not be a nuisance.

Detachment
How many people are detached? Ask yourself how detached do you feel? How free from the need for other people are you? Look for that which shows you how undetached you are. If someone praises you, does it make any difference to you? Mostly, I think you will find that it does. If you are detached, it should not make any difference whether people are for you or against you, giving praise or unflattering criticism. It should make no difference if you are truly detached. And if you are truly detached, you are not conditioned.

Honesty of mind, sincerity of spirit, and detachment are the key ways to overcome conditioning.

British author and futurist Benjamin Creme has written 12 books on the imminent emergence of the World Teacher Maitreya and his group, the Masters of Wisdom. For more information call 888-242-8272.