Introduction to Socrates - A great philosopher' video

Socrates himself was born in Athens around 470 B.C. During the early part of his life, he seems to have followed in his father's footsteps, working as a sculptor.
As for his education, it is said that he was a student of Anaxagoras, one of the famous early philosophers of Greece. At first he spent his time studying cosmology (or the study of the nature of reality) but later abandoned this field in order to devote himself almost exclusively to ethics. He came to believe that it was his mission to act as a kind of "gadfly" to the Athenian people, provoking them into recognizing their moral ignorance. Needless to say, his constant interrogation did not endear him to all of the citizens of Athens. While Socrates developed a following among many of the more idealistic young men of Athens--Plato, for example, was a devoted disciple of his--he soon incurred the wrath of some of the most powerful men in the city.
In 399 B.C. Socrates was put on trial for atheism (not believing in the gods of Athens) and corrupting the youth of the City (by teaching them to question everything).

The Mirror of Relationship - 1st Talk by J. Krishnamurti

- Jiddu Krishnamurti Talks

People come to these talks with many expectations and hopes, and with many peculiar ideas; and for the sake of clarification, let us examine these and see their true worth. Perhaps there are a few of us here whose minds are not burdened with jargons which are but wearisome verbal repetitions. There may also be others who, having freed themselves from beliefs and superstitions, are eager to understand the significance of what I say. Seeing the illusory nature of imitativeness, they can no longer seek patterns and moulds for their conduct. They come in the hope of awakening their innate creativeness, so that they may live profoundly in the movement of life. They are not seeking a new jargon or mode of conduct, smartness of ideas or emotional assertiveness.

Now, I am talking to those who desire to awaken to the reality of life and create for themselves the true way of thinking and living. By this I do not mean that my words are restricted to the few, or to some imaginary clique of self-chosen intellectuals.

What I say may not seem vital to those who are merely curious, for I have no empty phrases or bold assertions with which to excite them. The curious, who merely desire emotional stimulation, will not find satisfaction in my words.

Then there are those who come here to compare what I have to say with the many schools of thoughtlessness. (Laughter) No, please, this is not a smart remark. From letters I have received and from people who have talked to me, I know there are many who think that by belonging to special schools of thought they will advance and be of service to the world. But what they call schools of thought are nothing but imitative jargons which merely create divisions and encourage exclusiveness and vanity of mind. These systems of thought have really no validity, being founded on illusion. Though their followers may become very erudite and defend themselves with their learning, they are in reality thoughtless.

Again, there are many whose minds have become complicated by the search for systems of human salvation. They seek, now through economics, now through religion, now through science, to bring about order and true harmony in human life. Fanaticism becomes the impulse for many who try, through dogmatic assertions, to impose on others their own imaginings and illusions, which they choose to call truth or God.

So you have to find out for yourself why you are here, and under what impulse you came to listen to this talk. I hope we are here to dis- cover together whether we can live sanely, intelligently, and in the fullness of understanding. I feel that this should be the labour of both the speaker and the audience. We are going to start on a journey of deep inquiry and individual experiment, not on a journey of dogmatic assertions, creating new sets of beliefs and ideals. To discover the reality of what I say, you must experiment with it.

Most of us are held by the idea that by discovering some single cause for man's suffering, conflict and confusion, we shall be able to solve the many problems of life. It has become the fashion to say: Cure the economic evils, then man's happiness and fulfilment are assured. Or: Accept some religious or philosophical idea, then peace and happiness can be made universal. In search of single causes we not only encourage specialists but also develop experts who are ever ready to create and expound logical systems, in which the thoughtless man is entrapped. You see exclusive systems or ideas for the salvation of man taking form everywhere throughout the world. We are so easily entrapped in them, thinking that this seemingly logical simplicity of single causes will help us to remove misery and confusion.

A man who gives himself over to these specialists and to the single cause finds only greater confusion and misery. He becomes a tool in the hands of experts or a willing slave of those who can readily expound the logical simplicity of a single cause.

If you deeply examine man's suffering and confusion, you will see without any doubt whatsoever that there are many causes, some complex, some simple, which we must understand thoroughly before we can free ourselves from conflict and suffering. If we desire to understand the many causes and their disturbances, we must treat life as a whole, not split it up into the mental and emotional, the economic and religious, or into heredity and environment. For this reason we cannot hand ourselves over to specialists, who naturally are trained to be exclusive and to be concentrated in their narrow divisions. It is essential not to do this; nevertheless, unconsciously we give ourselves over to another to be guided, to be told what to do, thinking that the religious or economic expert, because of his special knowledge and achievements, can direct our individual lives. Most specialists are so trained that they cannot take a comprehensive view of life; and because we adjust our lives, our actions, to the dictates of experts, we merely create greater confusion and sorrow. So, realizing that we cannot be slaves to experts, to teachers, to philosophers, to those people who say they have found God and who seemingly make life very simple, we should beware of them. We should seek simplicity, but in that very search we should be aware of the many illusions and delusions. Being conscious of all this, what should we, as individuals, do? We have to realize profoundly, not casually or superficially, that no one particular person or system is wholly going to solve for us our agonizing problems and clarify our complex and subtle reactions. If we can realize that there is no one outside of ourselves who is going to clear up the chaos and confusion that exist within and without us, then we shall not be imitative, we shall not crave for identification. We shall then begin to release the creative power within us. This signifies that we are beginning to be conscious of individual uniqueness. Each individual is unique, different, not similar to another; but by this I do not mean the expression of egotistic desires.

We must begin to be self-conscious, which most of us are not; in bringing the hidden into the open, into the light, we discover the various causes of disharmony, of suffering. This alone will help to bring about a life of fulfilment and intelligent happiness. Without this liberation from the hidden, the concealed, our efforts must lead us to delusions. Until we discover, through experiment, our subtle and deep limitations, with their reactions, and so free ourselves from them, we shall lead a life of confusion and strife. For these limitations prevent the pliability of mind-emotion, making it incapable of true adjustment to the movement of life. This lack of pliability is the source of our egotistic competition, fear and the pursuit of security, leading to many comforting illusions.

Though we may think we have found truth, bliss, and objectify the abstract idea of God, yet, while we remain unconscious of the hidden springs of our whole being, there cannot be the realization of truth. The mouthing of such words as truth, God, perfection, can have no deep significance and import.

True search can begin only when we do not separate mind from emotion. As we have been trained to regard life, not as a complete whole, but as broken up into body, mind and spirit, we shall find it very difficult to orient ourselves to this new conception and reaction towards life. To educate ourselves to this way of regarding life, and not to slip back into the old habit of separative thought, requires persistence, constant alertness. When we begin to free ourselves, through experiment, from these false divisions with their special significances, pursuits and ideals, which have caused so much harm and falsely complicated our lives, then we shall release creative energy and discover the endless movement of life.

Can the mind-heart know and profoundly appreciate this state of endlessness, this ceaseless becoming? Infinity has a profound significance, only when there is liberation from the limitations which we have created through our false conceptions and divisions, as body, mind and spirit, each with its own distinctive ideals and pursuits. When the mind- heart detaches itself from harmful and limiting reactions and begins to live intensely, with deep awareness, then only is there the possibility of knowing profoundly this ceaseless becoming. Mind-emotion must be wholly free from identification and imitation, to know this blessedness. The awakening of this creative intelligence will alone bring about man's humanity, his balance and deep fulfilment.

Until you become conscious both of your environment and of your past, and understand their significance - not as two contrasted elements, which would only produce false reactions, but as a co-ordinated whole - and until you are able to react to this whole, profoundly, there cannot be the perception of the endless movement of life.

True search begins only when there is a release from those reactions which are the result of division. Without the understanding of life's wholeness, the search for truth or happiness must lead to illusion. In pursuit of an illusion, one often feels an exhilaration, an emotionalism; but when one examines this emotional structure, it is nothing but a limitation, the building up of walls of refuge. It is a prison, though one may live in it and even enjoy it. It is an escape from the conflict of life into limitation; and there are many who will help and encourage you in this flight.

If these talks are to have any significance for you, you must begin to experiment with what I am saying, and live anew by becoming conscious of all your reactions. Be conscious of them, but do not at once discard some as being bad, and accept others as being good; for the mind, being limited, is unable to discern truly. What is important is to be aware of them. Then through that constant awareness, in which there is no sense of opposites, no division as mind and emotion, there comes the harmony of action which alone will bring about fulfilment.

Question: Are there not many expounders of truth besides yourself? Must one leave them all and listen only to you?

Krishnamurti: There can never be expounders of truth. Truth cannot be explained, any more than you can explain love to a man who has never been in love. Such a phrase as "expounders of truth" has no meaning.

What are we trying to do here? I am not asking you to believe what I say, nor am I subtly making you follow me in order that you may be exploited. Independently of me, you can experiment with what I say. I am trying to show you how one can live sanely and deeply, with creative richness, so that one's life is a fulfilment and not a continual frustration. This can be done when the mind-heart liberates itself from those false reactions, conceptions and ideas which it has inherited and acquired, the reactions born of egotistic fears and limitations, the reactions born of division and the conflict of the opposites. Those limitations and narrow reactions prevent the mind-heart from adjusting itself to the movement of life. From this lack of pliability arise confusion, delusion and sorrow. Only through your own awareness and endeavour, and not through authority or imitation, can these limitations be swept away.

Question: What is your idea of infinity?

Krishnamurti: There is a movement, a process of life, without end, which may be called infinity. Through authority, imitation, born of fear, mind creates for itself many false reactions and thereby limits itself. Identifying itself with this limitation, it is incapable of following the swift movement of life. Because the mind, prompted by fear and in its desire for security and comfort, seeks an end, an absolute with which it can identify itself, it becomes incapable of following the never ending movement of life. Until the mind-heart can free itself from these limitations, in full consciousness, there cannot be the comprehension of this endless process of becoming. So do not ask what is infinity, but discover for yourself the limitations which hold the mind-heart in bondage, preventing it from living in this movement of life.

Ojai, California
1st Talk in the Oak Grove 5th April, 1936

Find Your Personality Type - Visual Personality Test

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Carefree, Playful , Cheerful

You love a free and spontaneous life. And you attempt to enjoy it to the fullest, in accordance with the motto: "You only live once." You are very curious and open about everything new; you thrive on change. Nothing is worse than when you feel tied down. You experience your environment as being versatile and always good for a surprise.

Independent , Unconventional, Unfettered

You demand a free and unattached life for yourself that allows you to determine your own course. You have an artistic bent in your work or leisure activities. Your urge for freedom sometimes causes you to do exactly the opposite of what expected of you. Your lifestyle is highly individualistic. You would never blindly imitate what is "in"; on the contrary, you seek to live according to your own ideas and convictions, even if this means swimming against the tide.

Introspective , Sensitive, Reflective

You come to grips more frequently and thoroughly with yourself and your environment than do most people. You detest superficiality; you'd rather be alone than have to suffer through small talk. But your relationships with your friends are highly intensive, which gives you the inner tranquility and harmony that you need in order to feel good. You do not mind being alone for extended periods of
time; you rarely become bored.

Down to Earth, Well-Balanced, Harmonious

You value a natural style and love that which is uncomplicated. People admire you because you have both feet planted firmly on the ground and they can depend on you. You give those who are close to you security and space. You are perceived as being warm and human. You reject everything that is garish and trite. You tend to be skeptical toward the whims of fashion trends. For you, clothing has
to be practical and unobtrusively elegant.

Professional, Pragmatic, Self-Assured

You take charge of your life, and place less faith in your luck and more in your own deeds. You solve problems in a practical, uncomplicated manner. You take a realistic view of the things in your daily life and tackle them without
wavering. You are given a great deal of responsibility at work, because people
know that you can be depended upon. Your pronounced strength of will projects your self-assurance to others. You are never fully satisfied until you have accomplished your ideas.

Peaceful, Discreet, Non-Aggressive

You are easy-going yet discreet. You make friends effortlessly, yet enjoy your privacy and independence. You like to get away from it all and be alone from time to time to contemplate the meaning of life and enjoy yourself. You need space, so you escape to beautiful hideaways, but you are not a loner. You are at peace with yourself and the world, and you appreciate life and what this world has to offer.

Analytical, Trustworthy, Self-Assured

Your momentary sensitivity represents that which is of high quality and durable. Consequently, you like to surround yourself with little "gems," which you discover wherever they are overlooked by others. Thus, culture plays a special role in your life. You have found your own personal style, which is elegant and exclusive, free from the whims of fashion. Your ideal, upon which you base your
life, is cultured pleasure. You value a certain level of culture on the part of the people with whom you associate.

Romantic, Dreamy, Emotional
You are a very sensitive person. You refuse to view things only from a sober,
rational standpoint. What your feelings tell you is just as important to you. In
fact, you feel it is important to have dreams in life, too. You reject people
who scorn romanticism and are guided only by rationality. You refuse to let
anything confine the rich variety of your moods and emotions.

Dynamic, Active, Extroverted

You are quite willing to accept certain risks and to make a strong committment in exchange for interesting and varied work. Routine, in contrast, tends to have a paralyzing effect on you. What you like most is to be able to play an active role in events. In doing so, your initiative is highly pronounced

Belief, Perception and Attitute

- Article By Dr. Kardi Teknomo

Beliefs and perception are just inside our brain, they are not in action. Belief is the root or foundation of our way of thinking. In normal life we do not questions or filter our own belief. We take our beliefs as it is. It includes the values that we have. Perception is the method or way of thinking or point of view. Some people called it paradigm. It is the filter of any input based on our beliefs.

Attitude is what we act or react. How we perform our thinking is our attitude. Our action is depending on our attitude. We usually do not see our own action (except in front of the mirror or in our own movie). Our action is just a show-off of our perception and our belief. In other words, what we act or react is directly influence by our way of thinking, our values, and our beliefs.
We aware about our own beliefs, our own way of thinking, our own values, and what we are doing. Unaware reaction means a reflex action from subconscious level go directly to your action. Without awareness, we will do everything in reflex. We do not think on what we are doing. With awareness, we can think before we are acting or reacting because our awareness controls the three levels: belief, perception and attitude.

Many problem in our life often come from the relation with other persons. We cannot control other person but we can influence others through

• Our own change in attitude
• Our own words
• Our action or reaction

Arrogance - A Spiritual Disease

Arrogance is a painful spiritual disease and it psychologically provides major life difficulties that are hard to address. Arrogance is one of the worst characteristics of human consciousness and is a normal by-product of the mind flying in the stratospheres of its own conceit. The main problem with arrogance is that it only listens to itself, and in that, the mind's light goes out. It has been said that the mind cannot know itself, cannot get out of its own skin so to speak, and yet it is not able to perceive this. When it comes to the heart or to any pure process of communication, arrogance interferes dramatically with communication flow and leads directly to absolute walls of separation between one being and another.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said that Gandhi criticized himself and whenever he made a mistake, he would confess it publicly. Here was a man who would say to his people, I'm not perfect, I'm not infallible. Gandhi was considered a great man for this quality of humility. When we confess our weaknesses or imperfections we make ourselves more vulnerable. We open ourselves and are thus able to grow through the confrontation with that which is most weak or negative in us. Arrogance is the opposite of vulnerability; it represents a closeness of mind and usually, a selfishness of purpose. Arrogance hardens the heart. In the end, the only medicine for arrogance is humiliation. Humiliation is the process that brings things that are up high down. Humility is what is most low; it is familiar with the soil. Humble people cannot fall for they are already on the ground and do not want to leave it.

HeartHealth talks much about the dualities below, which are always happening on a continuum. Though Victor Frankl said, “From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two - the "race" of the decent man and the "race" of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people,” it would be more correct to state that no individual either is completely good and decent, and no individual completely bad or indecent. Arrogance is an extreme and totally indecent human characteristic and does take us into the darker side of mankind.

What marks a person with little or no heart, what we might call the indecent or truly mental man, is an attitude that scoffs at the suffering of others; an attitude that sees others who feel, suffer, cry and experience the occasional agony of being a being on this planet as beneath their dignity. These people loose all sense of compassion and these attitudes block all capacity for empathy. Dangerous to be around, such people truly challenge the souls of the descent people they touch. A great aspect of life and suffering is seen in the struggle between these two groups, the decent and indecent. In the bible and in most films this is framed as the struggle between good and evil. Scott Peck uses the terms sick self and healthy self when referring to the internal nature of this battle that goes on even in the most noble of noble souls.

Definition of Egotism

Egotism is the motivation to maintain and enhance favorable views of self. Egotism means placing oneself at the center of one's world with no direct concern for others.

It is closely related to narcissism, or "loving one's self," and the possible tendency to speak or write of oneself boastfully and at great length. Egotism may coexist with delusions of one's own importance, at the denial of others. This conceit is a character trait describing a person who acts to gain values in an amount excessively greater than that which he/she gives to others. Egotism is often accomplished by exploiting the altruism, irrationality and ignorance of others, as well as utilizing coercive force and/or fraud.

Egotism differs from both altruism, or acting to gain fewer values than are being given, and egoism, a determination to gain and give an equal amount or degree of values. Various forms of "empirical egoism" can be consistent with egotism, as long as the value of one's own self-benefit is entirely individual.

Organizational Attitude

- Article by GANESH SHERMON

Organisational attitude is a summation of the collective feelings, emotions, beliefs, practices and norms (the right way) that exist at the core of an organisation and forms the substance. Collective individual attitudes determine, influence and exist as organisational attitudes. Though various companies come under an umbrella: share group philosophy, espoused values, performance metrics and shareholder focus—the behaviour and attitudes of each could be different.

Attitudinal organisations show their performance emphasis on collectivism and result-oriented actions, share and reveal truth, communicate and inter-personalise to show mutual respect.

Behavioural scientists define attitude as an enduring disposition to consistently respond in a given manner. And that attitude is primarily an inner state than an overt expression. Management consultants define organisational attitude as a collection of behaviours that is consistent, implicit, and in sync with larger goals. It is a determining tendency, a preparatory act, and a potential adjustment towards an individual or an institution that interacts within the organisation. An organisational attitude is always a pre-stated stand or position or a principle that is taken consistently to show-case organisational identity, revealed as performance reflected through a consistent execution of ideas, motives and perceptions.

Organisations that have mastered collective attitudes showcase their performance in multiple ways. People operate in an environment where consultation precedes action; consistency is seen across the lines of command and processes are strong. Where attitudes are absent at the organisational level, managerial responses are unpredictable, leadership is bestowed with short tempers, performance is demanded through threats of reprisal, and younger managers are made to feel small and insignificant.

A performance-oriented attitude at the organisational level is best done when ‘what is in it for the organisation is concurrently dealt with what is in it for the individual’, where organisational crisis is not converted first into a crisis for the individual, where dignity of the organisation is as important as the respect shown to the individual.

An example here is the method adopted by some organisations to let go people post-meltdown. Some organisations saw this as an opportunity to scale up, some to right size and many others to clean up once and for all. KPMG studies on Ready for Future indicates, ‘absence of a clean organisational structure, robust processes and performing culture’ as the top three reasons for organisational inertia in attitudes.

The relationship between a performing culture and organisational attitudes, like that between behaviours and personality, is never simple. Attitudes are the result of combined...

and interactive effect of both personality (inner core) and cultural variables (rituals, norms etc). Thus we hold our beliefs not only because we are conditioned to do so but also because we unconsciously adhere to those attitudes.
Many of our attitudes that show aversions and aggressions are rooted in biased stereotypes and negative ideas concerning others. This degree of dislike could have an imagined, rational or factual basis, but are an expression of a tendency to be suspicious of whatever is different from the familiar. Consultants tend to experience mistrust from organisational members. When a combination of individual attitudes, values and performance-orientation culminate into its culture, formation of an organisational attitude is but an inevitable outcome.

Spirituality as a cure for alcoholism

Jung recommended spirituality as a cure for alcoholism and he is considered to have an indirect rold in establishing the the Alcoholics Anonymous.^[39] Jung's influence can sometimes be found in more unexpected quarters. For example, Jung once treated an American patient (Rowland Hazard III), suffering from chronic alcoholism.

After working with the patient for some time and achieving no significant progress, Jung told the man that his alcoholic condition was near to hopeless, save only the possibility of a spiritual experience. Jung noted that occasionally such experiences had been known to reform alcoholics where all else had failed.

Rowland took Jung's advice seriously and set about seeking a personal spiritual experience. He returned home to the United States and joined a Christian evangelical Re-Armament
movement known as the Oxford Group. He also told other alcoholics what Jung had told him about the importance of a spiritual experience. One of the alcoholics he told was Ebby Thacher, a long-time friend and drinking buddy of Bill Wilson, later co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Thacher told Wilson about Jung's ideas. Wilson, who was finding it impossible to maintain sobriety, was impressed and sought out his own spiritual experience. The influence of Jung thus indirectly found its way into the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous, the original twelve-step program, and from there into the whole twelve-step recovery movement, although AA as a whole is not Jungian and Jung had no role in the formation of that approach or the twelve steps.

The above claims are documented in the letters of Carl Jung and Bill W., excerpts of which can be found in Pass It On, published by Alcoholics Anonymous.^[40] Although the detail of this story is disputed by some historians, Jung himself made reference to its substance — including the Oxford Group participation of the individual in question — in a talk that was issued privately in 1954 as a transcript from shorthand taken by an attender (Jung reportedly approved the transcript), later recorded in Volume 18 of his Collected Works, The Symbolic Life ("For
instance, when a member of the Oxford Group comes to me in order to get treatment, I say, 'You are in the Oxford Group; so long as you are there, you settle your affair with the Oxford Group. I can't do it better than Jesus.'"

Jung goes on to state that he has seen similar cures among Catholics.^[41])

Attitude Can be Changed by Persuasion

Formation and change of attitude are not two separate things, they are interwoven. People are always adopting, modifying, and relinquishing attitudes to fit there everchanging needs and interests. Attitude cannot be changed by simple education. Acceptance of new attitudes depends on who is presenting the knowledge, how it is presented, how the person is perceived, the credibility of the communicator, and the conditions by which the knowledge was received

1. Attitudes can be changed through persuasion. The celebrated work of Carl Hovland, at Yale University in the 1950s and 1960s, helped to advance knowledge of persuasion. In Hovland's view, we should understand attitude change as a response to communication. He and his colleagues did experimental research into the factors that can affect the persuasiveness of a message:
   
2. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and processes a message. One such trait is intelligence - it seems that more intelligent people are less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied in this category is self-esteem. Although it is sometimes thought that those higher in self-esteem are less easily persuaded, there is some evidence that the relationship between self-esteem and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate self-esteem being more easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-esteem levels (Rhodes & Woods, 1992). The mind frame and mood of the target also plays a role in this process.


3. Source Characteristics : The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of a perceived message has been found to be a key variable here (Hovland & Weiss, 1951); if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it is from a popular newspaper. Some psychologists have debated whether this is a long-lasting effect and Hovland and Weiss (1951) found the effect of telling people that a message came from a credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-called "sleeper effect"). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial. Received wisdom is that if people are informed of the source of a message before hearing it, there is less likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told a message and then told its source.


4. Message Characteristics : The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion. Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes.

Cognitive Routes :

A message can appeal to an individual's cognitive evaluation to help change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented with the data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to not look at the content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that feature celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts are used. In other cases film stars are used for their attractiveness.

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What can we do to change attitudes?

• In order to produce change a suggestion for change must be reviewed and accepted.
  Reception and acceptance are more likely to occur where the suggestion meets existing personality need or desires.


• The suggestion is more likely to be accepted if:
  a. It is in harmony with valued group norms an loyalties.
  b. The source of the message is perceived as trustworthy or expert.
  c. The message follows certain rules of 'rhetoric' regarding order, presentation, organization of content, nature of appeal, etc.
  
• A suggestion carried by mass media plus face-to-face reinforcement is more likely to be accepted than a suggestion carried by either one of these alone, other things being equal.
  Change in attitude is more likely to occur if the suggestion is accompanied by change in other factors underlying belief and attitude

Human Attitude & Definition of Attitude

What is an attitude? An attitude is a point of view about a situation. An attitude has three components. An attitude is made up of :
1. What you think 2. What you do 3. What you feel.
No matter what situation you are in you always have certain thoughts about it. You also have an emotional response to it, and you behave a certain way in it. To begin changing your attitude you either change your thinking, the way you act, or the way you feel. Two of these choices are easier to influence than the third.

It is easier to change the way you think or behave than to change your emotions. However, it is usually our emotions that get our attention in regard to the situation. It is our emotions that we most want to change. When we feel sad, angry, anxious, or frustrated we don’t like it. We want the feeling to quickly go away. So we start trying to change the emotion. We often begin by trying to change others so we can feel better. It doesn’t work. We engage in behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse to numb the feelings. It doesn't work. Working all the time or excessive shopping are attempts at avoiding emotional distress. They don't work.

Our initial tendency is to focus on the feeling level and to change it first. The feeling or emotional level, however, is the most difficult to work on. You can’t "grasp" a feeling and force it to change. Feelings are powerful but vague. You can not get a grip on a feeling. If you want to change your feelings you must start elsewhere. You must begin with either your thinking or your behavior over which you have more control. The secret in effectively changing your emotions is knowing that feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are all related. When you change one of them ( for example, thinking) the other two (feelings and behavior) will change as well. Since it is easier to get a "grasp" on thoughts and behavior this is the place to begin your work of staying resilient. Change what you think! Change what you do! The emotions will change and you will be creating resiliency.
Definition of Attitude in Wikipedia :
An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event-- this is often referred to as the attitude object. People can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question.
Attitudes are judgments. They develop on the ABC model (affect, behavior, and cognition). The affective response is an emotional response that expresses an individual's degree of preference for an entity. The behavioral intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual. The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the object. Most attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational learning from the environment.

Dream of Funeral/Death

Many times i use to see dreams about death. In last week i saw death of unknown person. The people were mourning outside his house. I and the mother of unknow body were there in the inner room. Though the outside persons were weeping the mother seems to be not so much panic or sorrowful. But wanted to minimize the crowd and gossip of death of her son. I was also being the part of that wish.In real life i never like to face such incidents and very few times i attended the funerals.
I found the psychological interpretations about the death and funeral dreams.
These are as follows :
To dream of your own funeral, symbolizes an ending to a situation or aspect of yourself. You may be repressing some of your feelings or parts of yourself and the dream may be a signal for you to recognize and acknowledge those feelings. Instead of confronting a situation, you are dealing with it by burying it and trying to forget about it. If you are nearing death, a funeral dream may relate to your feelings/anxieties about your own death.

To dream that you are at somebody else's funeral, signifies that you are burying an old relationship and closing the lid on the past. You may be letting go some of the feelings (resentment, anger, hostility toward someone) that you've been clinging onto. If your are dreaming that you are at a funeral of an unknown person, then it suggests that something in your life is supposed to put to rest or put aside so that you can make room for something new. You need to investigate further what aspect or component of your life you need to let go.

To dream that you are attending a funeral for a still-living parent, suggests that you need to separate yourself from your parent's restrictions and confines. The symbolic death may give you the courage you need to take the next step toward your independence and autonomy.