The Ask Sharon column as it appeared in The Area News on Friday 2 October, 2015.
Following is the full version of the column featured in The Area News complete with the “Conditioning” card from the Osho Zen Tarot deck.
THIS week a question was submitted anonymously:
“I went to a family BBQ and I realised I’m not like them anymore, it was confronting to see the way they carried on. I love my family but what does all this mean?”
When we get together with family, it’s usually a happy affair. But occasionally it makes us reflect on the past and reassess our own life. It can cast a spotlight on where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going.
The Osho Zen Tarot card “Conditioning” explains a lot. “This card recalls an old Zen story, about a lion who was brought up by sheep and who thought he was a sheep until an old lion captured him and took him to a pond, where he showed him his own reflection. Many of us are like this lion – the image we have of ourselves comes not from our own direct experience but from the opinions of others.”
The “Conditioning” card is copyright to Osho International Foundation Switzerland, 1994.
What you are discovering on your path of self-improvement is how to be a lion (or lioness) not a sheep. Maybe you want more from your life, and that’s ok. Maybe the other members of your family are content to stay where they are, and that’s ok too.
Tips on how to let your individuality shine without it dimming those around you:
- See your epiphany as a breakthrough and that this is the time to break out of the mould.
- Let any judgement of others pass by as quickly as it enters your awareness – it will only hold you back.
- Don’t deny your feelings – you have every right to be the person you were destined to be.
You can be an individual and still love your family. However, when a person experiences personal growth, it can make others around them question their direction (or lack of). Still, this is not your concern. It’s one of the hardest truths to face when being true to yourself – that you have no control over another’s reactions. So you have to remain courageous in your convictions. It’s a case of each to their own journey.
When you know with confidence that you are ready for change, that you are excited by the possibilities and nothing can stand in your way, you can actually inspire others to do the same. You can effect change by remaining steadfast on your path. The key is to not do it for that purpose. Do it for yourself – if your family comes along with you, that’s a bonus.
Next time you feel crowded by your family (or anyone else for that matter), just remember you are always free to choose to NOT follow the crowd.
Send your questions for Sharon to editor@areanews.com.au
Don’t want to ask a question by email? Simply complete the contact form on this blog. Use the message box for your question and it will come directly to me. Only first names will be used unless you complete the form as Anonymous. Ask away…you may be pleasantly surprised by what the cards reveal.
Today’s card has been drawn from the OSHO Zen Tarot cards. Image and card is copyright to OSHO International Foundation Switzerland. All cards in this deck, including the “Conditioning” card has been illustrated by Deva Padma (Susan Morgan).
A little extra information…
The following material from the guidebook about the “Conditioning” card, may offer some additional insight.
The Commentary (as continued on from the Zen story featured in today’s column):
A ‘personality’ imposed from the outside replaces the individuality that could have grown from within. We become just another sheep in the herd, unable to move freely, and unconscious of our own true identity.
It’s time to take a look at your own reflection in the pond, and make a move to break out of whatever you have been conditioned by others to believe about yourself.
Dance, run, jog, do gibberish – whatever is needed to wake up the sleeping lion within.
The Card:
Unless you drop your personality you will not be able to find your individuality. Individuality is given by existence; personality is imposed by the society. Personality is social convenience.
Society cannot tolerate individuality, because individuality will not follow like a sheep. Individuality has the quality of the lion; the lion moves alone. The sheep are always in the crowd, hoping that being in the crowd will feel cozy. Being in the crowd one feels more protected, secure. If somebody attacks, there is every possibility in a crowd to save yourself. But alone? – only the lions move alone.
And every one of you is born a lion.
But the society goes on conditioning you, programming your mind as a sheep. It gives you a personality, a cozy personality, nice, very convenient, very obedient. Society wants slaves, not people who are absolutely dedicated to freedom. Society wants slaves because all the vested interests want obedience.
Great artical shazy xo