On Open-Mindedness

I want to be real honest with you. I’m close-minded. I view my positions on spirituality and consciousness as superior to others. 

I feel like there are spheres of knowledge that I don’t have access to because my worldview says something is impossible. 

I’ve always thought of myself as an open-minded person. I’ve always thought that I'm more open to dissident positions than others. I've flaunted the benefits of taking an autodidactic approach to learning. And then I fell into the exact trap I was preaching against. 

But I'm beginning to realize the rarity of true open-mindedness.

Truth is, everyone thinks their open-minded. It’s not hard for the mind to convince itself of its own openness. 

But what does it really mean to be open-minded? What does it feel like?

I’ve become interested in the idea that it’s possible to become so open that you have nothing left to defend. Your mind no longer holds onto any belief system strong enough to resist letting it go in the face of new evidence. 

These ideas are new to me, but here’s the plan I’m taking going forward.

I call it the Open-Mindedness Journal and it looks something like this:

Every day I strive to find one idea that I feel closed off to. One idea that I feel isn’t worthy of my time. Then I try to open up to the possibility that this idea is true. 

I’m after the feeling of openness. I want to develop a skill of being so open that I can truthfully consider the possibility of almost anything being true.

Here’s to lunging headfirst into uncertainty and braving the discomfort of the new ideas.

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Quote I’m Pondering

"Modern science is based on the principle: 'Give us one free miracle and we'll explain the rest. ' The one free miracle is the appearance of all the mass and energy in the universe and all the laws that govern it in a single instant from nothing.” - Terence McKenna