Let’s face it, most human beings don’t like “new”. They don’t mind, “it’s the same with a few differences” and they are okay with “variations on a theme”. But “new” often equals resistance.
This is why it took over 20 years for computers to become mainstream after their inception, 30 years for washing one’s hands and sterilizing instruments to become standard medical practices after the discovery of germ theory, and 50 years for the British Navy to issue limes after it was discovered that citric fruits prevent scurvy.
People that discover the principles are sometimes shocked that it’s been so many years since Sydney Banks uncovered the principles, yet they are not mainstream. It’s not at all surprising when you think of people’s resistance to something new.
When you introduce the principles to people their first reaction is often, “Oh, it’s the same as (fill in the blank)” or “just like this except for that”. Of course they’re going to look for similarities because they will be drawn to staying within the known, the familiar. Differences take them into the unknown and the unknown is generally not a person’s number one preference.
When presented, the principles will appear to have similarities with many things out there. They share the idea of thought with cognitive therapy. They have similarities with many religions in regards to the values manifested by higher consciousness, and with meditation and prayer in the appreciation of a quiet reflective mind.
When we focus on or emphasize these similarities in our discussion with people we make it more difficult for them to see the uniqueness, the new discovery that the principles represent:
· Syd Banks brought to the world the possibility that a lay person could intuit the deep truths of life as an original source. The world was of the impression that knowledge of psychology and other disciplines had to be learned as derivatives of existing theories and philosophies.
· Syd Banks uncovered the fact that thought is the sole, exclusive source of human experience. Previously, thought was seen as a major player in human experience but the only player.
· Syd Banks pointed to the fact that thought is by nature transient. Since our experience of life is 100% determined by our thinking in each moment, our personal experience of life will vary, however slightly. This phenomenon, commonly called moods, is not problematic to human beings once it is seen for what it is.
· Syd Banks uncovered an explanation of why our thinking creates our reality. Thought is linked to our senses via consciousness. Previously, many philosophies suggested that thought was related to one’s reality, but the logic behind it was absent.
· Spirituality was generally regarded as a journey, a pursuit of something ethereal or ‘out there’. Sydney Banks defined mind in a way that made it omnipresent in life, something that we can realistically intuit and appreciate. He demystified mind by connecting it to our daily experience of life through its manifestations in thought and consciousness.
Emphasizing the similarities to the already existing philosophies and approaches will make the listener more comfortable in the known, but, I suggest, distracts the listener from the newness and uniqueness of Syd’s message. It’s hard enough stepping into the unknown, or more accurately the “yet to be known”, without having his message obscured by the already familiar.
Written by Dr. George Pransky
