Acorns Among the Grass by Caroline Brazier

Author:Caroline Brazier [Brazier, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978 1 84694 619 6
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Chapter Ten

Attraction and Aversion

We construct our sense of who we are and of the world which we inhabit out of our selective habits of perception. In other words, as we go through life our attention is constantly drawn to things which either support our sense of identity because we perceive them as ‘my sort of thing’ or else define our sense of self by being something which we dis-identify from. We think, “I don’t like that,” or “I’m not the sort of person who would want one of those.”. This identification with and rejection of the objects which we encounter happens automatically and, initially at least, on a preconscious, bodily level. It is part of being an ordinary human.

Our attention is particularly caught by objects which have importance for us. These objects have an energy which we call rupa. They have this power because they are associated with the process of creating our personal identity. Objects which are rupa are rupa because they are viewed in a conditioned way, and this is because in some way they fit into our story about ourselves. If you hear your name spoken across a room, your ears are caught, even though there may be many people talking, because your name has powerful rupa energy for you. If you feel emotional listening to a particular piece of music, it probably affects you because it is associated with part of your personal story, some past experience, such as, perhaps, an important event or relationship in your life. When you see a piece of china like the tea set which your grandmother used to use or a picture like one which your parents had on their wall when you were a child, you probably feel an upwelling of memories and associations which is powerful because the object is a part of your identity. All of these objects are charged with personal meaning, and so are rupa for you.

The quality of rupa is something which we perceive in the object, rather than something intrinsic to the object itself. It is a colouration which we add to an object when we identify with it. It is phenomenal rather than substantive; our personal way of viewing the world. Our response to an object which is rupa may be simply to increase the attention which we give to it.

Our senses are caught by the rupa object and fascinated by it because of its personal associations. On the other hand, our fascination with the object may be based on false assumptions. Our attention to the object may be distorted by our preconceptions about it or we may even make mistakes in viewing it. Our search for self-confirmation leads us to see what we long to see rather than what is actually there. For example, when we walk down a street of shops, we tend to notice the shop windows which have goods associated with our current interest and not see the others. The person who is interested in fashion will notice

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