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Articles
“I saw old colleagues in a new way by listening.” –3 Principles trainee, Court & County Schools, San Francisco
Every human being creates his or her own unique way of seeing the world—informed by past experiences, environment, schooling, culture, and even fears or imagination. This mental construct comes alive within the individual through the power of Mind, Thought and Consciousness (see Sydney Banks, “The Missing Link,” “The Enlightened Gardner,” etc.), three basic psychological principles that combine to form human experience in the moment. Without an understanding of this process, a person’s thoughts become reality, or the “absolute truth” to her.
The more people learn about this behind-the-scenes creative process—this capacity to create their own reality, or viewpoint, the more reflective and open minded they become. As people gain even a simple understanding of how their thoughts take on the appearance of reality, they gain some perspective on their thinking. They begin to see the difference between learned and erroneous mindsets that produce prejudice, opposition and conflict, and a more constructive and harmonious state of mind (or flow of thought) that leads to alignment, understanding and new solutions.
“My thoughts are my creations; and my state of mind is of my own making.” --Participant in Three Principles workshop for parents, caregivers & youth service workers
We believe that the best way to ensure a healthy, happy future for next generations (and thus for the planet), is to help parents and caregivers now. We seek to help those guardians of children who suffer from stress, low-self esteem, and overwhelming feelings of frustration and anger. We do not seek to blame parents and others who are, or have been abusive. While we believe children should be removed to healthier environments when their well-being is at stake—and that caregivers who abuse children must be stopped—we also believe that parents who commit acts of abuse need love and attention as much as their children do. The cycle of blame and anger must end.
As helpers in the human services, we wish the best for our clients. Beyond the necessities of life, however, there is a missing piece we sometimes overlook, a piece that means the difference between whether individuals and families deteriorate, survive or thrive in any economic setting. That missing piece is state of mind.
Without hope, resourcefulness, creativity, positive feelings and insight (from within), clients fail to take advantage of services, or fail to “progress” past needing such services. When parents or guardians live in mental states of fear, anxiety, anger and other emotional suffering, children grow up in negative environments. Eventually, they begin to pick up such thoughts and feelings from the adults in their worlds. They can also be subjected to distressed adults’ possible negative and harmful actions.
“Those who wish to achieve harmony and liberation will be obliged to abandon any mental bias born of cultural or religious belief.” --Lao Tzu, from the “Hua Hu Ching”
We suspect that some kind of a “peace movement” has existed probably since the beginning of human warfare. Many people share peace as an ideal: there are peace marches and demonstrations, peace organizations and peace accords. However, the world as a whole does not seem, despite these noble efforts, to be any more at peace!
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Conflict Resolution & Constructive Dialogue
Preventing Child Abuse
State of Mind: The Missing Link
Is World Peace Possible? Global Implications for
a 3 Principles Psychology