4 Matching Annotations
  1. Jun 2023
    1. Now, the question is not 'why do we not listen to God', but rather why do we forget. The example of Lamen and Lemuel is perfect. They not only were visited by angels (1 Neph 3:29), but also were shocked by their younger brother from God (1 Nephi 17:55). SO, let me explain through analogy from a book called Competing for the future by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad (1996). In business I am very familiar with cultures that are created, and then I have to show how to break the culture and teach them a new one so that the business can thrive. The analogy I utilize to help explain to the people this concept when I come into their business without sounding condescending is about five monkeys. The analogy states: A study took 5 monkeys. In the middle of a room where these monkeys were placed to live was a ladder. On top of that ladder was some bananas. The monkeys didn't notice the bananas at first. Finally, one monkey takes notice of the bananas and decides to climb the ladder to get them. As soon as the monkey starts for the bananas, the other four monkeys are sprayed with ice cold water until they figure out that the monkey climbing the ladder is the problem. So, they push the monkey down and the cold water stops. When the same monkey tries for the bananas again, the same events takes place, and all is safe when that monkey stops climbing the ladder. The scientist remove one of the monkeys that was constantly sprayed with cold water and replaced with a new monkey. This monkey starts for the bananas and immediately, the monkeys are sprayed and the monkeys keep this new monkey off the ladder. Another monkey is removed and replaced with a new monkey. This time before the new monkey can start up the ladder, all the monkeys attack this new monkey before water can even be sprayed. This happens until all the monkeys are replaced and this continues. In the writing from the researchers, he queried that if latter monkey's could be interviewed, they would probably state that they do this because 'that is what is just done around here'. You can see this with crabs in a bucket. If one crab tries to escape from a bucket then the other crabs pull it down. When we take into consideration the power of the mind, which according to the gospel of 'me' is the opposition within man, we see that we can have a very powerful event take place in our lives, but habit/ conditioned responses are more powerful. In the story with the monkey's, this happens a lot in our everyday lives. Not because we are bad people, but because we develop heuristic pathways throughout our lives. Heuristic meaning mental shortcuts (neurological pathways that have been created and strengthened to help us make quick decisions) to help us be faster in our decision making process. Example: Hand to flame means hot after we touch it. Make a faster decision to not touch flame because it hurts next time we see it. The same thing happened with the monkey's. They developed heuristic pathways to attack the monkey that climbed the ladder because they KNEW bad thing happen. So, when we do this over time those neuro pathways become stronger, and then we choose those pathways faster. Especially when it comes to protecting oneself. So, as Brother Joseph stated that there is opposition in all things, man is no different. Our mind is that opposition to God when we are asked to do things that have already been learned behavior patterns of hurt/ pain. To Lamen and Lemuel their plush lifestyle is now gone, and they are left with pain of the wilderness to remind them of what they had, and how much they wish to go back to that. It doesn't matter the messenger, the dopamine hit they desire is more powerful and already apart of their psychological influence. Doing what God wants is showing opposition to what they have already learned. 'How can our life in Jerusalem be so bad?', is what they were asking themselves.  So, when we pit our psychological development against what God is asking, it is foreign - it hurts. What we think we are and developed over time is now met with the opposition of truth from God makes it harder to let go of strong neuro pathways. Try to ask someone to stop smoking that has done it for 20 years of their life. You have to actually die daily and be reborn again mentally to walk by God's request. Like the monkey's, you have to change your paradigm/ your world view filters. What does that mean? Well, when you have God in your life only during Sunday - but then soaked in the world's influence the six other day's - who will you more likely become? Even as he is? Or more like the world? Thus, this is the reason we are reminded to remember Him always. At the end of the day, you will forget whom you serve."
      • I love that the quote you shared from Elder Maxwell brought up the concept of crab mentality, as it more prevalent in our fallen world than we realize. Crab mentality is destructive in that its concept of unity is founded by a collective desire to be fixed to the system, which is why when a crab breaks free from this fixation, the others pull it down. This can result to both good or bad, depending on the soundness of the system. [[crab mentality]]

      • Forgetfulness is a topic that has intrigued me for quote some time now so I apologize if this is going to be lengthy. In the plan of salvation, we understand that every person who followed Jesus Christ in the Council of Heaven passes through the Veil of Forgetfulness before coming to earth. Therefore, whenever we learn something new about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are essentially relearning or remembering this information in contrast to learning it for the first time. [[the limits of our mortality]] [[learning is remembering]]

      • The gospel of Jesus Christ is effective and efficient in that it has a workaround this Veil of Forgetfulness through the power of reminders. The Lord has the power of priesthood (which His kingdom is built upon) and all the appendix to it (the prophets, revelations, etc.), and the role of the third member of the godhead, the Holy Ghost.

      • This forgetfulness is now an intrinsic attribute to our natural man which is in domination every time we step out of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Our spiritual man is in domination when we remember fragments of truth from the gospel of Jesus Christ. [[the natural man forgets, the spiritual man remembers]]

      • Another crucial detail is that when it comes to our shortsightedness (brought upon by our mortality), remembrance is more of a spotlight, a limited space where only a few select of things can be seen while the rest disappears into darkness. With this, we can think of forgetfulness as a fixed attribute of our natural man, but we have the ability to choose what to forget and what to remember. [[remembering is a choice]]

      • When Jesus Christ came to earth, He chose to remember His Father's will instead of himself. He looked at the world around Him and saw that the world is full of pain and suffering. Following this perspective and mission, it enabled Him to be perfected (completed). This is reminiscent of our mission here on earth: to determine what we should continually remember and let the rest blur and disappear into darkness. This is so because we have no other choice but to utilize our limited memory and perspective for eternal matters. After all, all spiritual things (this includes us; hence our spiritual man) are meant to be eternal. [[all things are spiritual because they're meant to be eternal]] [[it's important to keep an eternal perspective to navigate mortality]]

  2. Feb 2021
    1. Lethe

      One of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades, also known as the river of unmindfulness. Everyone who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. The word literally means 'oblivion', and is related to the Greek for 'truth' (aletheia) which means 'unforgetfulness'. So there is some kind of connection between Lethe and concealing the truth. At the same time, if the shades in Hades didn't drink from Lethe (and thereby have their memories erased), they would never have the chance to be reincarnated.

  3. Sep 2016
    1. While this false vision, inspired by Desire, caused many mis-steps and much trouble andsuffering, and you gradually lost confidence in your Self -- in Me, the Impersonal One within, --in fact, you forgot Me, so that you did not know where to turn in your helplessness; yet it wasonly through your thus losing the memory of your Divine estate, and centering all yourconsciousness in these Earthly conditions, that I could develop your human mind and will, andall your faculties, and provide your human body with the strength and powers that would enableMe to give perfect expression to My Divine Idea on Earth, which eventually must BE

      "While this false vision, inspired by Desire, caused many mis-steps and much trouble and suffering, and you gradually lost confidence in your Self -- in Me, the Impersonal One within, --in fact, you forgot Me, so that you did not know where to turn in your helplessness; yet it was only through your thus losing the memory of your Divine estate, and centering all your consciousness in these Earthly conditions, that I could develop your human mind and will, and all your faculties, and provide your human body with the strength and powers that would enable Me to give perfect expression to My Divine Idea on Earth, which eventually must BE"

  4. Nov 2013
    1. It is only by means of forgetfulness that man can ever reach the point of fancying himself to possess a "truth" of the grade just indicated.

      Memory, selection, and choices.