Name one thing that opened your mind?

Question

completey changed your way of thinking or long held beliefs?

Answer 1

Music and lyrics.  Find some good bands with revolutionary things to say and they just might rock your world.

Answer 2

The muzzle of a shotgun.

Answer 3

Something I saw written on a toilet wall. It said:

"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's intolerance."

Answer 4

The complexity of a tree.  Brought me back to faith in God after a period of doubting.

Answer 5

Neil Donald Walsh

Conversations with God

Conversations with God Foundation

Answer 6

music, growing up, and college

Answer 7

The mind to me is like the natural growth of a tree, growing up of a child in his new world, the formation of a new world or of thought. I welcome just one idea, or a notion, and sometimes even a single word, the whole process of opening up of my mind to possibilities then begins; ideas bring along new ideas, words new words, notions get clarified in the ways of comparison and exemplification, new fact come to the light, facts previously unknown in the mind. This all happens all too easily when I put thoughts in writing, converse with people, or when I find some other suitable form of expression.

I think the opening of mind is same as its expansion to its capacities. And the analogy of a growing tree I find most appropriate for illustration. Opening of mind to me is not the act of thinking but something a lot more complex in nature, as it is like a branch, a thought, giving forth new shoots, that almost instantly mature into new branches, and then those branches ultimately bring forth fruit.

Then I see that where there is a tree there will also be travellers seeking to rest for a while the cool shade; there will also be birds, and a host of creatures that depend on trees for their shelter and sustenance. I like to have my thoughts most original and ideas brand new, but I also find it highly comforting to accept ideas from other people, their thoughts and opinion matter to me greatly, as I have symbolised in the allegorical depiction above.

I realised that I have somewhere deep within that is the source of thought, somewhere beyond my grasp but within my easiest reach. I can manage to think and write, however good my thoughts may be, without actually knowing as how. I realise along the paths of my mind that I have known things without ever knowing that I knew them. People often try to trace the sources of one mind, and thinking, in the superficial aspects of the mind, but the actual source to which the mind truly opens up while thinking is somewhere else, somewhere completely unknown. This is the one thing you asked for and that has no name.

Answer 8

Love at first sight!    Few years ago met a guy at a niteclub, instant attraction, for both of us, could not take our eyes off each other.  Scared the life out of me as I was married and so was he.  I was so scared I slipped off home without saying goodbye.  I had never looked at another man in 17yrs of marriage! I was not looking for anything, just out with mates having a good time. . Made me realise life is short and if you are not happy in a situation either fix it or get out.

Answer 9

Will name a few, am sorry..

- reading good books esp. inspirational books.



- dating and relationships. undergoing a lot of hurt & pain. and coming across various kinds of people. relations actually are like a mirror. we learn a lot bout ourselves when in it.

- crossing 30 & looking back and gradually realizing how different i was before. basically, just getting older and feeling wiser and more grounded and secure along the way.

- living alone

-  a particular person i loved n still love, although he is not in my life. some of his personality charcateristics completely made me want to be like him. he was amazing. some people's natures can have a profound influence.

Answer 10

the matrix

Answer 11

Getting older.

Answer 12

I am not religious at all but......

My nana is terminally ill with Bowel Cancer and i went to see her in the Hospice yesterday. She was talking to a spiritual healer (he was an old army padre) and i suppose this is another name for some kind of priest.

I watched how he interacted with my non-believer nan and was very surprised how he didn't go on about God and so forth or preaching to her.

I have had long thinking beliefs as i went to a Catholic school with a few nuns as teachers and having to attend mass and church with the school. My beliefs of priests and God etc i have always thought negatively of as i myself am Cof E (like my parents...who only sent me to this school because it was supposed to be one of the best).

What i am trying to say is that i am now older and my way of thinking is installed into my head...this vicar was very 'normal' and not steretypical how i might have imagined. He was very open and talked a lot of sense.

I may still have my beliefs that i can't change necessarily but i will certainly not judge a man of the cloth until i have heard what he has to say first.

Answer 13

magic mushrooms

Answer 14

Driving through the Wyoming mountains opened my mind to pure beauty and deep inner peace!

Answer 15

Well, a few Christmases ago, I was at my parents house and the family had opened all of the presents.  The grandkids got a fourwheeler and were all having a blast.  The chain broke.  So, my husband and I decided to go into town (my parents lived waaaayyy out in the country) to find a replacement part for the chain.  My 4 year old daughter wanted to go with us.  I told her no because she was dressed in her princess costume that she had just gotten that day.  It was a cool day, not cold.  I sent her inside the house and thought she was in there.  So, my husband and I got into our Explorer and drove off down the country road at about 60 mph.  I was driving and there was this car that was following us flashing the head lights and blinkers at us trying to get our attention.  It took about 5 miles before I finally decided to pull over.  When I stopped the Explorer and got out I saw the most amazing thing.  My 4 year old daughter had been hanging on to the back of my vehicle.  

It was that day that I knew for a fact that GOD was real and that there were angels sent to protect my daughter that day.  It was the scariest day of my life and I will never forget it.

Answer 16

My research on religionS and secret societies, and my own experiences of life(sometimes very painful though!!)

Answer 17

it was a person, the only person i love so much in this world.

he changed my whole way of thinking.

Answer 18

Women - and I don't mean that I consider women as things; just being consistent with your terminology.

Answer 19

It's hard to name one single incident, but I think while I was a teenager, realizing how much prejudice, intolerance, ignorance, social conditioning, and closed-mindedness there is in humanity, made me want to think objectively. I want to know myself completely and see beyond the things that are only right in front of me.

Answer 20

Me, myself and I . . .

Plus a few others I could mention . . .

Answer 21

Watching Bill Hicks while on acid, opened up a universe for me.

Peace M.

Answer 22

being bullied  in high sckool changed my way of treating other people - helped me understand u may never know whats going thru a persons life so dont b a bully

also studying th bible changed my way of thinking bout races and racism

Answer 23

The book Open Verdict by Tony Collins.

Answer 24

relgion

GOD

books

films

people

places

independance

thoughts and views

music

happiness

love

death

Answer 25

Rejection or painful experiences. They make me stop, review and question everything around me. I make sure they are an instrument to open my perception wider and not something that makes me cynical or bitter.

Answer 26

Counselling, totally changed the way i view myself and other people

Answer 27

Success..!

Answer 28

My friend Blossom. She was incredible... really sweet, generous... and you would have thought it impossible, because she went through a lot... she lost her parents, but she never seemed to lose her faith. I love you Bloss!

Answer 29

Having children

Answer 30

my retirement...i retired at 57 yrs of age...for all of my adult life i was an industrial electrician..it wasnt boring...but every day i get up go to work come home work around the house watch tv go to bed...when i retired i started to travel..get a hobby..and actually see the outdoors and what life is in general...i now think of other things every day besides my job...

Answer 31

entheogens....especially ayahuasca...