The (Challenging) Road to Neutrality

Pre-note: Neutrality in this context is not having a view or opinion before perceiving what the case actually is – a state of mind that creates the space for the feelings and perceptions that belong to it.

Of the vast range of personal development practices that a human being may pick up on, the road to neutrality is one of the most challenging – at least to the perception of the writer.

Each one of us is born to be a planetary human. A baby born today in one part of the world – say India – will be raised and educated into the Indian way and culture. The very same baby could be born in any other part of the world, to be raised and educated into countless expressions. Each with its own local set of biases, freedoms, persuasions and oppressions.

There are very few scenarios on Earth at this time that by design place the main emphasis in raising the young as being human first – a human with a cultural flavour – rather than a something else first overlaying the human bit.

Early on we are introduced and educated into all manner of biases that become etched in our being, forming up habits, ways of thinking, and behavioural modes, and in some parts of the world deeply rooted fears of all kinds; altogether magnifying the awareness of how the human’s natural perception capacity is shaped by the colourings of local influences.

The very same baby that was me or you, could have chosen – yes, chosen – to appear through a myriad of landing strips – earthly locations – to then be indoctrinated into a culture or creed that may even be antagonistic to our current formations, thereby influencing our perception of life and the world accordingly.

Biases are everywhere – we live in a world saturated with biases. Religious, gender, sectarian, tribal, national, educational… On top of which we also wear the perception spectacles of our profession and the role or roles we play.

We are beset with coloured perception, unless we engage in a journey of personal development to connect to and re-establish the natural human ability to perceive truths from the truths point of view, which is not possible when wearing the ‘dubbing spectacles’ of multiple biases that keep distorting truths at many levels. Example: In wearing the spectacles of self-centredness, I may be tone deaf to the struggles of others.

What are humans made to be able to perceive and handle? Because there are aspects and dimensions of truth and reality that require not just a developing capacity, but next to that, a developing maturity.

How do I go about breaking through the biases and psychological filters that have taken root in me?

Achieving a developing ability to perceive what is the case as is at many levels is clearly a journey that cannot be bottomed lined in a couple of sentences. So here follows one catalytic practice.

When was the last time you jumped into a pool of cold water? It’s a throughout experiences involving all senses, is it not?

Every situation we walk into, is a bit like that pool, flooding the sensory faculties with impressions. Some in acutely felt ways, some so subtle and nuanced so as to require a matching inner state and attitude.

 ‘Slow down’, ’listen’, ‘what am I sensing and feeling?’, ‘what does this call up in my mind?’, ‘what is it a symptom of?’, ‘what is happening in the bigger picture?’, ‘what am I witnessing?’, ‘what is the purpose of what is being looked at?’, ‘what is influencing and driving what is happening?’, ‘what is not being said?’ ‘what kind of impact is it causing?’, ‘what is the one concise phrase that best describes it?’ These are a few samples – from a vast range – of mind prompts to activate awareness building processes. How we use language in the flow of the inner narrative that goes on in the mind greatly helps in the process of developing neutrality and expanding perception of what the case is from the case’s perspective rather than from the narrowness of coloured biases.

The aim is not to seek for complete answers. It is to rather be in process, and over time, as it evolves in the pursuit of neutrality, let the process deliver its perceptions, with the thrill of the deepening sense of fulfilment of what we are designed to be able to accomplish in this life.

The more neutral we are in our perception, the more we feel what there is to be felt

With best wishes,

David  

World Copyright©David Gommé 2025