Whose values are these? Part 2: The Values of Others

In this four part series, we will discuss a path to discerning your own values from those of your friends, family, and society. Last week we learned about the importance of and ways to create a space or an environment for optimal self-observation. In this upcoming session, we will dive deep into the values of those individuals and groups around us that often shape our thinking and decision making. During the third session we will work to distinguish our own values from those around us. And lastly, we will discuss the concept of differentiation where we work within the tension of being ourselves and remaining in connection.

During this session, we will learn how to identify the values that tend to shape our lives. How do we know if the actions we take, the words we speak, or even the thoughts we think reflect our own values or somebody else’s? We have the capacity to determine our own thoughts, beliefs and our own unique set of values, however for many people, those are limited based on the thoughts, beliefs, and values we were exposed to as a result of three things we have virtually no control over.
1. Where we were born
2. When we were born
3. Who are parents/primary caregivers were

Wisdom Traditions we will engage:
Confucianism — Li (Ritual and Social Role)
Hindu Philosophy — Svadharma
Taoism — The Tao Te Ching on Conventional Values
Socratic Tradition — Know Thyself & the Elenchus
Stoicism — The Dichotomy of Control
Buddhism — Dependent Origination & the Kalama Sutta