Authority and the Non-development of Being #2 (Additional Considerations)

When a person makes contact with a form of authority, he experiences, generally unconsciously, two different emotions: one is a mechanical association with his period of childhood when the principle of authority emphasized the equation error = punishment; the second is the perception of authority as a reflection of the observer’s absolute loss of an inner identity. This generates a sort of unease. Indeed, in front of an image that evokes a symbol of authority (nevermind if this authority is real or fictive), this sense of loss emerges.
A human being that develops (in terms of inner development) through a defined and conscious process of development of a stable (and real) sense of “I Am”,  progressively loses every feeling of fear towards every type of authority.  What occurs is, that through the same act of self -discovery, he begins to “think with his own head”. His  thought is activated because of the act of “recreating” himself. So,he begins to think, and does not allow thoughts to arise in his mind in an associative way.
Such an individual begins to understand that to accept what is imposed upon him from an “authority” is not always correct, and that every human being has the right of freedom of expression in his own matters. This is the first step toward getting in touch with life in the most mature way. In such a phase, the individual is able to examine more objectively, the environment in which he lives and to expand a more liberal and conscious vision to all those who come in contact with him: he becomes better- structured in order to be of more assistance to society.
Indeed, a productive society cannot be a whole of childish and fragmented beings with a repetitive and mechanical intellect. How can one be creative in the true sense of the meaning (so able to create something new and better) if he has more tendency toward a disgregation of  relationships with others, and to a disgregation in himself?
But this is the condition of our modern social culture, and this, with keen observation, is well visible.  This can be seen among those who have the role of directing the destiny of a nation, such as those which should represent a religious authority.
The loss of an inner individuality makes people feel more safe if they are aggregated in large masses, even if they have to accept the most disharmonic visions as indisputable laws just because they belong to the “higher fields of society”.
But, today, the number of people who come to question this behaviour is in constant growth. These individuals begin to question in order to understand more about themselves and the world in which they live. This is, at least, what this writer perceives. What these people need is a system capable of making  this aim possible – an inner renewal that perhaps will influence, if not the whole society, at least the environment they inhabit.
Probably, speaking about the establishment on this planet of a true authority based on reciprocal respect and love is far from the actual reality, but this can surely be possible on a small scale – in our personal, daily lives

Authority and the Non- development of Being

The  loss of “inner identity” has been spoken of enough in this blog and in many other books and web pages. But, there are two particular aspects of this topic that we should ponder on: a loss of a “true inner authority” and the fear towards every kind of authority and its representatives.
This tendency is all but rare, and we may say that almost every human being is subjected to this behaviour. Indeed, it may be noticed in every aspect of life: in the family circle, at work, in politics, in religion… and this denotes a singular condition of non-development of our being/essence.
Those who are involved in an inner work similar to which is followed on this blog page, know that we use  the term “being” as a noun, and not a verb. For those who do not know the meaning of this term, apart from suggesting to them to read posts which could explain this term, we’ll ask them to imagine, for a moment, to consider the being (or essence) the real man or real woman – an individual.  Such a being, in order to fulfill its experience in matter, needs an intellect and a physical body.
In a very small child these two means are not well-developed, but once they develop, he is pulled by the impulses of his essence/being to experience the world surrounding him in a direct way. And, this is the way the essence learns: in the first person – it “puts its nose” into everything, a behaviour that is well visible in children. So, the essence learns only through direct experience. Better said, it feeds itself from sensations and experimentation. The essence (being) “eats” impressions. What the child comes in touch with, impresses him, and his sensitivity grows in proportion to his possibilities of experimentation. The memory which permits him to associate the remembering of the various experiences allows the development of new, and gradually more complex concepts which will be validated with new concrete experiences. This is the development of the being, and denying the child the possibility to experience it directly, means to stop his  development.
And, as seen in previous posts, the content which we won’t review at this time, this is what happens in our society: once the child begins to be indoctrinated through the usual schools, family’s and society’s education, the being stops its development, because this education denies the possibility of direct experimentation. Indeed, as has been said many times, education gives directives on what is good and what is bad, what is the worst to be known (and how), and what is not… a series of “do this.. don’t do that”. These vetoes become moral taboos, almost never followed by explanations, and is based on conditionings that are common to the age and society in which the child grows.
After this summary, we can enter in depth,  the topic of this post. Indeed, the constant fear of authority in general, is related deeply with what is explained above. Firstly, every individual is induced, from an early age, to mechanically follow directives given by adults. During the first years of life, the directives given by the parents have not necessarily negative valences, because the child has to be directed in a clear way in order to be preserved from dangerous and harmful experiences.
Afterwards, the being stops to grow because of the impossibility to experience its life in a free way. This makes the unconscious field of every man and woman to remain substantially “childish”, thus, it is subjected to react passively to every form of authority. The intellectual center has mechanized the habit to accept every form of authority passively, and the emotional field reacts “instinctively” to the possibility of being “scolded” or punished. This situation determines the state of discomfort and fear that can be commonly noticed in every person when he gets in contact with any form of authority.
Of course, a true authority might not be determined by a social role or a position of supremacy towards  others: this is not considered in terms of self-development a form of authority, but of violence towards  others. A politician, a policeman, a teacher, or a priest, are not objectively authoritative only because of the role they have in this society. The same thing could be said for a famous character: indeed, the world is full of famous idiots, and this is well noticeable even through a superficial look at events in the world today.
A true authority is an inner fact: one who is really authoritative, nevermind which role he covers, possesses a nobility and a capacity for deep respect towards those that are subjected to him. The abuse of power, so common in today’s society, derives from the reason that many social positions are covered by people who do not possess such an inner authority, but only an egoic identification with the role he represents- a role achieved for – God only knows what reason.
Speaking on a grand scale, scientists, politicians, men and women of culture etc… should be represented by mature individuals who are aware of the fact that they are at the service of others, and not the opposite. These roles imply devotion and sacrifice, and not lucre and personal profit.

***CONTINUES***

A “Rare” Esoteric Exercise

Our mind plays a crucial role in our lives, even in our self development. Indeed, as it could also be the main cause of our state of imprisonment, it could also be a “tool” to emancipate us from unwanted and troublesome emotional states, and which also can improve our presence and participation in what happens around us.
During the first period of my apprenticeship, it has been taught to me that there are seven basic types of “exercises”, of which the training of the mind is the first. Now, in order not to create a  misunderstanding, “exercises” here are not intended as a series of things we must do sequentially, but a “practice” that is more a way of being, a way to live  in a different, more sober and intense way.
When we speak about a “practice” to improve our mind, we might intend this as a way to make it active, instead of passive: so, learn to use our mind instead of being used by it, as usually happens.
In his book , “Guidance in Esoteric Training”, Rudolf Steiner described a series of practices in which a complementary exercise is just the cultivation of an active mind.
Before sharing a practice which is not this one, but related to it, I would like to cite a very interesting quotation from this book that, linked in a right way and in context with the exercise that will be proposed in this post, a smart mind will surely gain profit in his daily practices. Here’s the quote:
“The first condition is the cultivation of absolutely clear thinking. For this purpose a man must rid himself of the will-o’-the-wisps of thought, even if only for a very short time during the day – about five minutes (the longer, the better). He must become the ruler in his world of thought. He is not the ruler if external circumstances, occupation, some tradition or other, social relationships, even membership of a particular race, the daily round of life, certain activities and so forth, determine a thought and how he works it out.
Therefore during this brief time, acting entirely out of his own free will, he must empty the soul of the ordinary, everyday course of thoughts and by his own initiative place one single thought at the centre of his soul. The thought need not be a particularly striking or interesting one. Indeed it will be all the better for what has to be attained in an occult respect if a thoroughly uninteresting and insignificant thought is chosen. Thinking is then impelled to act out of its own energy the essential thing here, whereas an interesting thought carries the thinking along with it. It is better if this exercise in thought-control is undertaken with a pin rather than with Napoleon. The pupil says to himself: Now I start from this thought, and through my own inner initiative I associate with it everything that is pertinent to it. At the end of the period the thought should be just as colourful and living as it was at the beginning. This exercise is repeated day by day for at least a month; a new thought may be taken every day, or the same thought may be adhered to for several days.”

Even Gurdjieff gave an exercise that was, queerly, ignored by most of his disciples (curiously, a person that practices the Gurdjieff “system” said to me that this exercise is irrelevant), even if it’s a “masterpiece” as practice, something that could give, to one who persists in this (and similar) practice, one of the “keys” to an integral way of experiencing things, an objective reason. If you think I am exaggerating, then leave aside your thoughts and try it for yourselves.

So, speech aside, this is the practice:

Choose the most common object close to hand, and make it as an “object” of your particular contemplation, considering the following aspects:
•    What is its origin?
•    What’s the cause of its origin?
•    What is its “story”?
•    What are its characteristics and qualities?
•    What are the objects in touch with or in relation with it?
•    What are its possible uses and applications?
•    What are its effects and consequences?
•    What does it allow to explain or demonstrate?
•    What is its possible end?
•    What’s your opinion, the causes and the reasons of this opinion regarding this object?   

This way of observation might be done dependent on your personal knowing and understanding. Indeed, what is important here,  are not the possible answers, but the way we use our mind. It’s a pondering.
Consider first, at least three of the above mentioned questions, one by one, then the results together and try to realize them as a whole: try to look at the same object while being aware of all the data you have gained from the contemplation of the object, Experience it through the awareness of all the data you have achieved.

To see results from this exercise, one might perform it daily. It’s a considerable effort, because it implies the use of a “muscle” that is usually lazy, but the rewards will be worth the effort: a clearer, deeper and more complete way of experiencing things, a great control of our mind, a skill of detaching ourselves from unwanted emotional states which are only some of the results that will be achieved through this practice if done with diligence and constancy.

When Tai Chi was…Tai chi Chuan

A nice example of Classic Tai Chi Chuan Yang style performed from the legendary Master Lu Guo Ming.

Enjoy this view!

Why We Are Here- story by Idries Shah

Walking one evening along a deserted road, Mulla Nasrudin saw a troop of horsemen coming towards him. His imagination started to work; he saw himself captured and sold as a slave, or impressed into the army.

Nasrudin bolted, climbed a wall into a graveyard, and lay down in an open tomb. Puzzled at his strange behaviour, the men – honest travelers – followed him. They found him stretched out, tense and quivering.

“What are you doing in that grave? We saw you run away. Can we help you?”

“Just because you can ask a question does not mean that there is a straightforward answer to it,” said the Mulla, who now realized what had happened.

Image via Wikipedia

Inner Science #5: The Path of Shakyamuni

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

Buddhism is surely a refined way which, with all the doctrinal elements inevitably included such as in all the disciplines which became religions, gives the possibility to perform a sophisticated analysis of the inner states through determined and well- structured practices. The same founder of these disciplines- Buddha, gave such an accurate description of  what a man must do and the results of the various practices, that we could define it as “scientific”.

Many readers and practictioners know the foundations and the meaning of the “Four Noble Truths”, and they all speak about suffering and pain (and their meanings) which we all suffer in our everyday lives. In an abbreviated explanation of those precepts, we could describe them in this way:
1.    Suffering exists;
2.    Suffering arises from attachment to desires;
3.    Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases;
4.    Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path;
The last one, the fourth truth, speaks about a glimpse of hope, a possibility of overcoming this state of suffering, the condition which keeps us in a state of perpetual stagnation. It’s the precept on which every apprentice might focus his work.
While the realization of the Four Truths happens in a moment, as a realization of our own condition, the development during the practice of the Eightfold Path can only be gradual, proportional to the work one does on oneself. The practice begins with the development of an ethical conduct, the Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
What does this mean? It means that the apprentice must take responsibility for what is he saying so that he does not offend or harm. So, a practice of gentleness and the awareness of what we say and what we speak about.
For the reason that speech is a result of what we are thinking, this first stage, when well -developed, brings us to a right way of thinking. Such as the thoughts which influence the content of our conversations, the tone and the cadence of the voice, even changing the way we speak makes changes in our way of thinking and, also, makes it easier to manage the contents of our mind. This is the meaning of the Buddhist saying “We are what we think”.
Then,  the apprentice must learn to act without egoistic purposes, without depending on the result of his actions, so, in Western words, without expectations. This produces a Right Effort and a Right Concentration to the further steps in the Eightfold Path.
The Right Livelihood implies to make a distance from extreme actions of every type, and also from greed and from actions with the purpose to harm.
After this first stage, what follows is the development and cultivation of a Right Effort, Right Thinking and Right Concentration. The Right Effort could be explained in this way: learn to administer our daily energies. As explained in previous posts on this Blog, we usually waste great amounts of energy in actions that are directed toward nothing: we think or, better said, we let our mind produce thousands and thousands of thoughts, speak in a compulsive way, let our body produce uncontrolled and useless movements, tensions, and stresses. What is suggested with this percept is to apply our whole energies in order to develop more sober behaviours;  such a habit arises from a right way of acting, the above mentioned Right Action, and it’s a fundamental supposition for developing a conscious and focused will. This can’t be performed without  Right Thinking, so a conscious way of administration of our mind, and this together brings us to the development for  Right Concentration, a focussed attention which is able, in a second moment to unveil what really lies before our eyes.
It’s the beginning of a de-mechanization, a gradual desegregation of the old habits which keep us imprisoned between the walls of our illusory way of living, feeling, perceiving and seeing  reality as it is.
A Right Thinking brings us out of the perpetual attitude to fall into various identifications with what happens around us and in us; the development of such a skill brings us to the Right Concentration, the improving of our attention to the degree that we can experience life in a lucid way, instead of that as sleepwalkers.
The last stage is the flowering of a Right View and a Right Intention. Right View means the realization and comprehension of the Four Noble Truths, the situation in which almost all humans are imprisoned. A true understanding of the reason for a condition of suffering and of the relative vacuity feeds the wish to overcome this situation, to become able to manage our illusions, with the support of  Compassion towards all living beings, also involved in the same situation; it’s the birth of a purpose, an intention- the Right Intention.
Even if the Eightfold Path is divided in stages, its practice is not linear, as seen above. There is an interaction of cause- effect between each phase. A linear approach to a teaching  brings us to nothing; a sober learning is most similar to the flowing of a spiral, a vortex in which the proceeding of a phase brings us to a deeper understanding and the realization of another one.
What is needed, is a further and rare skill, the greatest one: having a “heart” (sensibility) able to dicipline our whole life, to integrate a theoretical study with the practice, and bring the results of this addition into the way of living and experiencing our daily life – moment by moment.

 

Inner Science #4: The Patanjali’s Path towards Freedom

Patanjali, a yogi who probably lived in the 2nd century, is considered the most studious and the primary compiler of the system known today as Raja Yoga. In his writing “Yoga Sutra”, he described systematically  the eight phases towards self- realization, the path which every practitioner has to walk, from the outer to the most inner stages until achieving an understanding of his own “I”.
According to Patanjali’s writing, a scholar proceeds step by step from what is immediately perceivable – the body, to the understanding of what is usually unknowable; he merges himself, progressively, into the deepest fields of his being: from the manifested, through an exploration of his mind, intellect, will, the discriminating consciousness, and awareness, until he achieves the awareness and understanding of the true  self, or “I”.
The following are the eight steps articulated by Patanjali:

•     Niyama: abstention from offenses, greed, squandering, falsity, robbery;
•     Yama: observation of pureness of thought, moderation, study and devotion;
•     Asana: stable and comfortable position;
•     Pranayama: breath control;
•     Dharana: concentration on only one object;
•     Dhyana: meditation, the conscious focus on the object of concentration;
•     Samadhi: merging with the object of meditation, pure awareness;

The scholar’s mind, initially confused and untamed, can be purified through the phases of Niyama, Yama, and Asana, so that the intellectual field could be stimulated to an intentional activity; through the stages of Asana and Pranayama, mind could become more stable and, successively, (through Pranayama), the senses are retracted inward, and this is the stage of Pratyahara; the mind becomes more attentive, able to focus intentionally on its own energy. Through the Dharana, mind becomes motionless, unflappable, and the consequential increase of attention brings the scholar to the stage of meditation- Dhyana. Once this stage is maintained for enough time, the scholar will experience the final step of his path, Samadhi.
Taking a deeper look at the brief explanation of the above mentioned stages, it is evident that, before realizing the higher stages of awareness, one must first learn to know and understand the body and its functions, besides learning to manage the vital breaths, the energy, mind, intellect, and ego. Only after the  exploration of the “manifested” fields, he will be able to enter the realm of the “non-manifested” -  the part of every human being which is usually hidden from his eyes – the unknown.
Such as a stream pulled by the necessity to find the sea, the student, once having overcome the rough obstacles, will be pulled towards the unknown. The moment of flowing in the deep seas will produce the experience of fusion with the whole, the most elevated state of joy a human being can experience. This state is called in Sanskrit Ananda.
This is the path described by Patanjali, a way able to bring a practitioner from the state of identification with his body, to the realization of his True Self. A system which has been tested by millennia, that begins from the body, the nervous system, to the sensorial perceptions, proceeding until the mind, the intellect, goes deeper toward the inner “I”.  A path to return to ourselves.  A path which leads from ignorance to a true understanding.
I would like to say, here, that the stages of Yama and Niyama must intentionally be in a modern, contemporary language, so as to be understandable to modern men and women, as an education to a universal ethic, free from cultural contents that belong to other ages, so no more actual in ours. Indeed, the habit of literally transcribing the observances and the abstentions suggested in the ancient texts is useful from a point of view of a translator, an anthropologist, historian or a scholar committed to the analysis of  ancient Hindu society, but it’s less useful for someone who would like to approach this tradition in a practical way. We don’t live in India, and even if we live there, we don’t live in the third, eighth or the second century B.C.
The real meaning and sense of Yama and Niyama lies in the fact that everyone who wishes to undertake a path for self- development must develop in itself a greater sensibility towards not only others, but also the whole life, educating one’s mind to ethical values that bring intellectual honesty, kindness, and self- integrity.
This has to be “translated” in a way which is in accordance to the intellectual development of contemporary men and women, so that it could become possible to dedicate ourselves to a protocol of altruism and mental “cleansing”, and all this in a modality that is compatible (therefore, effective and useful) with the age in which we live.

Inner Science#3: Find the Silence in your Daily Life

Silence keeps in itself the possibility to perceive “something different”, and this is a very important aspect, because it is the only thing which can determine a different degree of presence.

The habitual thoughts can’t be stopped right from the beginning. We have to understand that the human brain is a system that, close to the coordination of the body’s activities, it is also designed to think, and until it functions, it will perform its work. What we can do is to make a distance between ourselves and thoughts, entering into a condition in which all this mental noise begins progressively to lose importance, consistence, power, and strength.

Through such a practice, performed with daily constancy, associative thoughts will become rarefied. What must be understood is that if we don’t put importance to the contents of our mind, they will progressively lose their power on us until they completely vanish… and this is the silence so claimed from the great teachers and masters from all ages; a condition of absence of a noise which follows us 24 hours a day, even when we sleep.

And, this is one of the most common problems of human beings – the insomnia, a problem that probably torments even some of us who read this post, isn’t it?

We wake up, go to work, come back home, eat, dedicate ourselves to our beloved and to some home tasks, and at the end of the day, we go to sleep bringing with us to bed our whole day, with its problems and stresses. And, falling asleep becomes a difficult task.

This doesn’t mean rest. And, also, this doesn’t mean to live. We survive our days… such as in a battle.

We are slaves of ourselves, of our own habits and limitations, and that’s the reason of why, if we wish to live, experience and perceive a more “real” life, we have to “decongest” our mind from its contents. We have to pass some minutes in silence. I mean, in real silence, not only without speaking with anyone, but also to not allow the mind to speak, instead of us… to us.

There are surely hundreds of practices of meditational and not the type that could be suggested in order to do this, but what we intend, here, is simply to dedicate some moments to collect ourselves- to find during our day, some moments (at least one) for an act of intimacy.

Just us, in company with nothingness. When you find a calm moment at home, try to listen to the silence, present everywhere, below the curtain of noise even in the big cities. We can even seek for the silence in the space between the noises.

A noise is a disharmonic sound, but it gives also the possibility to discern the difference between what is chaotic and what is more harmonious and balanced- in this case, the silence. So, through the gap between two sounds, we can listen to the silence. It’s not so difficult, it’s enough to synchronize our ears with attention firstly to a noise, and then to what follows when the noise disappears- the silence. Also, we can notice the same noise, and then putting our attention to the physical space that separates us from it.

It’s not a metaphor. Just try it! Indeed, if we learn to listen to the space that separates a sound from us, we’ll be automatically synchronized with a field where the sound doesn’t exist, and this is the dominion of the silence.

What must be understood is that the dominion of noise is contained in the more vast dominion of the silence. The silence is the container, and the noise is that which is contained. Just ponder about that: all  matter is composed from space- between the molecules, atoms, etc… We are not accustomed to perceive it, but it still exists. This is a very important thing to be understood, because that is what allows us to perceive the space of silence that separates us from the noise.

Otherwise, then we could imagine, space is the most common host, and space conceptually means silence. This is the reason why many teachings claim that silence is our “natural state”,  and it’s true- the problem is that we are not used to put our attention toward it. If we take a look in depth, it’s not so strange the reason for this behavior. We live in a society where the cult of image is the alpha and the omega, no one- even those who claim themselves enlightened practitioners- is immune from this. Image is form. Thoughts are form, silence not. So, that’s why we perceive our mind through our thoughts. We are convinced that thoughts are the mind, and not only the content of the same.

So, listening to the space between us and the noise means to concentrate on the absence of sound- form: silence. This can be experienced in the environment that surrounds us and in ourselves, through perceiving our mind- container.

Usually, when people ask me about experiences concerned with determined practices, I don’t like to describe too much because, on one hand, it is like reading a road map instead of walking the road with our legs; on the other side, even if the individual experiences are similar to each other, it’s also true that every one of us experiences them in his own personal way.

But, this time, I’ll say something about what waits for us on the other side of the veil of mental noise. In the dominion of silence and space, many things become possible. For example, it’s possible to experience a voluntary, focused, conscious, decided thought, with intensity and a concentration that is exempt from the usual distractions, and such focusing allows us to gain practical, concrete results.

What else? It is also possible that the perception of time changes, to become able to think in a very fast way, a skill that becomes useful in many life situations through finding a solution in a moment.

But these are not the aims of the practice of silence.  They are only “side effects”, very pleasurable, but the main advantage of this practice is the possibility to listen, feel the most inner fields of our essence, a task that is ordinarily impossible because of the usual inner and outer noise in which we live.

Ok, it’s a practice that requires some time to realize some results, and it’s not guaranteed that the results are those we expect. But, anyway, it’s a great way to calm, stop the chaos in which we live, keeping in our heads, heart and life a little bit less confusion.

 

Inner Science #2: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

In the previous post we compared the functioning of the ordinary mind with a PC. The same comparison could also be made with our emotional field. Indeed, the emotive such as experienced in most cases, is superficial, automatic and unrefined.

The reason for this problem is that today, values such as sensitivity, emotional depth and the cultivation of beauty has been replaced by very superficial values. The number of people who seek something different and more elevated than simple daily survival, has also dramatically decreased.

There are two aspects to inquire into to find the reasons for this condition- Why and What to do to obviate it.  The reason for this condition is a topic which has been confronted in many posts on this blog, but regarding how to avert this emotional insufficiency is all but a simple task.

Surely, it can be performed haphazardly by inventing a method. Firstly, one has to wish to perform such a work, and to achieve this wish, one needs to notice that his emotional field is not as emancipated as he commonly thinks. What is required to begin heeding attention is a remarkable effort and sincerity which are beyond our ordinary possibilities. In the field of inner development, excuses and justifications are unproductive, but attention can be produced by establishing a genuine discipline to allow this to happen. Otherwise, all our efforts will bring us to nothing.

Being able to notice, at least partially, but objectively, our ordinary emotions as they are, brings a great result that requires a constant intentional effort to put into practice determined proceedings that, for an effective outcome, must be shared in a direct way.

But, for those who haven’t the possibility of a direct transmission of this process, there is something they can do: nourish the mind with contents that are different and more useful than those ordinarily acquired. For example, in the evening reading a book instead of lying passively before the TV or PC screen. I suppose that this is not a difficult task.

What type of books? Yes, there are many readings about inner development and spirituality, but a book such as the Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” or other books that are not of trivial entertainment, should be enough.

Ok, for those who prefer more engaging readings, even  Gurdjieff’s writings are more than good.

The action of such readings prolonged in time, allows a sort of emotional and mental cleansing, so that, at one point, we become able to consider not only the superficiality of the world, but also the superficiality with which we perform things and think thoughts we usually consider non- superficial.

It’s a small beginning, but as Lao Tzu used to say: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”… a very useful step.

 

Inner Science#1: Recognize the mental processes

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Since I was I child, I had the peculiarity to find interest in how things function, and soon I focused my whole attention on the inner nature of humans.

Six years ago I bought my first PC, and I didn’t need much time to realize the similarity between the informatic systems and the human mind. Today I consider this an obvious thing, considering the reason that the PC functions are that they are built in accordance to mechanical thought patterns, but at that time, this was a small revelation.

Our mental and thought reactions, our whole psychology, if not directed in a conscious way, respond to external reactions exactly as a computer- in a mechanical way.

And this happens, (as I wrote in a previous post concerning the intellectual function) because our mind is binary, such as the informatics binary system. Nevermind if our brain is structured to perceive all in a tridimensional way, it seems that our mind cannot function in ways other than in terms of “yes” and “no”, “good” and “evil” … “on” and  “off”.

Ok, fortunately, there’s a difference between the human mind and a PC and  indeed we have more possibilities than a computer. But, differently from what most suppose or take as guaranteed, this “something more” exists only as possibility, not as something already developed, and if an individual doesn’t adequately develop  this field, it will remain only a possibility.

Just consider this common thing: the influence of the media. It’s just enough to take a look at the TV, newspaper or surf the Internet, and you’ll be bombarded by news of every kind. It’s really difficult, I would say almost impossible, to find “real”, “genuine” information, in the sense that it hasn’t already been manipulated, distorted, misrepresented or even totally false. It is a distortion of the reality towards the real problem which people respond to  in a determined (and expected) way.

But, it’s enough that the media stop talking about a specific “question” which the masses (includes ourselves) then lose  interest  in  and then forget .

This is not a post intended to discuss the methods used by the media, but  to describe how very easy it is to condition public opinion towards what is considered as a real fact: a perfect, careful and well- organized manipulation conducted by those who are able to organize such a ploy.  And all this is possible because the human’s ordinary reactions are habitual, mechanical, and predictable…such as a PC is predictable and malleable.

But, even if this mechanism of the human psyche is a blind spot, it could be seen also as an enormous advantage: if our behavior, attitudes, emotions and thoughts can be conditioned, programmed and determined from the external environment, this means that we can do the same thing from the inside, from within ourselves. Ponder about that, it is not a small thing.

What we need are two main elements: being willing and ready to admit that, without a concrete training in controlling our thoughts, our mind will remain mechanical, thus automatic; the second thing is to learn the correct language for the programming of the mental processes. So, recognize the state which we are in, then search (and find) the principles able to overcome this state.