See: Mindfulness Approach
Reference: Mindfulness Approach
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The human mind usually does a good job of resolving chaos of the environment into order. It perceives the chaos as situations existing in the environment. It then arrives at solutions in the form of the order to be implemented back in the environment.
The human mind proceeds first by breaking the environmental perceptions down into patterns of fine perceptual elements. The finer are the perceptual elements the more sophisticated are the relationships among them. From this sophistication we can get a detailed and far reaching solution. This factor alone determines the intelligence of the individual.
The human mind then assimilates these fine patterns into a perceptual matrix. The perceptual matrix is continuous, harmonious and consistent throughout. The incoming patterns are freely associated into this matrix while maintaining the attributes of continuity, harmony and consistency. This automatically results in a rational solution. The faster is the free association, the more agile is the mind in arriving at the solution. This factor alone determines the dynamism of the individual.
But there is a limit to the mind’s ability to handle situations. Errors are introduced when the mind cannot break down the perception and assimilate it. This error gets lodged into the mind such that, from then on, even a remotely similar perception is treated by the mind in the same erroneous fashion.
For example, a person as a child fell into the pool and almost drowned. He was extremely shaken up with that painful experience. Now he avoids going near pools and other bodies of water. He gets nauseated at the smell of chlorine that is similar to smell which was present when he almost drowned.
In this example the painful experience of drowning exists in that person’s mind as an unassimilated node. Therefore, the pain and extreme dread that he felt during near drowning immediately gets activated at the sight of a pool and the smell of chlorine.
A painful experience gets lodged in the mental matrix as an unassimilated node, which then generates irrational reactions.
We may say that an irrational reaction occurs whenever perceptions in the environment approximate those contained in an unassimilated experiences. An unassimilated experience thus short-circuits an otherwise well-functioning mind.
Like rest of the mental matrix these unassimilated nodes are also hard-wired into the body. The short-circuited Impulses generated by them are not integrated with rest of the impulses on which the body is running. So the reactive impulses of unassimilated nodes may also create havoc with the systems of the body leading to psychosomatic illnesses. Though, more often, these reactive impulses appear as “desires” that lead to aberrated behavior on part of the person.
The psychosomatic illnesses may appear to be stress-related or even auto-immune. Aberrated behavior may show up as eccentric, irrational or even bizarre conduct, which adversely affects the individual and also the environment. Such aberrations have always existed in human societies. There cause can always be traced back to some unassimilated experience in the mind.
The unassimilated node may also be created when there is an intense emotional experience, such as, the loss of a loved one. Minor experiences of unassimilated node come from misunderstood words and phrases, which are subsequently misinterpreted by the person creating embarrassing moments.
We may categorize the unassimilated nodes as follows.
- A painful experience that generates a compressed node of sensation
- A loss of a loved one that generates a compressed node of emotion
- A misunderstanding that generates a compressed node of thought
By eliminating all painful experiences, losses, and misunderstandings from the mind, it is possible to restore the mind back to a near flawless condition. We may summarize the rational capabilities of the mind as follows.
Rationality of the mind depends on its ability to break perceptions down and associate them freely into an orderly matrix; and also upon the ability to go back and correct any error.
The model of the mind described in this essay provides a basis from which to determine the approach for handling the mind. As the mind is handled so are handled many unwanted conditions related to his physical and mental health.
This approach for resolving the errors of the mind is taken up in the next essay.
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