Suppose a person believes that all men have two ears. When he comes across a person with only one ear, he faces an inconsistency. His assumption then adversely influences his viewpoint and actions.
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Assumption
Prejudice, bias, and beliefs are the result of inherent assumptions that people have. They think and act only in ways that agrees with their assumptions. Thus, assumptions act as constraints on their viewpoint. Their viewpoint is narrow.
From a narrow viewpoint, a person is unable to perceive the whole situation. Therefore, he misjudges and cannot resolve many situations in his life. He gets stuck with unwanted conditions. He is not able to make progress.
An assumption narrows one’s viewpoint and leads to unwanted conditions.
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Inconsistencies
When a person is running into problems with relationships, finances, or in living, he has a gut feeling that something is not right somewhere, but he can’t put his finger on it. Similar feelings had haunted him in school when he could not understand a subject, such as mathematics. He is faced with unwanted conditions that are filled with inconsistencies.
His doubts, confusions and perplexities corrupt his attention. It either becomes unfixed and sweeping at random or becomes too fixed without sweeping. This corrupted attention is a powerful indicator where he should be looking in meditation.
When he looks more closely at the area that is corrupting his attention he becomes aware of many inconsistencies. As he looks closer at the inconsistencies he finally discovers the underlying assumption that is causing him trouble.
Mindfulness exercises help one look at one’s unwanted conditions more closely and discover the underlying assumptions that he needs to get rid of.
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