Reference: Course on Subject Clearing
As noted earlier, Self-Learning is the most vital part of one’s continuing education. It helps one clear any past conditioning of the mind and further develop the ability to think critically.
Self-learning involves the assimilation of the incoming perceptions and symbolic data into the mental matrix. A healthy mind naturally breaks the perceptions down into fine “mental pixels”, which are then absorbed into the mental matrix.
The symbolic data reaches one through spoken and written language. For proper assimilation one should be able to visualize the symbolic data in real time so it could be broken down into fine “mental pixels” and assimilated.
Assimilation mean absorbing incoming pixels in the “data matrix” of the mind. This requires arranging new pixels in existing patterns in the matrix, and, as necessary, modifying the patterns and extending them, removing duplicate pixels, and supplying the correct time stamp. Ideally, incoming pixels are continually assimilated.
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THE PROBLEM
Assimilation does not take place when incoming perceptions and symbolic data is too chaotic due to pain and confusion and cannot be broken down into pixels. The unassimilated perceptions and symbolic data get bunched up like a tumor in the mental matrix. They have only a few connections with rest of the matrix.
Obviously, a mental tumor is formed when there is physical injury or sickness in life. But a more insidious mental tumor grows out of sight as misunderstood words and symbols accumulate throughout a person’s life.
It is a common observation in schooling that a child’s eagerness to learn declines as he moves up the grades. Very soon, he is no longer motivated to learn. By the time a child reaches middle school, he is studying only because he is afraid of being punished for low attendance, low marks, or for failing the exam; and not because he wants to learn. The cause of this declining motivation is the accumulation of misunderstood words and symbols entirely.
The mental tumor of accumulated “misunderstoods” is the most destructive of all, as it is spread throughout the mental matrix without being assimilated. It robs the incredible potential of a person, and makes his life full of confused struggle.
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THE SOLUTION
An interesting phenomenon occurs when you start handling the mental tumor of accumulated misunderstood words and symbols. All other mental tumors also start to come up by themselves exactly when they are ready to be resolved. This is because the common denominator of handling is,
(1) Finding that which doesn’t make sense.
(2) Studying up on data relating to that subject.
(3) Not going by any word or symbol that you do not understand the meaning of.
(4) Finding the meaning of the word or symbol and contemplating on it within the context it is used.
(5) Clearing up all thoughts, emotions and effort related to that concept in meditation.
(6) Following up on what is not clear. This may require repetition of these steps.
(7) Keep at it until the doubt, confusion, perplexity and difficulty is fully cleared up.
This may sound like a lot of work but as you follow these steps, you soon start to have little wins. These wins soon start to add up to make the journey worthwhile. Finally, the major win occurs in terms of the difficulty fully handled. And that is always a life changer.
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SUMMARY
The above steps lead to increasing assimilation of past and present perceptions and education. The progress may appear to require effort at first but soon it becomes rewarding. It leads not only to self-learning but also to self-healing to some degree. Each of these steps are taken up in greater detail in subsequent issues.
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