Vinaire's Blog

Reference: Book III: What is the Mind Really?

The Main Ideas

1. The beginning of an individual may start with conception, or birth.
2. But the individual is based on a blueprint, which has its beginning in humanity.
3. At the beginning of humanity is the unique characteristic of awareness.
4. At the beginning of awareness are the postulates that define reality.
5. Postulates are foundational assumptions taken as true, from which all consciousness is derived.
6. The beginning of reality of universe and human individuality lies in these postulates.
7. This chapter is about looking at postulates an individual is operating on.
8. Underlying those postulates is simply the desire to know.

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Every individual appears to have a beginning. We may locate that beginning at conception, at birth, or at the first moment we recognize ourselves as separate beings. Yet an individual is more than a body arriving at a particular time. Each person expresses a deeper human blueprint: a pattern of capacities, needs, and possibilities inherited through humanity itself.

At the beginning of humanity lies a distinctive capacity—awareness. Awareness makes it possible not only to experience the world, but also to ask what the world is, what we are, and how we know anything at all. Beneath every interpretation of life are basic postulates: foundational assumptions accepted as true, consciously or unconsciously, from which further conclusions are derived.

In this sense, the beginning of one’s reality—of the universe one inhabits and of the individuality one experiences—lies in the postulates one is operating from. A postulate may concern existence, identity, causation, purpose, knowledge, or value. Once it is accepted, it can quietly shape perceptions, decisions, explanations, and expectations.

This exercise invites you to look beneath conclusions and familiar beliefs, toward the assumptions from which they arise. Underlying even this investigation is something simpler: the desire to know.

Exercise 1

A person is operating on certain postulates. The postulates are the source of his consciousness and individuality.

A postulate is a foundational assumption taken as true, from which everything else is derived.

From this reality, the following process is recommended:

1. Look for a postulate you are operating on.
2. Take a good look at it.
3. Look for a conclusion derived from that postulate.
4. Take a good look at it.

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Exercise 2

All that exists is made up of matter, energy and thought. That which is in harmony is real. That which is in disharmony is unreal.

Oneness lies in the harmony of relations, consistency of realities, and continuity of dimensions. Oneness underlies the very concept of the Universe.

From this reality, the following process is recommended:

1. Look at postulates that are in harmony.
2. Look at postulates that are in disharmony.

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Exercise 3

All conditions have underlying postulates. A condition is good when the underlying postulates are in harmony. A condition is bad when the underlying postulates are in disharmony.

Attention gets stuck in disharmonies. As more attention gets stuck the person’s analytical abilities start to weaken. Attention is freed as he spots and becomes aware of disharmonies.

From this reality, the following process is recommended:

1. Look at an existing condition.
2. Look at the underlying disharmony.

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