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I am originally from India. I am settled in United States since 1969. I love mathematics, philosophy and clarity in thinking.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA: Chapter 14

May 12, 2021 – 11:52 AM

Reference: Course on The Bhagavad Gita
English Translation By Shri Purohit Swami

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Chapter 14

श्रीभगवानुवाच
परंभूयःप्रवक्ष्यामिज्ञानानांज्ञानमुत्तमम्।
यज्ज्ञात्वामुनयःसर्वेपरांसिद्धिमितोगताः।।14.1।।

14.1 Lord Shri Krishna continued: Now I will reveal unto the Wisdom which is beyond knowledge, by attaining which the sages have reached Perfection.

इदंज्ञानमुपाश्रित्यममसाधर्म्यमागताः।
सर्गेऽपिनोपजायन्तेप्रलयेनव्यथन्तिच।।14.2।।

14.2 Dwelling in Wisdom and realising My Divinity, they are not born again when the universe is re-created at the beginning of every cycle, nor are they affected when it is dissolved.

ममयोनिर्महद्ब्रह्मतस्मिन्गर्भंदधाम्यहम्।
संभवःसर्वभूतानांततोभवतिभारत।।14.3।।

14.3 The eternal Cosmos is My womb, in which I plant the seed, from which all beings are born, O Prince!

The Static viewpoint is beyond any knowledge. From it the awareness arises that the universe creates and dissolves itself in cycles. There is not just one Big bang. This happens over and over again over long periods of time. The Static viewpoint remains unaffected. It simply observes all motion.

सर्वयोनिषुकौन्तेयमूर्तयःसम्भवन्तियाः।
तासांब्रह्ममहद्योनिरहंबीजप्रदःपिता।।14.4।।

14.4 O illustrious son of Kunti! Through whatever wombs men are born, it is the Spirit Itself that conceives, and I am their Father.

सत्त्वंरजस्तमइतिगुणाःप्रकृतिसंभवाः।
निबध्नन्तिमहाबाहोदेहेदेहिनमव्ययम्।।14.5।।

14.5 Purity, Passion and Ignorance are the Qualities which the Law of nature bringeth forth. They fetter the free Spirit in all beings.

तत्रसत्त्वंनिर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम्।
सुखसङ्गेनबध्नातिज्ञानसङ्गेनचानघ।।14.6।।

14.6 O Sinless One! Of these, Purity, being luminous, strong and invulnerable, binds one by its yearning for happiness and illumination.

From the Static viewpoint, it is clearly seen that man is a form that is being animated by energy. He is constrained by the qualities of purity, passion and ignorance. Purity constrains him through his yearning for happiness and illumination.

रजोरागात्मकंविद्धितृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम्।
तन्निबध्नातिकौन्तेयकर्मसङ्गेनदेहिनम्।।14.7।।

14.7 Passion, engendered by thirst for pleasure and attachment, binds the soul through its fondness for activity.

तमस्त्वज्ञानजंविद्धिमोहनंसर्वदेहिनाम्।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नातिभारत।।14.8।।

14.8 But Ignorance, the product of darkness, stupefies the senses in all embodied beings, binding them by chains of folly, indolence and lethargy.

सत्त्वंसुखेसञ्जयतिरजःकर्मणिभारत।
ज्ञानमावृत्यतुतमःप्रमादेसञ्जयत्युत।।14.9।।

14.9 Purity brings happiness, Passion commotion, and Ignorance, which obscures wisdom, leads to a life of failure.

Passion constrains man through his fondness for activity (pleasure and attachment). Ignorance constrains the man through folly, indolence and lethargy (stupefied senses). Purity brings happiness, Passion commotion, and Ignorance, which obscures wisdom, leads to a life of failure.

It is interesting to note that happiness is not the ultimate goal. One needs to rise above happiness also. But before man can do that he must first overcome stupefaction of senses, and the commotion of activity. Only then he can overcome the attachment to happiness.

रजस्तमश्चाभिभूयसत्त्वंभवतिभारत।
रजःसत्त्वंतमश्चैवतमःसत्त्वंरजस्तथा।।14.10।।

14.10 O Prince! Purity prevails when Passion and Ignorance are overcome; Passion, when Purity and Ignorance are overcome; and Ignorance when it overcomes Purity and Passion.

We have purity, when purity overcomes passion and ignorance. We have passion, when passion overcomes purity and ignorance. We have ignorance, when ignorance overcomes purity and passion.

The viewpoint of ignorance overcoming purity and passion is very interesting. You get what you focus your attention on, but how do you focus your attention on ignorance? That happens when you put your critical thinking aside, especially, in today’s environment of “excessive information from internet.”

सर्वद्वारेषुदेहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाशउपजायते।
ज्ञानंयदातदाविद्याद्विवृद्धंसत्त्वमित्युत।।14.11।।

14.11 When the light of knowledge gleams forth from all the gates of the body, then be sure that Purity prevails.

लोभःप्रवृत्तिरारम्भःकर्मणामशमःस्पृहा।
रजस्येतानिजायन्तेविवृद्धेभरतर्षभ।।14.12।।

14.12 O best of Indians! Avarice, the impulse to act and the beginning of action itself are all due to the dominance of Passion.

अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्चप्रमादोमोहएवच।
तमस्येतानिजायन्तेविवृद्धेकुरुनन्दन।।14.13।।

14.13 Darkness, stagnation, folly and infatuation are the result of the dominance of Ignorance, O joy of the Kuru-clan!

Purity must prevail where knowledge is concerned. Where passion dominates, greed comes to fore. Where ignorance dominates you have infatuation, folly, stagnation and darkness.

यदासत्त्वेप्रवृद्धेतुप्रलयंयातिदेहभृत्।
तदोत्तमविदांलोकानमलान्प्रतिपद्यते।।14.14।।

14.14 When Purity prevails, the soul on quitting the body passes on to the pure regions where live those who know the Highest.

रजसिप्रलयंगत्वाकर्मसङ्गिषुजायते।
तथाप्रलीनस्तमसिमूढयोनिषुजायते।।14.15।।

14.15 When Passion prevails, the soul is reborn among those who love activity; when Ignorance rules, it enters the wombs of the ignorant.

Here confusion arises as it is not clear if we are looking at the soul or atman. The soul is the individuality of the person that terminates with the death of the body. However, atman is the energy associated with the person that continues beyond death.

When purity prevails, the energy is harmonious, and there is not much residue that would continue as part of another life. When passion prevails, the energy residue is loaded with passion; and when ignorance rules, the energy residue is loaded with ignorance. Such load continues as part of another life.

कर्मणःसुकृतस्याहुःसात्त्विकंनिर्मलंफलम्।
रजसस्तुफलंदुःखमज्ञानंतमसःफलम्।।14.16।।

14.16 They say the fruit of a meritorious action is spotless and full of purity; the outcome of Passion is misery, and of Ignorance darkness.

सत्त्वात्सञ्जायतेज्ञानंरजसोलोभएवच।
प्रमादमोहौतमसोभवतोऽज्ञानमेवच।।14.17।।

14.17 Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.

ऊर्ध्वंगच्छन्तिसत्त्वस्थामध्येतिष्ठन्तिराजसाः।
जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्थाअधोगच्छन्तितामसाः।।14.18।।

14.18 When Purity is in the ascendant, the man evolves; when Passion, he neither evolves nor degenerates; when Ignorance, he is lost.

In purity, all elements are in harmony with each other, A meritorious action is like that. It is its own fruit in the form of wisdom. It leads to evolution of man.

In passion, there is conflict and upheaval and the outcome is misery. One is running after things with desire. It neither leads to evolution nor degeneration.

In ignorance, there is simply darkness. One is heavily attached to things and simply lost. There is degeneration.

नान्यंगुणेभ्यःकर्तारंयदाद्रष्टानुपश्यति।
गुणेभ्यश्चपरंवेत्तिमद्भावंसोऽधिगच्छति।।14.19।।

14.19 As soon as man understands that it is only the Qualities which act and nothing else, and perceives That which is beyond, he attains My divine nature.

गुणानेतानतीत्यत्रीन्देहीदेहसमुद्भवान्।
जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते।।14.20।।

14.20 When the soul transcends the Qualities, which are the real cause of physical existence, then, freed from birth and death, from old age and misery, he quaffs the nectar of immortality.

अर्जुनउवाच
कैर्लिंगैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतोभवतिप्रभो।
किमाचारःकथंचैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते।।14.21।।

14.21 Arjuna asked: My Lord! By what signs can he who has transcended the Qualities be recognized? How does he act? How does he live beyond them?

The whole universe is constructed out of the condensation of energy and its impulse. All Qualities arise from the condensation of the impulse inherent to energy. It is all a game of these Qualities only. Beyond these Qualities is the Static viewpoint observing but uninvolved.

The physical existence, birth and death, old age and misery are all the product of these Qualities. The Static viewpoint observes them without getting involved. Man can attain this Static viewpoint. But how does one know this?

श्रीभगवानुवाच
प्रकाशंचप्रवृत्तिंचमोहमेवचपाण्डव।
नद्वेष्टिसम्प्रवृत्तानिननिवृत्तानिकाङ्क्षति।।14.22।।

14.22 Lord Shri Krishna replied: O Prince! He who shuns not the Quality which is present, and longs not for that which is absent;

उदासीनवदासीनोगुणैर्योनविचाल्यते।
गुणावर्तन्तइत्येवयोऽवतिष्ठतिनेङ्गते।।14.23।।

14.23 He who maintains an attitude of indifference, who is not disturbed by the Qualities, who realises that it is only they who act, and remains calm;

समदुःखसुखःस्वस्थःसमलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः।
तुल्यप्रियाप्रियोधीरस्तुल्यनिन्दात्मसंस्तुतिः।।14.24।।

14.24 Who accepts pain and pleasure as it comes, is centred in his Self, to whom a piece of clay or stone or gold are the same, who neither likes nor dislikes, who is steadfast, indifferent alike to praise or censure;

One who has attained the Static Viewpoint is completely indifferent towards the absence or presence of Qualities. That doesn’t mean that there is no action. He simply follows the laws of nature in taking care of the body-mind system. When the Qualities act he remains calm. He is indifferent toward the consequences of any actions of the Qualities, such as, pain and pleasure, praise and censure, etc.

मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्योमित्रारिपक्षयोः।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागीगुणातीतःसउच्यते।।14.25।।

14.25 Who looks equally upon honour and dishonour, loves friends and foes alike, abandons all initiative, such is he who transcends the Qualities.

मांचयोऽव्यभिचारेणभक्ितयोगेनसेवते।
सगुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयायकल्पते।।14.26।।

14.26 And he who serves Me and only Me, with unfaltering devotion, shall overcome the Qualities, and become One with the Eternal.

ब्रह्मणोहिप्रतिष्ठाऽहममृतस्याव्ययस्यच।
शाश्वतस्यचधर्मस्यसुखस्यैकान्तिकस्यच।।14.27।।

14.27 For I am the Home of the Spirit, the continual Source of immortality, of eternal Righteousness and of infinite Joy.

The static viewpoint perceives everything with total detachment. The achievement of this viewpoint is the ultimate goal. At the same time it is the joyful beginning of something new.

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Final Comment

The “Me” of The Bhagavad Gita is the Static viewpoint from which any and all motion can be viewed without distortion. This Static viewpoint is beyond any knowledge. It is only from this viewpoint that the cyclic nature of the universe can be fully comprehended. The Static viewpoint remains unaffected of any cycles.

The whole universe is constructed out of the condensation of energy and its impulse. All Qualities arise from the condensation of the impulse inherent to energy. The physical existence, birth and death, old age and misery are all the product of these Qualities. Man is an energy form that is being animated by its inherent impulse. His viewpoint is being governed by the qualities of purity, passion and ignorance.

Purity governs man through his yearning for happiness and illumination, and brings happiness. Purity must prevail where knowledge is concerned. When purity prevails, the energy is harmonious, and there is not much residue that would continue as part of another life. Man evolves.

Passion governs man through his fondness for activity, and brings commotion and pleasure. Passion must prevail, where greed filled desire is concerned. When passion prevails, the energy residue is loaded with passion. It neither leads to evolution nor degeneration.

Ignorance governs man through stupefaction of senses, and leads to a life of failure. Ignorance must prevail, where infatuation and folly is concerned. When ignorance rules, the energy residue is loaded with ignorance. Such load continues as part of another life.

The universe is a game of these Qualities. Man must overcome not only ignorance and passion but also purity, in order to attain the Static viewpoint of full awareness. Full awareness requires total detachment. Man can attain this Static viewpoint.

One who has attained the Static Viewpoint is completely indifferent towards the absence or presence of Qualities. He simply follows the laws of nature in taking care of the body-mind system. When the Qualities act he remains calm. He is indifferent toward the consequences of the Qualities, such as, pain and pleasure, praise and censure, etc.

The achievement of the Static viewpoint is the ultimate goal. At the same time it is the joyful beginning of something new.

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Posted in Religion | Comments (0)

ARISTOTLE: Metaphysics and the Nature of God

May 12, 2021 – 9:17 AM

Reference: The Story of Philosophy

This paper presents Chapter II, Section 5 from the book THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY by WILL DURANT. The contents are from the 1933 reprint of this book by TIME INCORPORATED by arrangement with Simon and Schuster, Inc.

The paragraphs of the original material (in black) are accompanied by brief comments (in color) based on the present understanding.  Feedback on these comments is appreciated.

The heading below is linked to the original materials.

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V. Metaphysics and the Nature of God 

His metaphysics grew out of his biology. Everything in the world is moved by an inner urge to become something greater than it is. Everything is both the form or reality which has grown out of something which was its matter or raw material; and it may in its turn be the matter out of which still higher forms will grow. So the man is the form of which the child was the matter; the child is the form and its embryo the matter; the embryo the form, the ovum the matter; and so back till we reach in a vague way the conception of matter without form at all. But such a formless matter would be no-thing, for every thing has a form. Matter, in its widest sense, is the possibility of form; form is the actuality, the finished reality, of matter. Matter obstructs, form constructs. Form is not merely the shape but the shaping force, an inner necessity and impulse which moulds mere material to a specific figure and purpose; it is the realization of a potential capacity of matter; it is the sum of the powers residing in anything to do, to be, or to become. Nature is the conquest of matter by form, the constant progression and victory of life.* 

[*Half of our readers will be pleased, and the other halt amused, to learn that among Aristotle’s favorite examples of matter and form are woman and man; the male is the active, formative principle; the female is passive clay, waiting to be formed. Female offspring are the result of the failure of form to dominate matter.]

In my opinion, the substance of this universe contains its own inner impulse. As the substance evolve so does its inner impulse. The two cannot be separated as Aristotle tries to do. The inner impulse cannot exist without substance, and no substance can be without inner impulse. The forms of substance are energy and matter; in fact, energy condenses into matter.

Everything in the world moves naturally to a specific fulfillment. Of the varied causes which determine an event, the final cause, which determines the purpose, is the most decisive and important. The mistakes and futilities of nature are due to the inertia of matter resisting the forming force of purpose—hence the abortions. and monsters that mar the panorama of life. Development is not haphazard or accidental (else how could we explain the almost universal appearance and transmission of useful organs?); everything is guided in a certain direction from within, by its nature and structure and entelechy*; the egg of the hen is internally designed or destined to become not a duck but a chick; the acorn becomes not a willow but an oak. This does not mean for Aristotle that there is an external providence designing earthly structures and events; rather the design is internal, and arises from the type and function of the thing. “Divine Providence coincides completely for Aristotle with the operation of natural causes.”

[*Entelecheia—having (echo) its purpose (telol) within (entol); one of those magnificent Aristotelian terms which gather up into themselves a whole philosophy.]

In my opinion, the impulse, purpose and the goal comes from within. It is part of the nature of the thing. The struggle is due to trial and error, which is a natural part of evolution. The more something is formed, the more inertia it has. Activity and inertia must be in balance with the impulse and goal.

Yet there is a God, though not perhaps the simple and human god conceived by the forgivable anthropomorphism of the adolescent mind. Aristotle approaches the problem from the old puzzle about motion—how, he asks, does motion begin? He will not accept the possibility that motion is as beginning-less as he conceives matter to be: matter may be eternal, because it is merely the everlasting possibility of future forms; but when and how did that vast process of motion and formation begin which at last filled the wide universe with an infinity of shapes? Surely motion has a source, says Aristotle; and if we are not to plunge drearily into an infinite regress, putting back our problem step by step endlessly, we must posit a prime mover unmoved (primum mobile immotum), a being incorporeal, indivisible, spaceless, sexless, passionless, changeless, perfect and eternal. God does not create, but he moves, the world; and he moves it not as a mechanical force but as the total motive of all operations in the world; “God moves the world as the beloved object moves the lover.” He is the final cause of nature, the drive and purpose of things, the form of the world; the principle of its life, the sum of its vital processes and powers, the inherent goal of its growth, the energizing entelechy of the whole. He is pure energy; the Scholastic Actus Purus—activity per se; perhaps the mystic “Force” of modem physics and philosophy. He is not so much a person as a magnetic power.

In my opinion, impulse is as eternal as energy. It is impulse that condenses into motion while energy condenses into matter. Motion is  related to the density of energy-matter and it is relative in nature. The “prime mover unmoved” is really a static viewpoint from which all motion can be observed without any distortion. Man has fixation on beingness but that fixation doesn’t have to be there.

Yet, with his usual inconsistency, Aristotle represents God as self-conscious spirit. A rather mysterious spirit; for Aristotle’s God never does anything; he has no desires, no will, no purpose; he is activity so pure that he never acts. He is absolutely perfect; therefore he cannot desire anything; therefore he does nothing. His only occupation is to contemplate the essence of things; and since he himself is the essence of all things, the form of all forms, his sole employment is the contemplation of himself. Poor Aristotelian GodI—he is a roi fainéant, a do-nothing king; “the king reigns, but he does not rule.” No wonder the British like Aristotle; his God is obviously copied from their king. 

Interestingly enough, the God of Aristotle is not very different from the God of The Bhagavad Gita, the great Hindu epic. It is a very deep concept.

Or from Aristotle himself. Our philosopher so loved contemplation that he sacrificed to it his conception of divinity. His God is of the quiet Aristotelian type, nothing romantic, withdrawn to his ivory tower from the strife and stain of things; all the world away from the philosopher-kings of Plato, or from the stern flesh-and-blood reality of Yahveh, or the gentle and solicitous fatherhood of the Christian God. 

Aristotle’s God is really the principle of the STATIC viewpoint from which all motion may be observed without any distortion.

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Posted in Philosophy | Comments (8)

DIANETICS: The Reactive Mind

May 10, 2021 – 7:56 PM

Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH

These are some comments on Book Two, Chapter 2, “The Reactive Mind” from  DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.

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Comments on
The Reactive Mind

KEY WORDS: Engram, Restimulator

It is observed that when a person is unconscious he is not aware of his surroundings, and when he returns to consciousness he cannot recall the events from that period of unconsciousness. Therefore, it has long been assumed that nothing gets recorded in the mind during the periods of unconsciousness, such as, those caused by anesthesia, drugs, injury or shock. 

Hubbard discovered that the mind not only records data during the periods of unconsciousness, but such data acts like hypnotic commands later in that person’s life. More exactly, this data containing painful emotion and physical pain is recorded below the level of “consciousness.” It is called engram. It gets triggered when something similar appears in the environment. 

The engram makes a person act according to its recording. Such action is “rational” in the context of the recording, but it is irrational in the broader context, but the person feels forced to follow it.

These engrams define the contents of the reactive mind. The whole effort in Dianetics is to discharge this content.

Hubbard concludes,

“1. The mind records on some level continuously during the entire life of the organism.”

The mind does not record, but it breaks down the incoming perceptions into data elements and assimilates them in a mental matrix. Only engrams exist as recordings because they do not  break down and get assimilated. 

“2. All recordings of the lifetime are available.”

All perceptions that were assimilated are available as memories. Only recordings are the engrams, and they are not available as memories.

“3. ‘Unconsciousness,’ in which the mind is oblivious of its surroundings, is possible only in death and does not exist as total amnesia in life.”

“Unconsciousness” occurs when perceptions are not getting assimilated. Upon death, the mind disintegrates, and neither consciousness nor unconsciousness remains.

“4. All mental and physical derangements of a psychic nature come about from moments of ‘unconsciousness’.”

All perceptions are assimilated with other data. Therefore, they can be differentiated and understood in a wider context. Engrams are not assimilated. 

“Unconsciousness” is the single source of aberration simply because it is accompanied by non-assimilation of data.

“5. Such moments can be reached and drained of charge with the result of returning the mind to optimum operating condition.”

Hubbard says,

“There is no such action as ‘mental conditioning’ except on a conscious training level (where it exists only with the consent of the person).”

A person holding fixed ideas, prejudices or biases is “mentally conditioned.”  He is fixated on the narrow context of his ideas and is broadly “unconscious.” This is the case with all “mental conditioning,” including training patterns. 

“Mental conditioning” is “rational” in a narrow context only. It generates errors in thinking and behavior in a wider context.

Hypnotic suggestions are also rational within a narrow context, and appear normal to the person. Different people may act differently upon that suggestion, but they see their actions as rational. However, other people, viewing those actions in a broader context, see them as irrational.

A hypnotic suggestion makes a person act irrationally, though he thinks he is acting rationally. 

Engrams are “hypnotic suggestions” that are almost hard wired into the body-mind system. Originally, simple engrams provided the organism with an ability to react fast under certain situations so the organism could survive. Engram that include language are a lot more complicated and they have a lot more power to aberrate the person. Homonymic words are supposed to be interpreted in terms of their context. But the context of the engram being fixed, the homonymic words lead to the strangest behavior.

Language gives engrams a lot more power to aberrate.

Painful emotion and physical pain makes the engram. Pain is a measure of the misalignment in perception. It makes the perception difficult to break down and assimilate in the mental matrix. The shock of accidents, the anesthetics used for operations, the pain of injuries and the deliriums of illness are the principal sources of engrams. Once an engram gets activated by a similar experience it get its hooks into the circuits of the mental matrix and aberrates them.

Aberration starts and spreads through the body-mind system as engrams gets hooked up into the mental matrix.

Engrams may be categorized as follows:

Contra-survival engram — contains apparent or actual antagonism to the organism.
Pro-survival engram (Sympathy engram) — a sympathetic address to an artificially unconscious subject.
Painful emotion engram — caused by the shock of sudden loss such as the death of a loved one.

The most dangerous category is the “sympathy engram” as it pretends to support the person’s survival. This is the mechanism used in hypnotism. This engram may be installed when sympathy is shown to a sick person.

A sick person should be tended to efficiently with compassion, but without verbal sympathy.

“Unconsciousness” is related to the body, and “unawareness” is related to the mind, but the common denominator of both is inability to differentiate. Under this condition the mind associates different things as being identical to each other. Thus, under the influence of the engram, the body-mind system operates on much simpler, rugged principle. 

Pain knocks out the ability to differentiate and keeps the engram out of sight and moored below the level of “consciousness.” The pain also drives the actions of the engram. If the command of the engram is resisted, the pain overwhelms the organism.

Engram retains its power as long as it stays below awareness. Engrams are not really deleted; they are resolved by bringing them up to awareness and assimilating them in the mental matrix. No engram has any constructive value until it is assimilated. 

Engrams do not become part of the experience until they are assimilated.

Hubbard says,

“It is not very complicated to understand what these engrams do. They are simply moments of physical pain strong enough to throw part or all the analytical machinery out of circuit; they are antagonism to the survival of the organism or pretended sympathy to the organism’s survival. That is the entire definition… The engram is the single and sole source of aberration and psycho-somatic illness.” 

Any material that has not been fully assimilated in the mental matrix functions like an engram to greater or lesser degree.

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DIANETICS: The Analytical Mind and the Standard Memory Banks

May 8, 2021 – 7:24 PM

Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH

These are some comments on Book Two, Chapter 1, “The Analytical Mind and the Standard Memory Banks” from  DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.

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Comments on
The Analytical Mind and the Standard Memory Banks

KEY WORDS: Monitor, Memory, Thinking, Training pattern

The mind computes in a wide range—from analytically computing with full differentiation to simply reacting to a stimuli. The resulting signals then influence the activity within the body. Hubbard presents this spectrum of mental activity as the analytical mind, the reactive mind, and the somatic mind respectively.

The “monitor,” or the “person,” is actually the consciousness of the body-mind system operating as a single unit. It refers to itself as the “I”. Later, in Scientology, Hubbard assigned to it the symbol “thetan.”

The “I” is the consciousness of the body-mind system operating as a single unit.

The mind computes by freely associating all relevant data in the desired direction. When there are gaps in data it uses assumptions and projections to maintain consistency, continuity and harmony. 

The mind is as analytical as the data is finely differentiated and complete.

Hubbard’s ideas of different “memory banks” can be replaced more logically by a mental matrix of data elements. The data elements are produced when the incoming perceptions are finely differentiated. These data elements are then assimilated in the mental matrix such that all duplications are purged, and all possible associations among data elements are established. The mind appears to have an infinite capacity for differentiating and assimilating perceptions.

The mental matrix provides the most efficient system of data storage in real time. 

The body perceives, and the mind differentiates and assimilates the perceptions. Perceptions are still received when the “I” is unconscious, but they are recorded instead of being differentiated and assimilated. The capture of data is thus perfect. It is limited only when the sense organs are defective as with blindness or deafness. 

It is rare that the data is missing in the mental matrix, but not all of it is necessarily assimilated.

The mind produces memories, visualizations and computations by establishing association among the data elements. The primary source of error in “rational” computation comes under the headings of insufficient differentiation and incorrect associations.

We have rationality when the associations among data elements are continuous, consistent and harmonious. Irrationality enters with incorrect associations due to insufficient differentiation.

At a deeper level, the mind is wired into the body to regulate the mechanical functions of living, such as, the heart beat, the endocrines, selective blood flow, muscles, urine, excreta, etc. These functions may, therefore, be influenced through the mind, or modified through training patterns. Such training patterns may be annulled or updated consciously.

Training patterns are considered rational because they are consciously set up even when they are very close to being stimulus-response.

Rationality depends on free association among data elements as determined by the dynamics of a situation. When there are fixations (fixed ideas, bias, prejudice, etc.) the free associations are limited, and the ability to differentiate suffers. 

Rationality depends on the ability of the mind to associate data freely. Any fixations lead to “conditioning,” that can interfere with rationality.

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DIANETICS: Summary

May 6, 2021 – 9:20 PM

Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH

These are some comments on Book One, Chapter 5, “Summary” from  DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.

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Comments on
Summary

KEY WORDS: Analytical Mind, Reactive Mind, Somatic Mind

Dianetics needs an update after seventy years. To do so, we need  to move from a human-centric approach to a universal one. The universe has been evolving all along; man is part of that evolution.

Therefore, we need to revise the dynamic principle of existence from survival to evolution.

The goal of man is not necessarily to seek immortally. From a universal point of view, the goal of man becomes the broadening of the consciousness to be able to understand the whole universe as it truly is.

Therefore, we need to revise the goal of man from immortality to a STATIC viewpoint from which all MOTION can be viewed as-is.

This requires expanding the viewpoint from self to a universal viewpoint that encompasses the family, the society, the race, mankind, all life, matter and energy.

The update of above fundamental postulates, in alignment with Buddhism, brings many changes to the subject of Dianetics.

The cycle of birth and death is natural in the course of evolution. A life organism must die in order to evolve into a higher form. The natural process of death due to old age need not be painful. Upon death, the body disintegrates into organic molecules. The molecules come together to form the next iteration of the BODY. The mind also disintegrate into patterns that reside in the organic molecules. These impressions also come together to form the mental matrix in the next iteration of the MIND. The “spirit” is the innate impulse of energy. It animates the next iteration of the BODY-MIND SYSTEM as it did the previous one. Any individuality is part of the body-mind system. It evolves as the body and mind evolve.

The individual is not immortal. The individuality evolves as the body-mind system evolves. The only eternal element is the subtle energy that energizes the body-mind system and its consciousness.

The urges of man are expressed as the dynamics of self, family, society, race, and mankind. These dynamics evolve from the innate impulse of energy that we see in the properties of matter and in the life activities of all different organisms, such as, plants, insects and animals.

The dynamics align naturally in man as he puts his attention on evolution.

The human mind is engaged in resolving anomalies (inconsistencies, discontinuities and disharmonies). It breaks the incoming perceptions into perceptual elements. These perceptual elements get assimilated into a mental matrix. Thinking occurs as the perceptual elements freely associate themselves in the desired direction. The more assimilated are the perceptual elements, the more analytical is the mind. The perceptions of painful shocks and disorientations are difficult to reduce and assimilate. They fuse themselves with other perceptual elements of the mental matrix. The greater is the fusion of perceptual elements, the more reactive is the mind.

Intelligence is the ability of the mind to perceive, pose and resolve anomalies. Alignment of dynamics determines the persistency of the organism in it course of evolution. Both intelligence and the alignment of dynamics get inhibited by the fusion of perceptual elements; this is the core of aberration. Aberrations are special type of anomalies because they reduce the ability of the mind to resolve anomalies.

All aberrations arise from the reactivity of the mind, which is caused by the fusing of perceptual elements in the mental matrix due to painful shocks and disorientations.

The somatic mind translates the signals from the mind to the body. Reactive signals generate aberrated behavior and psychosomatic illnesses in the body. A training pattern is not an aberration because it is not reactive; it can be changed at will. A habit, on the other hand, is reactive; it is difficult to overcome. Aberrations result in irrational computations and activities. Not all destructive activities are necessarily irrational.

The mind is capable of resolving its aberrations and the anomalies in the environment.

As the aberrations are resolved the viewpoint expands. The person moves on the tone scale from apathy to violent effort to mediocre success to overall success and happiness.

Happiness is the joy that comes from resolving aberrations and anomalies.

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