Vinaire's Blog
The purpose of these exercises is to spot inconsistencies using the following steps.
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The secret of hypnotism lies in the compartmentalization of the reality of a person. Broadly, it works as follows:
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An example would be as follows.
This is an extreme example, and this particular hypnotism may rarely work, but this illustration makes the following point.
By restricting the context of thinking, a person can be made to believe that he is thinking and behaving in a rational manner, whereas it would be irrational in a broader context.
Thus, certain thinking and behavior that is irrational in society can be made to look rational to the person within the confines of a cult. He would never think that he is acting irrationally.
Of course, there are other aspects to hypnotism. It is not only one’s thinking, but also the autonomic nervous system that can be controlled through hypnotism. Unfortunately, this latter aspect gets noticed mostly because it is dramatic.
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When a person is moving through his life as if hypnotized, the entrance point to resolving his case is attention. Maybe his attention was free when he was a child, but now he adheres to irrational beliefs and strange rituals to get by in life. This is because he has a lot of unresolved inconsistencies stacked on top of each other.
He does not recognize the inconsistency that is so obvious to you because he has probably explained it to himself as life. Such earlier inconsistencies are somehow taken for granted by him because his attention is now on inconsistencies stacked on top of them.
The inconsistency available to be resolved in any case is the one where the person’s attention now rests.
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An inconsistency becomes obvious to you only after you have resolved it for yourself. There may be other inconsistencies in you that you are not yet aware of. As you see in others those inconsistencies that you have resolved for yourself, you want others to resolve them too. But you do not know how inconsistencies are stacked up in the other person. He may need to resolve some other inconsistency first.
But if you feel compelled that the other person should be resolving some inconsistency that is so very obvious to you, then there is something wrong with your effort. You are trying to bypass the order in which inconsistencies are stacked up in his case. This compulsion points to some inconsistency in you that you are not aware of.
If a person feels compelled to rid another person of some aberration, with no regard to whether it is accessible, then it is an inconsistency.
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The Guru complex refers to this compulsion to help a person. One tries to resolve the case of the other person in the same sequence that one resolved it for oneself. It ignores the fact that some other sequence may be more helpful to the other person.
You cannot assume that the other person needs to resolve the inconsistency that is obvious to you. All you can do is carefully observe his attention and assist him in resolving the inconsistency that he is struggling with. This may even help you resolve some inconsistency that you are not aware of. This is how Application of Mindful Discussion works.
This Guru Complex (compulsion to help randomly) may be resolved through Mindful Discussion.
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Reference: Course on Subject Clearing
The Buddha once visited a small town called Kesaputta in the kingdom of Kosala. The inhabitants of this town were known by the common name Kalama. When they heard that the Buddha was in their town, the Kalamas paid him a visit, and told him:
‘Sir, there are some recluses and brahmanas who visit Kesaputta. They explain and illumine only their own doctrines, and despise, condemn and spurn others’ doctrines. Then come other recluses and brahmanas, and they, too, in their turn, explain and illumine only their own doctrines, and despise, condemn and spurn others’ doctrines. But, for us, Sir, we have always doubt and perplexity as to who among these venerable recluses and brahmanas spoke the truth, and who spoke falsehood.’
Then the Buddha gave them this advice, unique in the history of religions:
‘Yes, Kalamas, it is proper that you have doubt, that you have perplexity, for a doubt has arisen in a matter which is doubtful. Now, look you Kalamas, do not be led by reports, or tradition, or hearsay. Be not led by the authority of religious texts, nor by mere logic or inference, nor by considering appearances, nor by the delight in speculative opinions, nor by seeming possibilities, nor by the idea: ‘this is our teacher’. But, O Kalamas, when, you know for yourselves that certain things are unwholesome (akusala), and wrong, and bad, then give them up… And when you know for yourselves that certain things are wholesome (kusala) and good, then accept them and follow them.’
The Buddha went even further. He told the bhikkhus that a disciple should examine even the Tathagata (Buddha) himself, so that he (the disciple) might be fully convinced of the true value of the teacher whom he followed.
According to the Buddha’s teaching, doubt (vicikiccha) is one of the five Hindrances (nivarana) to the clear understanding of Truth and to spiritual progress (or for that matter to any progress). Doubt, however, is not a ‘sin’, because there are no articles of faith in Buddhism. In fact there is no ‘sin’ in Buddhism, as sin is understood in some religions. The root of all evil is ignorance (avijja) and false views (micchā ditthi). It is an undeniable fact that as long as there is doubt, perplexity, wavering, no progress is possible. It is also equally undeniable that there must be doubt as long as one does not understand or see clearly. But in order to progress further it is absolutely necessary to get rid of doubt. To get rid of doubt one has to see clearly.
There is no point in saying that one should not doubt or one should believe. Just to say ‘I believe’ does not imply that you understand and see. When a student works on a mathematical problem, he comes to a stage beyond which he does not know how to proceed, and where he is in doubt and perplexity. As long as he has this doubt, he cannot proceed. If he wants to proceed, he must resolve this doubt. And there are ways of resolving that doubt. Just to say ‘I believe’, or ‘I do not doubt’ will certainly not solve the problem. To force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.
NOTE: This blog refers to ‘doubt’ as ‘inconsistency’ and more broadly, as ‘anomaly’. An anomaly is any violation of the integrity of reality, such as, discontinuity (missing data), inconsistency (contradictory data), or disharmony (arbitrary data).
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The Kalama sutta is often described as “the Buddha’s charter of free inquiry,” but while it certainly discourages blind belief it does not quite advocate the supremacy of personal opinion in the spiritual domain. One important criterion for sound judgement the Buddha proposed is the opinion of the wise, and to apply this criterion implies that one is prepared to recognize others as wiser than oneself and to accept their recommendations in the confidence they will lead to one’s long-range benefit.
But this is not quite satisfactory since Buddha also warned against the acceptance of authority. The question remains: How does one recognize what is wise?
Subject Clearing now answers this question with the criterion of ONENESS. Wisdom has the characteristic of oneness. In other words, wisdom is continuous, consistent and harmonious with reality. This is built into the definition of “anomaly.” (Please see the NOTE above.)
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