Category Archives: Education

The Discipline of Mindfulness

February 25, 2017 – 9:38 PM

Please see The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is attentiveness. Mindfulness brings clarity to what one perceives. The basic approach is:

Observe things as they are, with full awareness of one’s assumptions.

When you look at the profile of a stranger you see only one ear, but you assume another ear because “all man have two ears.” The chances are slim but this stranger may have only one ear. Most people make such assumptions automatically, but some are aware.

Those who are aware of their assumptions are mindful.

When there are doubts and perplexities, one should look at them closely with mindfulness. In other words, one should consider them non-judgmentally without assuming anything. All ideas, beliefs, assumptions, viewpoints, and feelings related to observed anomaly, are subject to critical examination.

No past ideas and learning in the area of doubt and perplexity are sacrosanct (meaning so “sacred” that you cannot question them).

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The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness
(with Exercises)

The discipline of mindfulness is manifested in the following ways.

  1. Observe without Desires
  2. Observe without Assuming
  3. Observe what is Missing
  4. Observe the Incomprehensible
  5. Observe all Senses
  6. Let the Mind Un-stack
  7. Experience Fully
  8. Do not suppress
  9. Associate Data freely
  10. Observe beyond Name and Form
  11. Contemplate thoughtfully
  12. Let it be effortless

Mindfulness is fundamental to all scientific observations, meditation, prayers, and all forms of spiritual practice.

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The Law of Non-Interference

When contemplating deeply and meditating, one does not avoid, resist, suppress or deny any thoughts, emotions, and sensations. In short, one does not interfere with the activities of the mind.

CAUTION: Things may go dangerously awry when one anxiously digs into the mind for answers.

The Law of Non-interference lets the mind unwind safely during deep thinking, prayer and meditation.

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The 3 Factors of Mindfulness

The Discipline of Mindfulness warns you against digging into the mind. It lets the mind unwind and settle down naturally.

Creativity grows out of the natural activity of the mind as it perceives situations objectively.

The following factors are fundamental to the discipline of mindfulness.

1.    ATTENTION—Let attention be totally free. Fully discern where the attention goes naturally. This forms the ground of mindfulness.

2.    FREE ASSOCIATION—Let all associations occur freely in the mind. Fully discern the associations without influencing them.

3.    UNIVERSALITY—Let the viewpoint expand freely without fixation. Fully discern all observations in a universal context.

Once the discipline of mindfulness is established discernment occurs in leaps and bounds.

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By vinaire | Also posted in Mindfulness, Self-Improvement | Comments (3)

The Second Hole in Understanding

December 4, 2015 – 8:48 PM
universe

Reference: Subject: Education

What is the second hole in understanding that needs to be overcome?

  1. The second hole in understanding occurs when a person does not know the scope and extent of the subject. In this case the hole is a missing overview.

  2. The second hole leaves a person without a logical context to understand the information provided on the subject.

  3. Lacking this logical context the person is also unable to formulate questions to ask when he does not understand something in that subject.

  4. The overview of Mathematics shall include a brief introduction to Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry showing the type of problems each part would address.

  5. The overview of Physics shall include Mechanical, Chemical and Atomic nature of objects, going into a bit of detail in each area.

  6. The overview of Metaphysics shall briefly describe awareness, the nature of self as observer and dimension of abstraction underlying the physical objects.

  7. When studying a subject you ask yourself, “What is the scope and extent of this subject?” “What kind of logical context we have here?” “How can I get an overview of the subject?

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

The First Hole in Understanding

December 4, 2015 – 7:31 AM
Observer1

Reference: Subject: Education

What is the first hole in understanding that needs to be overcome?

  1. The first hole in understanding occurs when a person does not know what the subject is all about, and why he should be studying it. The hole remains a hole even when he fills it with assumptions.

  2. Mathematics is not just about avoiding to get short-changed at the grocery store. The subject of mathematics fills the need for accurate measurement and rational thinking to appreciate what is there. Mere introduction of counting brought great advance to the civilization. Mathematics helps one think in a clear and precise manner.

  3. Physics or science is not just about inventing mechanical gadgets for our comfort. The subject of physics fills the need to observe nature objectively without bias, prejudice, fixed ideas, assumptions and blind faith. Physics is designed to steer one away from subjectivity and to look at things objectively without filters.

  4. Metaphysics or spirituality is not just about surviving as spirit and thinking that one is immortal. The subject of metaphysics fills the need for grasping the universe. It steers one away from self-centric viewpoints and helps one acquire a universal viewpoint. Metaphysics looks at both the observed and the observer at once.

  5. When studying a subject ask yourself, “What is this subject all about?” “Why should I be studying it?” “Am I putting something there that shouldn’t be there?”

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

Anomaly of Schooling

December 3, 2015 – 8:38 PM
Dropout

Reference: Course on Subject Clearing

A person drops out of High School because the confusion generated by his schooling seems to be increasing exponentially. He feels hopeless about learning. He can’t see any benefit from continuing in school. So he drops out.

What underlies that confusion are the holes in his understanding. He may start out with just a few holes in Kindergarten. But such holes, when not resolved, multiply to become significant by the end of the elementary school. The student tries to overcome the lack of understanding by memorizing his school materials. But such evasion serves only to increase those holes in his understanding. Even memorization fails to get good grades by the end of the middle school. That is when parents scramble to get the student tutored.

Teachers and after-school help focus only on the confusion related to his present grade. Overcoming confusion from earlier grades appears to be such a daunting task that it is not even attempted. But as long as those earlier holes are not filled, they keep on multiplying exponentially during the high school years until the student simply drowns in the resulting confusion.

When you sit down to help this student, you find that he can’t tell you coherently what he doesn’t know. Even when you know that these confusions may depend on just a few holes in student’s understanding from way back, you find the situation to be unsolvable. The student’s attention is so fixed on the present confusion that he cannot trace anything back. This has been the problem all along. One-on-one troubleshooting works but it is a hit and miss affair and not efficient enough.

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Logical Remedy

The subject of this essay is an idea that seems to handle this dilemma. Any subject, whether it is mathematics or language-arts, begins from some important need. As observations follow that need, the subject develops slowly to form a structure based on logic. We may trace the logic of the subject all the way to a beginning premise. The later concepts develop out of the earlier concepts. Obviously, it would be difficult to understand the later concepts if earlier concepts are not understood.

This brings up a parallel between arrangement of holes in the student’s mind and the flow of logic in a subject. It is the filling of earlier holes that makes it possible to resolve the present confusion. Similarly, it is the understanding of earlier concepts that make it possible to comprehend the later ones.

The simple idea is to follow the logic of a subject to discover and resolve the earliest holes in the understanding of the student. It is then easy to come forward resolving rest of the holes in a logical sequence.

We seem to have found a simple and straight forward method to resolve confusion in any student quite rapidly and efficiently. When we applied this idea to a group of school dropouts, it worked like a charm. The students soon discovered the earliest difficulty they had with the subject. They knew the source of their difficulty now, and were eager to resolve it. This quickly established a two-way dialog and eager participation.

Getting that two-way dialog going was the first breakthrough. We knew how to approach the confusion; but we soon discovered that we had a tiger by the tail. We needed better planning to handle that confusion.

It was like putting an accident victim through a planned rehab.

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By vinaire | Comments (2)

Subsequent Holes in Understanding

December 3, 2015 – 10:44 AM
confusion4

Reference: Subject: Education

  1. A person finds it difficult to learn a subject when there are holes in his understanding.

  2. To set up a person for self-learning the first action is to repair the holes in his understanding.

  3. As holes in a person’s understanding are mended he starts to repair further holes by himself.

  4. He is assisted in this effort by having subject contents that are laid out in a logical order.

  5. In general, a person follows up on some confusion and narrows it down.

  6. He makes a list of key words related to the area of confusion.

  7. He arranges those words in the logical order in which the concepts are related to each other.

  8. He then studies those words (concepts) and expands the list as necessary.

  9. He rearranges the words (concepts) in a better logical order as necessary.

  10. As he notices logical holes in that list he repairs them through study, research and new observations.

  11. The logical holes parallel the holes in understanding.

  12. As the logical holes are filled with correct logic, the holes in understanding are repaired.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)