Category Archives: Mindfulness

STATIC (in Scientology)

February 7, 2020 – 10:18 AM

The most fundamental concept in Scientology is STATIC. It is called STATIC because it has no motion. Hubbard defines STATIC as zero in terms of physical attributes. However, STATIC is not nothingness, because it has quality and ability. It simply has no quantitative factor. But STATIC can generate quantitative physical factors by considering them.

Here Hubbard is postulating quantity and quality to be literally separable. It is like literally separating software from hardware, or literally separating form from substance. I do not think that such separation can be observed in reality. Therefore, this is an inconsistency.

Hubbard’s postulate of STATIC is inherently inconsistent.

Such inconsistency does not exist in Buddha’s postulate of EMPTINESS, which is simply a theoretical reference point of “zero” for all phenomenon. The concept of EMPTINESS may be arrived at by following the process of “neti, neti” (neither this, nor that). Buddha does not call out EMPTINESS to be some actuality with ability. It is simply a theoretical reference point like “zero” in mathematics.

What Hubbard’s STATIC seems to be referring to is a viewpoint that has attained complete knowingness. I shall call it the UNIVERSAL VIEWPOINT. It is the broadest viewpoint that there is. It does not exclude anything from its consideration or examination.

When this viewpoint is attained by a human being, it is called NIRVANA. You do not have to be permanently separate from the body (like the way Hubbard postulates STATIC) to attain the UNIVERSAL VIEWPOINT obtained in NIRVANA. Buddha attained NIRVANA at the age of thirty-five, and he then lived to be eighty.

Hubbard’s STATIC could be an approximation of the UNIVERSAL VIEWPOINT obtained in NIRVANA.

Buddha thought like a scientist in the true sense, not restricting himself to the physical universe only. He considered the physical and spiritual aspects of life integrated into one universe.

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By vinaire | Also posted in Scientology | Comments (0)

The Law of Mindfulness

February 7, 2020 – 9:48 AM

The Law of Mindfulness is,

NO PAST IDEAS AND LEARNING IN THE AREA OF DOUBT AND PERPLEXITY ARE SACROSANCT (meaning so “sacred” that you cannot question them).

There is no such thing as absolute perfection. I do not regard either Buddhism or Scientology to be absolutely perfect. That would simply amount to having a closed mind. As a scientist, I have learned to have an open mind.

If a person is too attached to an idea, and another person comes and AS-IS-ES that idea (calls it out for what it is) toward greater truth, the first person may consider it to be an attack.

But the second person is simply trying to reach a greater truth while the first person is trying to protect an ALTER-IS-NESS (shift away from truth).

When there are disagreements, the correct approach is to engage in a mindfulness discussion.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

VIEWPOINT & OBJECTIVITY

January 11, 2020 – 2:27 PM

Most people misunderstand the word VIEWPOINT. They give it a mathematical definition by quibbling about the meaning of “view” and “point”. The fact is that if you are aware at all you have a “view”. Awareness is not limited to visual perception alone, so the “view” in viewpoint refers to perception through all five physical senses, and also through the mental sense.

The “point” in viewpoint refers to a particular value on the scale of awareness. This is similar to a point on the temperature scale, which specifies a particular temperature. Therefore, a viewpoint refers to a particular state or level of awareness. Different viewpoints have different interpretations of what is actually there. The viewpoint goes deep into subjectivity when it is speculating. But it rises up into objectivity when it is viewing things as they are.

In the context of viewpoint, the word OBJECTIVITY is used in the sense of “seeing things as they are,” and not merely in the sense of “external reality.” Whether the reality is external or internal, it is objective if it is “appreciated for what it is” because there are no filters. Objectivity reduces to subjectivity to the degree a person is using filters (fixed ideas, prejudices and beliefs) to look at things.

Whether it is a tree or a forest, you must perceive it objectively first before you can consider or analyze it. In computer lingo, you say, “garbage in = garbage out”. In other words, if your data is faulty, then your conclusions are going to be faulty too. Objectivity means correctness of input, whether it is external or internal, top-down or bottom-up.

In a precise sense, a view is objective to the degree there are no unresolved anomalies (inconsistencies, disharmonies and discontinuities) in it. This depends on the context in which one is viewing, because, as the context broadens, more anomalies may become visible. The most objective view, therefore, has no anomalies in the universal context.

To summarize, a viewpoint is the very expression of our beingness at any moment. It lies on a scale of awareness that varies from deep subjectivity to complete objectivity.

Our viewpoint provides us with perspectives on situations that concern us.

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By vinaire | Comments (1)

DUALISM AND NON-DUALISM

January 10, 2020 – 9:18 AM

Dualism and non-dualism can both be fixations in their own turn. Dualism is a fixation on dualities like Good-Evil, Right-Wrong, True-False, I am-I am not, etc. Non-dualism fixates on some kind of oneness in a quantitative sense.

My understanding is that duality is never black and white as it is treated by non-dualism. Duality is a reference to the two ends of a gradient scale that extends to infinity at both ends.

When we look at the duality of HOT-COLD, it is best viewed as a temperature scale which refers to temperature changing in infinitesimal gradients. At one end of this scale the temperature may be viewed as gradually getting hotter. At the other end of the same scale the temperature may be viewed as gradually getting cooler.

The mathematical duality is infinite-zero applied to something-nothing. Infinity is not a number but it represents a continuous increase in very large quantities. Similarly, zero is not a number but it represents a continuous decrease in very small quantities. On this mathematical scale of numbers, the integers may appear to be discrete, but between two integers we have fractions, and between two fractions we have irrational numbers. So, the mathematical scale of numbers is really a continuum without any gaps even at the infinitesimal level.

Any duality like Good-Evil, Right-Wrong, True-False, I am-I am not, in reality, is a continuum of infinitesimally varying values with no gaps in between anywhere. There is nothing wrong with the ideas of duality and non-duality, but fixations on duality and non-duality, alike, are the result of subjective and narrow viewpoints.

So in reality there is a single scale with two ends that extend to infinity on either side. This realization settles the confusion between dualism and non-dualism.

In Christianity, the Church and many Christians have fixation on the duality of CREATOR-CREATION. This is expressed more concretely in their view of God and the world.

In New Age religions and among many Hindus there is fixation on non-dualism of “SAT-CHIT-ANAND (TRUTH-CONSCIOUSNESS-BLISS)”. This is an abstraction, which is expressed as this world being a dream state (illusion).

Out of these fixations on Dualism and Non-dualism come inconsistencies such as the following:

(1) CHRISTIANITY – “We are saved not by perfect works, but by belief in Jesus.” This makes everything mental and subjective. There is no balance between subjective thinking and objective doingness.

(2) HINDUISM – Brahma (ultimate reality) is a singularity and the only awake state. Everything else is a “dream state” (illusion). There is no balance between subjective and objective viewpoints.

(3) PHILOSOPHY – Everything is subjective. You can never be objective. This is another way of stating the above black and white thinking.

These inconsistencies have affected the education of many. The common denominator of these inconsistencies is black and white thinking.

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By vinaire | Comments (8)

Mind & Objectivity

September 3, 2019 – 8:15 AM

When the mind operates from the viewpoint of emptiness, it sees things as they are. This is the objective reality. We perceive objective reality directly through our physical perceptions of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. The mind then assimilates these perceptions ensuring consistency, harmony and continuity. The enduring aspects of this assimilation, based on generations of experience, become wisdom or common sense.

The degree of mental assimilation depends on consistency, harmony and continuity.

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Objectivity

The objectivity depends on seeing things as they are. The word objective is derived from object that has the sense of “something perceived”. Objective reality is not only made tangible through the physical perceptions, but also made logically consistent by the mental perception. The objective reality is that which has been tested and verified and cannot be argued with. It is the same for all people when all known inconsistencies have been resolved.

The subjectivity is different for different people and it may be argued with. The word subjective is derived from subject that has the sense of “open to inspection”. Subjective reality depends on individual viewpoint. It is characterized by inconsistencies among viewpoints that still need to be resolved. As inconsistencies are resolved the subjective reality becomes increasingly objective.

There is, however, a misconception that all perceptions processed through the mind are subjective. The fact is that perceptions are assimilated to different degrees in the mind. Completely assimilated perceptions are objective. As the degree of assimilation reduces, so does the objectivity. The conclusion then become increasingly subjective.

Objectivity depends on the assimilation of perceptions in the mind. To the degree perceptions are not assimilated there is subjectivity.

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By vinaire | Also posted in Meditation | Comments (0)