Category Archives: Self-Improvement

These are exercises that one may apply to oneself to improve.

KHTK 2C: EXPERIENCING: PRACTICE

February 23, 2013 – 3:59 PM
August 19, 2014
This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness.
This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.
The basic idea introduced in this essay is being there with mindfulness.

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Here is a general purpose exercise. In this exercise the guide may occasionally check, as necessary, to make sure you are looking and experiencing without thinking and resisting. The guide must take care not to interrupt when you are deeply absorbed in the exercise.

Exercise 2-7

1.    Find a place where you can sit comfortably and be there for a while without being disturbed or distracted.

2.    Simply observe with your eyes open. If you find your mind adding more to what is plainly visible, simply notice that fact and continue.

3.    Once you can comfortably notice what is there, and can differentiate it from what your mind tends to add to it, you may close your eyes.

4.    If you just see blackness, then observe that blackness. If you see a play of light and darkness, then observe that play of light and darkness.

5.    Observe the various sound and smells as they offer themselves to you. Do not strain to perceive them.

6.    Observe what your senses present to you, such as, the temperature in the room, the pull of gravity, or the taste in your mouth. Do not look for anything in particular. Just be there comfortably experiencing what is there.

7.    The mind may present “pictures” of the current and past events, some flattering and some not so flattering. Simply experience them without thinking. The scene may shift around continually.

8.    The mind may present emotions, such as, embarrassment, guilt, anxiety, anger, fear, grief, and even apathy. Simply experience whatever comes up without trying to judge it, or justify it.

9.    The mind may present various sensations, twitches in muscles, pain, effort to do, or not do something, etc. Do not avoid, resist or suppress these back. Just experience them fully. They will all clear out eventually.

10. There may be tendency to squirm, move or change position. If the discomfort lasts, readjust your body to a more comfortable position, while keeping your attention on experiencing the effort.

11. If you find yourself getting involved in thoughts, or mentally doing something else, then simply recognize this fact, and continue. Do not suppress anything. Do not add anything.

12. Let these feelings, emotions and sensations play themselves out. Do not speculate on reasons and possibilities. As you persevere, the uncomfortable feelings and sensations will clear out.

13. Try ending this exercise at a point when some persistent emotion or effort has just left, though this may not always be possible.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

KHTK 3D: ATTENTION: THE MIND

February 23, 2013 – 3:47 PM
August 25, 2014
This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is Inconsistency in KHTK.
This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.
The basic idea introduced in this essay was that of INCONSISTENCY in the form of dispersal or fixation of attention.

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When one is consistently running into problems in certain areas of life, such as, with relationships, or with finances, then there is definitely something in that area which is making one’s attention non-optimum. Other areas of non-optimum attention could be school subjects, such as, mathematics, that one simply cannot focus on.

It requires all available attention to carefully follow the trail of non-optimum attention inside the mind. Therefore, it is important to have one’s attention optimum with respect to the physical environment before taking a deep look at the mind.

If you find that it is getting uncomfortable to look at the mind, then step back and look at the physical environment until the attention is optimum. Then you may go back to looking at the mind.

Exercise 3-8

LOOK AROUND IN YOUR MIND AND

  1. Notice an area to which your attention repeatedly gets drawn toward.

  2. Notice an area from which your attention repeatedly gets pushed away from.

Just look and notice those areas. DON’T DO ANYTHING ELSE.

To resolve non-optimum attention fully one needs to look at the factors stacked up in the mind. These factors are interwoven with other factors in a complex manner. Mind is like a spring, or a bunch of springs, that are coiled up together very tightly. Complexities of the mind cannot be resolved through thinking alone.

However, it is possible to un-stack the mind by letting it do so. Mind is like a coiled spring. It uncoils itself when it is not interfered with. This principle is violated when one makes assumptions and pushes the mind to resolve problems with attention. A much safer approach is to:

Allow the mind to un-stack itself. It is like letting a coiled spring to uncoil itself.

All one has to do is to not force the mind, but simply look at what is there at the points of non-optimum attention. When left to itself, the mind does a wonderful job of un-stacking itself; and as part of this process the mind brings up data that needs to be looked at.

Simply look at the area of non-optimum attention without thinking, and experience whatever is there without resisting.

As one looks, questions may arise in areas where knowledge may be lacking. One may speed up the resolution of confusions in those areas by consulting reference materials. The best way to consult reference materials is again a top down approach.

One starts broadly by looking up the terminology which defines the subject one is interested in. One then proceeds to look up the key terminology as one narrows down to the specifics in that subject. Here one is looking at what others have observed. One cannot experience those observations the same way that the other person experienced them; but one can use those observations to sort out one’s own experience more fully.

Ultimately, what truly matters is one’s own experience. Observations by others are useful only to the degree that they help sort out one’s experiences.

To do the next exercise, find a place where you will be undisturbed for at least thirty minutes to an hour. Make sure you have had enough rest, and that you are not tired or hungry.

Exercise 3-9

1.    Close your eyes. Find an area of non-optimum attention that interests you the most. Start looking at that area without thinking.

2.    Allow the mind to un-stack itself by simply looking at what is there at any moment. Notice non-judgmentally whatever shows up.

3.    The scene may shift and the feelings may deepen. Dive into any feelings that may arise, and experience them fully.

4.    Simply continue without resisting. Do not try to figure out anything.

5.    Sooner or later the scenes may start to fade, and the feelings may start to lighten up.

6.    Sometimes, both the scene and the feeling may suddenly disappear, with realizations and better understanding of the area.

7.    End off the exercise when the attention is freed up on that area.

You may do the above exercise as often as you wish, each time picking up areas of non-optimum attention to observe. You may safely end the exercise when you find your attention is optimum, i.e., relatively free of fixations and dispersals.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

KHTK 4D: VIEWPOINT: SUMMARY

February 23, 2013 – 3:12 PM
August 27, 2014
This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is Filter in KHTK.
This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.
The basic idea introduced in this essay was that of a Guide who assists with the application of KHTK.

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We look at the world through multiple, interspersed layers of thinking, education, experience and consideration. Unbeknownst to us, these layers influence and even determine the perception of the world around us.

Hidden influences, however, lose their power as they are brought into awareness. The exercises outlined in this essay help you uncover those hidden influences. You may repeat these exercises as many times as you wish until this deep looking becomes a part of your second nature.

The whole idea in this essay is to practice the following:

BECOME AWARE OF “WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING THROUGH.”

As you discover the contents of what you are looking through, you come face to face with your basic considerations that have been controlling your view. You discover that you now have a choice to continue holding on to these considerations, or to detach yourself from them.

With this power of choice comes an exhilarating sense of freedom as well as a sense of great responsibility. The thinking becomes very clear. The complexities of life seem to reduce to utter simplicities.

You find that you can now immerse yourself in the joy of creating.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

KHTK 4C: VIEWPOINT: THE GUIDE

February 23, 2013 – 3:10 PM
August 27, 2014
This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is Guide in KHTK.
This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.
The basic idea introduced in this essay was that of a Guide who assists with the application of KHTK.

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Here is an example how one may go about doing these exercises.

Suppose you chose “bodies” as the subject. You settle down to looking. You are not thinking. But then you might become aware of opinions or computations going in your mind, such as, “Fat bodies are ugly,” “Fat is not good for health,” “If you are fat you die early,” etc. You simply recognize the presence of this thinking and continue looking. You might get a mental picture of a fat body. It might not be somebody familiar, but it may soon change to a long forgotten incident. Intense feelings or emotions may come up. You experience these flows without resisting; and as you continue looking and experiencing, you may become aware of ideas and opinions about bodies that you acquired from others. And so on until you uncover some basic considerations.

Your attention may jump back and forth among the various components of the filter. You may get involved into speculating into reasons and answers. Or, you may encounter something disturbing and avoid looking in that direction. These are the moments where a guide is of immense help.

The guide was introduced in KHTK Essay 1. He is simply a partner or a friend who is also interested in doing the exercise. You do the exercises and your partner guides you in doing the exercise. Your roles are reversed when one of you completes the exercise.

The guide simply ensures that you are applying the KHTK principles as laid out in this series of essays. The guide does not challenge in any way what you are doing; but he gently guides you back if you stray away from applying the KHTK principles.  For example:

Student:  I see what happened here. These are the problems that have always plagued me. Now I must make a decision about …

Guide:      Please take a closer look at what is there without thinking.

The guide does not have any opinion about what you may be looking at. He does not analyze or give advice. You needn’t give him any details of what you encountered during your looking. The guide is not interested in the details. If you tell him something he would make sure that he understands it. He would then focus on any concerns about looking and experiencing if they exist.

If the guide finds that your attention is getting dispersed then he may help you look for resistance that might be throwing you off. He may do so by asking you questions that get you to look at the various components of the filter.

Student:  This is the same problem that keeps on coming up. I don’t know where to go from here.

Guide:      OK. Take a look if there are any considerations relating to this problem area.

Or,

Guide:      Are there some considerations preventing you from looking closely at this area?

Guide:      Are there other experiences connected with this area?

Guide:      Is there something that you have picked up from others about this area?

Guide:      Look at the thinking going on in this area.

Guide:      See where your attention is at the moment.

In short, the guide may encourage you to look at the subject matter in different ways always framing the question broadly.  You are free to discuss with the guide the difficulty you may be encountering. The guide may listen carefully and help you look at your considerations at that moment. This may help you come up with creative ways to look at the area of interest.

The whole idea of the guide is to help you look and experience whatever is there without thinking and resisting. Now and then the guide may check the state of your attention. If the attention is optimum, you are done with the exercise. If the attention is non-optimum then the exercise may be continued in the direction indicated by the non-optimum attention.

You may continue to add more subject areas to Exercise 1. The possibilities of subject areas are endless. You may study about a subject, and then look at that subject through these exercises. As you continue with these exercises you may find that your attention is staying at optimum for longer and longer periods of time.

Exercise 4-3

Go through Exercises 1 & 2 many times with different subject areas. Always choose a subject that you have the most attention on. You may do this with the help of a guide as necessary.

DO NOT COMPUTE UPON WHAT COMES UP. DO NOT RESIST ANY RESPONSE. END OFF WHEN THE ATTENTION IS OPTIMUM.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

KHTK 4B: VIEWPOINT: THE FILTER

February 23, 2013 – 3:05 PM
August 26, 2014
This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is Filter in KHTK.
This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.
The basic idea introduced in this essay was that a person’s viewpoint acts as a FILTER.

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The primary components of the filter are as follows:

(a) Experience: This is what we get from direct interaction with the environment. Our bodies and personalities have desires, likes and dislikes. We get elated when our desires are fulfilled. We get hurt when we lose our loved ones, or our favorite possessions. We develop relationships with others. Some of these relationships turn into deep friendships. We try to improve our survival. Some of these experiences may get embedded in us and influence what we perceive later.

Many of our basic experiences are hard to access. They usually get buried with the passage of time under layers of later experiences, education and thinking; but they continue to exert a strong influence on us. When these experiences are accessed and brought to full view, many problems get resolved, and conditions in life start to improve.

(b) Education: This is what we get from our family, schools, religious affiliations, TV, etc. We get educated in language, mathematics, sciences, social studies, etc. We also get indoctrinated on God and religion. We pick up cultural biases from the surroundings we grow up in. We copy the behavior of our parents unconsciously. A lot of education is simply absorbed without much attention given to it.

Education generally consists of taking in other people’s experiences and ideas. From these we derive rules to follow, and principles to think with. These have the most restrictive influence on our creative imagination. When this education is brought to full view, we experience an incredible renaissance.

(c) Thinking: This is what we are immersed in at any moment of our life. Each one of us encounters situations in day-to-day living. Most of the time we are busy evaluating these situations, deciding upon courses of action, and then engaging in efforts to resolve them. These situation could be self-created, for example, a person who has just gotten married, may be thinking about working to change their partner to make marriage more “harmonious” in the future.

Normally, one goes about one’s life unaware of such thinking. A lot of thinking may become automatic and may express itself in habitual patterns. Almost all of this thinking derives from our education, experience, and basic considerations. As we become aware of it we can start to chip away at its automatic nature. This can rejuvenate us in a short order.

(d) Basic considerations: These considerations are so fundamental that we never think about them.  We take them for granted, yet they determine our very perception of the world, our experiences and the way we use our education. These considerations are often the result of sudden decisions made when we are feeling on top of the world; or when we are faced with some difficult circumstances. We often compare ourselves to others, but there could be a moment when we unconsciously decide to be like another person. These are strong postulations to which one gets glued to.

These considerations are very basic. They are what they are. They are arbitrary. They do not follow any logic. As we explore these considerations, we gradually become aware that we have the choice of either continue holding to them, or detach ourselves from them. And with that power of choice we get a glimpse of a tremendous freedom.

Exercise 4-2

On the subject area that you picked up in Exercise 4-1, consider exclusively

(a) YOUR EXPERIENCE        

(b) YOUR EDUCATION          

(c) YOUR THINKING

(d) YOUR CONSIDERATIONS

Look at what is there and experience it fully until attention returns to optimum on each component.

You may cycle through these components at random until you find that your attention is consistently at optimum.

DO NOT COMPUTE UPON WHAT COMES UP. DO NOT RESIST ANY RESPONSE. END OFF WHEN THE ATTENTION IS OPTIMUM.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)