TR0 and Mindfulness (old)

Mindfulness TR0

Please see TR0 with Mindfulness

TR0 is the very first exercise in Scientology. People get wonderful results on it, when they do it for the first time and apply the principles of mindfulness naturally. Unfortunately, Scientology instructions for TR0 do not mention mindfulness. This opens the door to misapplication of this exercise to control people, which is deliberately done in Scientology. This essay is written to correct that situation.

“TR” stands for training routines. TR0 is the very first exercise that one practices in Scientology. The first part of TR0 is called OT TR0. The purpose of OT TR0 is

“To train student to be there comfortably and confront another person. The idea is to get the student able to BE there comfortably in a position three feet in front of another person, to BE there and not do anything else but BE there.”

This exercise cannot be done correctly without the understanding of mindfulness. Mindfulness is attentiveness. The purpose of mindfulness is to recognize things as they are. In the context of assisting another, one should be able to deal with oneself, as well as with the other person, objectively and with full attentiveness.

Thus, in the context of assisting another person, one requires,

  • Recognizing oneself for what one is.
  • Being totally comfortable in proximity of another person.
  • Recognizing the other person for what he or she is.

TR0 is a brilliant exercise. Its formula can be applied to confronting other things in life as well. The following instructions are provided for OT TR0.

“Student and coach sit facing each other with eyes closed, a comfortable distance apart—about three feet… There is no conversation. This is a silent drill. There is NO twitching, moving, confronting with a body part, “system” or vias used to confront or anything else added to BE there. One will usually see blackness or an area of the room when one’s eyes are closed. BE THERE, COMFORTABLY, AND CONFRONT… When a student can BE there comfortably and confront and has reached a major stable win, the drill is passed.”

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With an understanding of mindfulness, these instructions may be expanded as follows (with eyes closed).

  • Become aware of the body and stay aware of it without interfering with its natural movements, such as, that of breathing. Do not resist anything.

  • Become aware of the mind and stay aware of it without interfering with its natural processes, such as, thoughts and feelings. Do not suppress anything.

  • Become aware of what your physical and mental senses present to you, such as, visual forms, sounds, smells, taste, touch, thoughts, emotions, and impulses. Do not strain to perceive them.

  • Let the body move in response to the natural impulses from the mind. Do not try to control the body movements. Let them unwind and settle down on their own.

  • Let the mind respond naturally to the stimuli present in the environment. Do not try to control the mental responses. Let them unwind and settle down on their own.

  • Let physical reactions, such as, twitches in muscles, minor pains and aches, sleepiness, etc., come and go. Don’t resist them. Experience the body as a whole, thoroughly. Such reactions shall unwind and settle down on their own.

  • Let mental reactions, such as, embarrassment, guilt, anxiety, anger, fear, grief, apathy, and even sleep, come and go. Don’t suppress them. Experience the mind as a whole, non-judgmentally. Such reactions shall unwind and settle down on their own.

  • If you find yourself mentally doing something else, or getting lost in thoughts, then simply recognize it, and continue. Let the attention roam freely.

  • Let the “pictures” of the current and past events come and go. Let the feelings, emotions and sensations play themselves out. Do not speculate on anything. Simply be aware.

  • Let the realizations present themselves without you making any effort.

Once the above is accomplished one may then move to the next part of TR0, which is similar to this exercise but with eyes open.

So get a friend to do this exercise with you, and have fun.

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Note added 2/14/15:

It may be possible to do OT TR0 and TR0 sitting in front of one’s reflection in a mirror. This may help one become comfortable with oneself. There is no possible harm in doing this if one follows mindfulness instructions.

After doing this exercise with oneself, one may then do it with another.

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December 25, 2014 – 2:53 PM Categories: Uncategorized | Comments (22)

MIT, Christmas 2014

mit-dome-lighting_brown

December 20, 2014 – 11:45 AM Categories: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

What is Space-Time, Really?

space-time

COMMENT 02/19/2023
Awareness is there because of postulates. Motion, space and time are the result of postulates. Space and time are the two dimensions of motion. So, awareness is inherent to them.

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Motion and awareness seem to be aspects of each other. Please see What is Awareness, Scientifically?

In Physics, the most fundamental form of motion is the electromagnetic radiation. This motion is understood to be varying fields with wavelike characteristics. It has wavelength, period and frequency. The frequency provides a measure of the energy present per the relation, E = hν.

The wavelength of this motion can be said to provide a sense of extent, which we know as space. Space is basically an awareness of extent.

The period of this motion can be said to provide a sense of duration, which we know as time. Time is basically an awareness of duration.

But neither space nor time are absolute. They are even transformable into each other. There is no absolute unit of time. Therefore, frequency cannot be defined simply as an inverse of period. Frequency is related to space-time.

Thus, frequency, which provides a sense of energy, must lie in the dimension of space-time. In other words, space-time is not empty. Space-time is filled with the sense of energy.

Space-time is basically an awareness of energy.

If there is no energy there shall be no space-time.

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There is an overall awareness of motion. Motion may be described in terms of wavelength (extent), period (duration), and frequency (energy) as its characteristics.

Thus overall awareness of motion may be described in terms of space (awareness of extent), time (awareness of duration), and space-time (awareness of energy) respectively.

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December 16, 2014 – 9:41 PM Categories: Science | Comments (136)

What is Awareness, Scientifically?

Awareness

COMMENT 02/19/2023
A person is a system of postulates. He is aware as a result.

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From Wikipedia:

“Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects, thoughts, emotions, or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of something. In biological psychology, awareness is defined as a human’s or an animal’s perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event…

“Awareness is a relative concept. An animal may be partially aware, may be subconsciously aware, or may be acutely unaware of an event. Awareness may be focused on an internal state, such as a visceral feeling, or on external events by way of sensory perception. Awareness provides the raw material from which animals develop qualia, or subjective ideas about their experience.”

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Here awareness is being described in terms of human subjectivity. This subjectivity seems to be taken for granted as awareness. It is being used as a “standard” to measure the awareness of other animals, organisms and objects. An objective definition of awareness seems to be missing.

In order to define awareness scientifically, let’s do the following thought experiment. Imagine being out there in the interstellar space, but with no stars or heavenly bodies around to provide any reference points. Pay attention to your motion. You will find that there is no awareness of motion even when you could be moving at the speed of light. Awareness arises only when there is a change in motion and inertia is manifested.

Light that contributes to awareness seems to be made up of changing electrical and magnetic fields. Inertia in the form of permittivity and permeability accompanies the changing fields. Objects that contribute to awareness seem to be full of changing motion at molecular and atomic levels. Awareness of sensations, such as push and pull, accompany changes in motion and inertia.

Science talks about structure like visual cortex or other parts of the brain to explain awareness. But the brain too is made up of atoms and molecules, neurons and electrical impulses. All such phenomena consist of motion. So there is motion outside the brain as well as inside the brain. Science is simply associating the motion inside the brain with awareness.

Thus awareness  cannot be separated from changes in motion and inertia. Motion accompanies all change. Even the change in color is a very fine motion.

We think of awareness in human context as something subjective and complex. This is a human-centric perspective, which once held that Earth is at the center of the universe. If we look at awareness objectively, it is found to be intimately tied to changes in motion and inertia.

Awareness is intimately tied with changes in motion and inertia.

Atoms consist of continually changing motion. An effect of that is the properties expressed in the periodic table. Simple motion associated with electromagnetic waves leads to simple properties. Extremely complex motion associated with human make-up leads to complex properties. These properties include the human awareness that we are subjectively familiar with.

Awareness is expressed in the properties of inanimate objects and animated organisms. 

This is a very different take on awareness of which human awareness is a special case. If we move away from the narrow, human-centric view, we find that awareness is all around us.

The universe is imbued with changing motion and inertia, and thus, it is imbued with awareness.

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December 13, 2014 – 2:31 PM Categories: Science | Comments (5)

Alan Watts ~ Seeing Through The Illusion Of The World

December 13, 2014 – 6:11 AM Categories: Education | Post a comment