Tuesday 9 August 2016

AS - Attribute Substitution



AS in psychology is when a problem is so subtle that we cannot imagine what this problem is but even so there is some awareness of something being wrong. It is as though we cannot see the problem consciously but unconsciously there is a feeling of disturbance. The disturbance is rightly assumed to be a problem but at the same time because it is unconscious it cannot be located. When the mind experiences this state we are faced with the old problem of nature abhorring a vacuum or not knowing. When faced with this vacuum there is a strong tendency of the mind to invent a problem that is knowable. This is AS; rather than not know what this unconscious feeling is the mind invents a problem that can be defined and known even though this is pure invention the mind is satisfied. As a result of this substitution we now have what appears to be a very real problem such as anger, depression, addictions of various kinds and many other possibilities. The idea that alcohol addiction is a disease and can never be cured is not true, the problem is that the original problem is not known and a substitution is created. Once created it becomes so convincing that we may never see or be aware of the real problem. The real problem turns out to be the problem behind all the problems of the world. To understand this it is necessary to understand the relationship between the physical sensations of the body and the meaning that the mind uses as a substitute and superimposes over the physical sensations, the result of which becomes indistinguishable from reality. This is how our individual sense of reality whatever that may be is created. The physical sensations of the body are there so that we can navigate the physical world but once AS is created it is as though reality has been hijacked by whatever meaning we may attribute to the physical sensations. Sensation plus meaning = reality. Meaning can be constructed to be anything we want. Meaning or beliefs are part of this substitution in that whatever belief we may hold can only exist  as the result of a memory from the past. This memory of the past is related to something that we believe we experienced that is used in the present to give meaning to whatever feeling or physical sensations that may arise. The mind holds the memory of everything that ever happened but these memories are often wildly  inaccurate. When an inaccurate memory is triggered a flood of physical sensations washes through the body and is experienced as negative thoughts and feelings. The sensations of the body is like a charge of electricity that gives a sense of absolute meaning. In other words something that was invented is added to physical sensation and becomes absolute in that we no longer have any awareness of the substitution or fantasy that has occurred and is now taken to be real. I assume this substitution happened a very long time ago at the time when the shift from animal to animal/human happened. Korzibsky refers to this as time binding when humans began to use and pass on information from memory. It is this ability that defines what it is to be human more than anything else and accounts for most of what we see in the world today in terms of science, technology, language, beliefs, art, music, and architecture etc. All of this came from AS, the substitution of knowledge for physical sensation. Although we still have access to physical sensation it is now a fraction of what it was before the substitution took place. The result of this is that reality as it is is not enough it needs to be enhanced, it is enhanced through the use of drugs, alcohol, sex and various forms of mind entertainment. It is enhanced most of all through the use of stories we tell ourselves that are used to create drama and meaning in our lives. At this point in time this substitution is so prevalent that the human race has become completely lost and unaware of the true problem; the substitution of knowledge for physical sensation. Rather than see this we look for other forms of substitution to explain what our problems are, this is blood washing blood or the ego trying to solve the problem it has itself created by creating another problem.

Conversation with Ishi

Hmm, Ray I just reread this part 5 (Rules of Consciousness) 

I will read it again later....these are powerful words 

Sri Harilal Poonjaji aka Papaji, whom I had the good fortune to spend some time with allowed David Godman to write a biography of him......it was thee volumes long--full of extraordinary happenings and visions as well as a very common man just doing his thing working for a living and "working" with devotees.....more than 1000pages were these 3 volumes taken together.....Papaji himself, I am sure, chose the title: NOTHING EVER HAPPENED 

your words indicate to me why Papaji must have chosen this title. Om Shanti, brother Ishi

Hi Ishi I agree in the light of this knowledge nothing ever happened it is a world of make believe in which we believe what we imagine

Love Ray Namaste,

Ray  Chai pio?.....or maybe a cup of English Tea, with sweetner on the side?

Would not the logical extrapolation of "Nothing Ever Happened" be "nothing is happening"?  I ask you...I ask papaji...i ask myself 

This stillness can be a bit breath taking.....this vastness can seem overwhelming to the conceptual self....yet there is this sense of intimacy with existence, as existence......and the bird "seemed" to enjoy the crust of toast. 

I was just sitting in my nephew's backyard in the desert town of Tuscon, Arizona in Western USA en-joy-ing myself with a cup of the all-american drug, coffee. Sight, sound, thought, perception are "there", but what is Here Ishi asks himself/yourself. Obviosuly, to jump from sight and sound to concepts like "bird", "tree", "self" "other", etc is merely that--conceptual reality based in belief about how I think things Are. 

Sat-Chit-Anand-Self.....if I may borrow a concept from good ole Ribhu.....is a good dance floor! Thank you for sharing the Rays of Light.....they intensify and magnify the light within what is conventionally called "me"....HeHeHe....Haha 

Namaste, Ishi 

Hi Ishi, as you suggest I am asking myself this question - to extrapolate nothing ever happened would indicate as you say that nothing is happening. We can only talk about something happening or not by inventing beliefs, therefore without beliefs it makes sense to say that nothing is happening even though saying this would clearly be a belief. Allowing that anything I say can be taken as a belief I nevertheless enjoy this kind of question. There is a wonderful paradox here, to say something is happening suggests there is a someone who experiences this happening, this notion breaks down when looked at closely. As I said in my rules of creation this someone can be identified as the ego and this in turn has no true existence being nothing more than a bundle of beliefs and concepts. Also the ego can be seen as a particular state of evolution. It is also clear that there is another evolutionary step that comes after this step. In this next evolutionary level the ego does not disappear but is seen through the filter of consciousness. Through the filter of consciousness any thing we may say about anything is stripped of any absolute meaning but from the perspective of a human being retains a relative meaning of useful or not. The big questions like ‘is anything happening’ does not fall under this category as again it would suggest there is a someone who experiences this happening. The next evolutionary level involves seeing from the perspective of ‘one’ where separation  is seen to be illusory. When the mind is still the notion of things appearing separate dissolves in terms of meaning but not in terms of appearance. It seems that colour is an invention of the mind/ego so it can be said to not actually exist even so the appearance of colour from a human perspective is definitely useful and quite extraordinary. Krishnamurti often said that ‘god is colour’. When this next evolutionary step takes place there is the ability to see the ‘one’ and the many simultaneously but it is also seen which of these two is real or significant. This is important because when we just see the appearance of something and take this to be absolute or significant then we become trapped in a world of suffering. Suffering can be said to be the method by which the absolute returns us to the truth. Nothing is happening and everything is happening all at the same time, the creation of separation can now be seen as a reflection of the absolute and because separation is now seen to be illusory the ‘one’ and the many can be seen as identical. Everywhere God looks he sees himself and loves what he sees.  Namaste Ray