I've been reflecting on things for a while. This time on optimising my life.

Now, I did get something out of my years practising the techniques. I learned to introspect.

People in the information technology industry will tell you that introspection is the ability of an object to understand its own nature.

I think I understand my own human nature quite well after all those years of meditation, and since I stopped doing that a couple of years back when I exited, I replaced it with yoga and more thinking.

Here are a couple of working hypotheses I am currently pondering.  Any constructive comments would be really welcome.

I am able to create my own conditions of life with my own thoughts.

If I do not create my own destiny, someone, something, or some group will come along and try to do it for me.

Consciousness is the recognition by the individual that not only does he or she have a totally autonomous and independent and whole existence, but also that he or she is part of  something I call a collective consciousness which enables him or her to not only experience individuality but also to reflect on its nature. It seems a little like one branch of the nervous system. say in the hand or the eye,  being connected to the brain.

Now it seems to me that left to its own devices, our subconscious  or primitive mind, often drifts into a primal state of raw exposure to primordial emotion such as conquest, fear, satiation of hunger or desire. However, just as a child grows into an adult, a subconscious can be trained. It can learn to experience more refined states of emotion such as the beauty of listening to an orchestra, or the visual feast of a roomful of Picassos, or the positive satisfaction of making a partner feel happy, or the appreciation of a beautiful day. These are acquired states.

However, if we do not make the effort to civilize ourselves, there is alway some parasitic impulse out there looking to prey on the vacuum. That is how I see cults, and religions, and party political agendas, and the hierarchies of power in armies and old fashioned worplaces that Mike Finch wrote about so eloquently.

It really is a matter of choice. I find if I make the effort to think positive things generally turn out pretty well. If I am feeling down or sick, there is a spiral effect of reinforcement of the blues.

Why am I telling you allthis? Well, I am experimenting with some auto conditioning when I am in a state of optimum openness and responsiveness. When I wake up, I have made it a habit to give myself positive messages and images of myself. And then I do a little dynamic brand of yoga that is a bit like martial arts, and a bit like a good old stretch routine.

Just to let you know, the correlation between my having a great day and doing this stuff is pretty well statistically significant. Err, it works every time. I can even go through horrible stuff, when someone is trying to make me feel really bad with this positive mental attitude. 

Like Ghandi's passive resistance, if I am being atacked, it does seem to work best if I am completely non-resistant to the situation, like water flowing around the obstacles.

Anybody else got any thoughts on the subject?

And the relevance to ex-premies? I found this method a great way to get over the cult. They are pretty insignificant in my book. But I really do love reading the stimulating and original thoughts of the exes!

Hope it helps

best

Nya