CONDITIONING

We are all taken aback by the new international scenario. One is swept away by
the events that are taking place and we are left wondering where is mankind
heading? Are we heading for "ARMAGEDON" type of apocalypse?
Why only man is insane and causes such massive destruction, loss of life,
sorrow, hatred, bitterness, violence?

All in the name of religion, democracy, communalism, adventure, conquest etc?

Very strange and inexplicable as it seems, the so-called rational, thinking, free
human mind which boasts of supremacy over land, air, water, outer space will
perhaps be ultimately responsible for the total annihilation of all the life forms
on this planet.

It took billions of years for life to evolve to the present stage. A slow process of
evolution which has built tremendous intricate interdependence among the life
forms in the ecosphere.
"SYMBIOSIS" being the message and not "INDIVIDUALISM". This has resulted
in the proliferation of an amazing variety of life forms in the animal & plant
kingdom over many centuries.
Would it not be shame, that the so-called ''crown ''of the evolution ''man''
coming so late in this development would be responsible for its destruction?

When only plants, birds, animals ruled this planet there was plenty for
everyone, but not without conflict between the life forms for food, security ,
territorial superiority etc; but there was a tremendous difference.

When a tiger hunts its prey with ferocity & kills it, you cannot attribute an evil
motive to it or call it a terrorist. One might sympathize with the victim if you
wish, but you cannot miss the awesome majesty of the hunter.
The tiger has no choice of its own, but it has been created to eat meat and
cannot do otherwise.
The forces of nature be they volcanoes, earthquakes, torrential rains, fires,
draught , tsunami etc may cause sorrow, death, hunger & sufferings;
Enormous destruction to life and property cannot be accused as being cruel,
heartless or wicked by any stretch of imagination.

Daily, life is being snuffed out in several ways. The giant python crushing its
victim in its bosom with a massive constriction, the venomous vipers &
scorpions kill their prey with deadly poison, asphixiating them. The big fish
eating the smaller fish, & so on.
Yet none` of them can be termed as murder, lack of respect for life or
insanity.
While seeing the drama called life Shakespeare observed:
''Unholy blasts wait the tender spring,
The hateful cuckoo hatches its eggs in sparrow's nests,
The venom toad muds where the sweet fountain lay,
The adder hisses where the sweet birds sing,
Lord when I look around, I find no purity absolute
That impurity does not pollute.

You may ask why? The answer is perhaps in us.

The suffering which one undergoes as a result of psychic conflict between good
& bad, moral & immoral, right & wrong, I think is purely mental & is peculiarly
human.

The human being is distinguished from the other creatures because he possesses
the thinking faculty. Out of thinking arises discrimination, the ability to
differentiate between the pairs of opposite like pleasure & pain, desirable &
undesirable etc. Ofcourse this is relative and based on one's own conditioning,
culture and value systems.

Also, out of this thinking faculty arise desire.

The desire to seek something that promises one's betterment.

Thus we see that there is a mind behind all thinking and its the intentions,
motives behind which makes actions good or bad, right or wrong, moral or
immoral.
Animals act according to their instincts which are programmed response,
leaving practically no chance for choice of action.
If that be true, the rug beneath our feet has been pulled; for then we are
confronted by an enigma. Thus it becomes obvious that the human mind with its
ability to think, discriminate along with its conditioning is responsible for value
judgements.
Is truth relative? Is it only a play of the mind and its perceptions, conditioning?
If it is so, it leaves us a little numb; for right from childhood we have been
taught ''truth is eternal'', independent of religion, cultures, and climes. The lord
with his unlimited compassion, love, grace & kindness will see us across.We
have been taught, that the spirit does not die, but goes to heaven or hell and
awaits the day of final judgment.

Is this all imagination? Is the soul an invention of a fearful mind?

Do we attribute immortality and supposit a soul because we see impermanence,
decay & death all around? Is it because we dont like the fact of our non-
existence after our death?
Is God there who can deliver us?
Now are we entering the field of theology, metaphysics, philosophy?
I think we must; because sciences & technology has certainly enhanced our
physical comforts, removed drudgery from manual work, has given us health
and longevity.

Yet mankind is unhappy, why? Has not been able to address such problems as
sorrow, loneliness, hatred, fear, envy, jealousy, emptiness, depression, and so on.

Why man is vengeful violent and indulges in war? Is there no solution?

Here I quote William Shakespeare:

Cants thou not Minster to a mind diseased?

Pluck from this memory a rooted sorrow?
Erase the written troubles of this human brain?
Cleanse the foul bosom of this perilous stuff.
Which weighs upon my heart? With some sweet oblivious antidote?
'' Nay for him the patient must minster unto himself.''
MacBeth

Strange as it seems, can I be the disease, the medicine & the doctor, all in one &
one in all?
So it seems & this I will try to establish as we go along. The efforts will be to
blend contemporary scientific discoveries and ancient wisdom, integrate
theology, metaphysics & religion, with science, rationality, reason. In the
process perhaps develop an ability to perceive unity in diversity & transcend the
division of caste, creed, color, culture, race &religion. Then perhaps in that
perception we shall realize the Biblical canon :

GOD MADE MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE

THE OBSERVER, THE OBSERVED & THE OBSERVATION ARE VERILY THE
SAME.
The above title seems very obstruse and on the face of it negated by daily
experience, but its not so. We interact with the outside world through our five
senses. These are sense organs of :
HEARING, SMELL, SIGHT, TOUCH &. TASTE.
These pertain to the body. These sensual inputs are stored in the brain as
memory of those experiences. The mind interprets these experiences and
interacts with the outside world at four levels;
(1) COGNITION (2) EVALUATION (3) REACTION
(4) CONDITIONING.
Thus every thing we experience has to pass through these four doors.
Surprisingly the minds interpretation has nothing to do with the actual reality of
what we experience.
The subtle interaction of the brain, the mind & the body is the complicated play
of life. First we shall try to understand the physical organism.

(A) "THE BRAIN"

Studies conducted by the noble prize winners Dr Roger Sperry & his associates
[at the California Institute of Technology] show that the human brain is split up
into 2 halves, each having its own speciality known as " BRAIN
LATERALISATION The two hemispheres of the brain mediate & process
different kinds of tasks & problems. Each is functionally differentiated &
specialized in several fundamental ways.

LEFT HEMISPHERE RIGHT HEMISPHERE

(1) Logical, analytical, sequential,
linear, drawing conclusions based
on logical order of things,
figuring things in a sequential
order, step by step part by part ;
proceeding in terms of linked
thoughts, one idea directly
following another, leading to a
convergent conclusion. Using
precise exact connotations:-right
/ wrong, yes / no, true /false etc.
(1) Intutive, holistic, gestalt non linear.
Using Intutive feelings of how things fit,
belong or go together making leaps of
insight based on hunches, feelings,
incomplete data, patterns, imagery,
perceive through spatial references
where things in relation to other things
some how connects parts to form
wholes.

(2) Convergent thinking: conclusion (2) Divergent thinking: many conclusions,

or alternative; one meaning. many meanings.

(3) Rational: basing conclusions on
facts and reasons.
(4) Conscious Processing
(5)Literal Meaning: seeing things as
they are on face value, discrete.
(6) Primarily Verbal: semantic
,language, speech, counting,
naming, describing, defining etc.
(7)Concrete.
(8) Accommodating.
(9) Explicit:
(10) Realistic Thinking
(11) Objective.
(12) Sharp Focal Awareness:
(13) Dominant:
(14) Linear Time
(15) Judgmental, Evaluative
.(3) Non rational: does not require logical
basis or reason or facts.
(4) Spontaneous Processing
(5) Metaphorical Meaning: perceiving
likeness in disparate things, seeing whole
from parts.
(6) Primarily Non Verbal: but possesses
comprehensional powers,connotative,
Associative & imaginal(not precise/denotative
(7) Abstract.
(8) Assimilating;
(9) Tacit:
(10) Fantasy, Revels in day dreaming.
(11) Subjective
(12) Diffused Awareness
(13) Quiet:
(14) Timeless (Non temporal)
(15) Willing to suspend judgments

Thus the brain (physical hard ware) has the above capabilities which I call the
potential power of the brain. In Life we do come across both these type of
people. Sherlock Holmes is a classical example of right brain information
gatherer.
His style often conflicted with the left brain solving methods of Dr. Watson and
the detectives of Scotland Yard. They immediately started looking for an
"Obvious Suspect" and organized the facts to conduct a case against him.

Holmes was intrigued by odd & seemingly unrelated facts & details of the case,
thus he was able to suspend premature closure & avoided preconceptions. This
enabled him to solve the case.

The" WESTERN CULTURE based on Science & Technology, Theology, and

the "EASTERN CULTURE based on Religion & Philosophy are expressions
of the "LEFT BRAIN" and "RIGHT BRAIN" oriented thinking respectively.
Hence the interpretation by many that the west is materialistic & the east other
worldly. No wonder Rudyard Kipling said:
The east is east and the west is west & never the twain shall meet.
"Hence the stark difference in the outlook between the occidental & the oriental.
Hence the lopsided development in both.

The West becoming more indulgent, permissive, wasteful; with conspicuous

consumption as a measure of progress and prosperity, material acquisitions as
signs of development and the east caught in the quagmire of poverty,
population, insanitation , superstition , caught in the grip of religious zealots,
missing the message of its philosophy.

To correct this imbalance, which is result of over emphasis on any one of the
hemisphere of the brain (on the left by the west & on the right by the east) is to
have an "Orchestrated Balance" and use the "WHOLE BRAIN" in what is
called the" DOUBLE DOMINANANT MODE".

The two hemispheres should stand in complimentary relationship, for neither

side is complete without the other. In the creative process both hemispheres of
the brain work together. The right brain is responsible for the vision & the left
brain for using the appropriate tools, for the expression of an idea, whether in
WORDS, COLOURS, NUMBERS, or FORMULAE.

Thus when both hemispheres work in "TANDEM", what occurs is an

OSCLLATING, ITERATIVE,SWITCHING, back and forth type of
processing and sometimes even "SYNCHRONOUS" and SIMULTANEOUS"
usage of both the hemispheres.
Thus higher, creative & holistic perception is bound to emerge.

(B) THE BODY.

The physical body houses the brain and the various organs and is the seat of
the five senses.( SIGHT, HEARING, TOUCH, SMELL& TASTE)
The body is the hutment for experiencing pleasure, pain etc It is subject to
disintegration and is also subjected to the six modifications.

(a) BIRTH (b) EXISTENCE (c) GROWTH (d) MATURITY

(e) DECAY and (f) DEATH.

The body with these organs carries out the physiological functions & operates
organs of action & perception.
The organs of action are five in number. These are:

(1) SPEECH (2) HANDS (3) LEGS (4) ANUS (5) GENITALS

They perform certain functions like speech; grasp things, locomotion,

elimination of waste products (excretion) & finally procreation & pleasure
respectively.

The organs of perception are also five:

(1) EAR (2) SKIN (3) EYES (4) TONGUE (5) NOSE

The fields of experience are reception of sound, cognition of touch, perception

of forms & colors, experience taste & finally the cognition of smellrespectively.

When we interact with the outside world with all the senses awake, impressions
are created and these sensual inputs are stored in the brain as memory of those
experiences. Thus we see that an individual is nothing but a bundle of stored
experiences along with its conditioning, in the memory of the brain.

When a child is born apart from acquiring physical traits like color, feature etc.
similar to its parent perhaps its mind is an empty slate waiting to be inscribed.
Then the inscription begins. Depending on the culture, religion, race, country in
which the child is born it is taught to believe that it is a Hindu, Catholic or
Protestant, Communist or Democrat, a believer in God or an Atheist, a
vegetarian or a meat eater, the superiority of his faiths and beliefs over others
etc..
Thus, the mind is conditioned and this conditioning is a never ending process,
continuos throughout the life of the person. There is environmental, cultural,
religious and educational conditioning through people, media, priest etc. thus,
we all become programmed beings and our response, behavior, attitudes, will
depend on this conditioning.
It is important to note here that when we respond to an external stimulus or
challenge, it is always invariably a conditioned response. This conditioning is so
powerful that:
Our response becomes automatic; memory interferes instantaneously and
we look through the periscope of the past.

As long as those responses are instinctive for the physical safety of the organism
( like a heightened sense of alertness in the dark, or in unusual places) is
acceptable; but responses based on cultural, social, racial, religious
conditioning could be the beginnings of prejudice, hatred, discrimination, greed,
violence, intolerance etc.

Thus it is of utmost importance to understand this conditioning.

Who gets conditioned?

Obviously the mind.

The evaluator always judging, comparing, selecting, rejecting, modifying ,
criticizing, accepting and so on. Till now we have looked at the brain & the
body. The time has come to look at third entity the mind.

(C) THE MIND.

As the mind is intangible we will not try to define it; but we can certainly study
its behavior, control etc.
The mental operations of the mind can be broadly classified under five heads.
(1) REAL COGNITION (2) PERVERSIVE COGNITION (3) FICTION
(4) SLEEP and (5) MEMORY

(1) REAL COGNITION: leads to direct under standing of truth in three

different ways.

(a) DIRECT PERCEPTION: when you are a direct witness to an object or

an event.
You see a pot in front of you. The existence of the pot is seen
directly by you.

(b) INFERENCE: you arrive at the truth by logic. Like you infer fire
from smoke, when you see smoke from a distance.

(c) VERBAL COGNITION you arrive at the right address on directions

given by a third person. Thus truth can be arrived at by the above three
methods. These are called real cognitions for they have the sphere of
reality of an existing object.

(2) PERVERSIVE COGNITION:

It is false knowledge established in a show not its own. In the sphere of this
cognition, there is some existing substance, but by not knowing its true
 nature this perversive cognition takes place. E.g. Seeing a snake in the rope;
now why this is a false cognition? Because when go near & see it as a rope,
the perversive cognition is destroyed.

(3) FICTION:
Fiction following the literal idea is devoid of substance; e.g. castles in the
air, horns of a hare, son of a barren woman etc. the above sentence when
read or heard creates a mental picture in us. Here in the case of fiction,
there is no substance or an existing object, simply by words it creates
something new by fabrication of imagination only;
"FICTION IS NEVER TRUTH".

(4) SLEEP:
Sleep is a mental operation having for its grasp the cognition of absence.
We all have experienced three types of sleep.
(a) HARMONIUS, REFRESHING SLEEP.
(b) DISTURBED, SLUGGISH, PAINFUL SLEEP.
(c) DENSE, DEEP, INERT, UNCONSCIOS SLEEP.
As soon as we get up, we can identify our sleep to any of the above. Now an
interesting thing takes place. We can remember only those things which have
been experienced before. Hence if we analyze sleep carefully we easily find two
aspects of our consciousness in the sleeping state. From one point of view I
become UNCONSCIOUS(as in the case of deep sleep) and from the other I
remain conscious of my own unconsciousness, had it not been so, how I could
recollect on waking that I had deep, inert, unconscious sleep? Thus sleep is a
peculiar mental operation which is not realized by many of us.

(5) MEMORY:
Memory is the mental operation of remembrance, recollection of the
experienced objects.
Further memory is twofold.
(a) PRODUCED - MEMORABLIA (b) UNPRODUCED -MEMORABLIA
Produced memorabilia is the visionary phenomenon or the creation of the mind
as in the case of dreams. Unproduced memorabilia is the world phenomenon as
seen in the waking state.
All these memories (remembrances) rise from the experiences of real cognition,
perversive cognition, fiction, sleep and memory.
All these mental operations are of the nature of pleasure, pain, ignorance etc.
and can be termed as afflictions. Attachment follows the experience of pleasure,
aversion follows the experience of pain and ignorance is non-science.

We explored the operations of the mind; now we will begin the study of
"THE STATES OF THE MIND"
"METAL-STATES" These can be broadly classified under five headings in a
normal human being.
(a) RAVING (b) FORGETFULL (c) OSCILLATING
(d) ONEPOINTED (e) RESTRAINED.

a)RAVING: Craving for more &more. More desires more experiences,

accumulative, un satisfied.
(b) FORGETFULL: A mental state as in sleep or swoon, where there is want
of cognition.
(c)OSCILLATING: Means specifically engaged; i.e. the serving mind; it
works between two ends; either success or failure, as in the case of a scientist.
(d)ONE-POINTED: Highly concentrated.
(e)RESTRAINED: Non indulgent, as in the case of a philosopher, sage, etc.

The mind generates or is made up of thoughts. Thoughts can be divided into

four categories or functions.
(a) INDECISIVE OR DOUBTFULL (VASCILLATING OR VOLITION)
(b) DETERMINITIVE (DECISIVE)
(c) EGOISTIC (THE SENSE OF OWNERSHIP OR DOERSHIP)
(d) RECOLLECTIVE (MEMORY)

E.g. of the above: While leaving home, after taking a few steps, a question
arises: have I locked the door? If the answer is "may be" or let me go and check
it. Then such a mind is a vacillating mind.
But if the answer is "yes", it is locked, and then the deciding faculty is
operating. "INTELLECT" is of the nature of decision. To the question, who
locked the door? When the answer is "I", this has a sense of ownership or
doership &leads to identification of the self with ones actions. This is the
"EGO-SENSE". Memory provides guidelines to the determinative faculty on
the basis of past experiences. It is store house of experiences & impressions.

While the three faculties (VASCILLATING, DETERMINATIVE &

RECOLLECTIVE) come and go, replace each other according to the situation,
the (EGO-SENSE) is present at all the times.
Thus it is "I" which remembers, it is "I" that vacillates & it is "I" that decides.
"I" is the self awareness which we experience all the time.
Thus we see that we interact with the outside world through our organs of
"ACTION, PERCEPTION & the MIND". We have also seen that problems
arise out of perceiving the world with a conditioned mind.
Can we de condition the mind?

Is the mind the ultimate entity to understand every thing or is there a perception
like:"REVEALATION"
Where there is "INSTANTANEOUS INSIGHT" into "TRUTH" & that is
"LIBERATION"?
Sriram