Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/articles/prism083.zip/PRISM.EXE/PG23JIM.TXT

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Date: 07-07-93    Time: 02:38p
From: JIM VARGIU
To: ALL
Subject: THINKING
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, everybody,

I believe we have  a  good  opportunity  to do together something
very interesting, which I am proposing here.  If it is something
you would like  to do, by all means come along!  And if you have
questions about it, by all means shoot.

Regards,

~Jim~

====================================================

---===<<< * Quoting JUDY STEIN to JIM VARGIU - 6/25/93 * >>>===---

JS>
Exceptional individuals may  occasionally  experience  a brief but
drenching cloudburst--as with Einstein--but such  occurrences  are
viewed  as  highly mysterious and serendipitous by the rest of us.
We assume they are closely related to if not entirely dependent on
intellectual ability, on genius.  And even the genius doesn't know
how to seed the cloud on  any kind of systematic basis.  The skies
open, then they close again, indefinitely.  The genius wrings  his
dripping  intellect out into a bucket and passes it around to his
colleagues, in the process drying himself up again.

JV>
OK, this may well  be  the  crux  of  the  matter  <VBG>.  I am
firmly convinced that the main reason  it  is  often  just  the
way  you  so cogently  describe  it,  is  because  we  are
conditioned to _believe_ that's the way it is.   So  it becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy.  But it does not have to _remain_ that
way!

To me, people who are able to evoke "genius," who are way ahead of
the rest of us in intellectual ability (or in _any_  other
ability),  are not  "different." They are _precursors._  They have
learned to do early something that at some point in  the future
will be perfectly _normal_ for  everybody.   And  because  it  is
a  _natural_   process,   it's preliminary  steps,  and sometimes
a great deal more than that, can be found already right now, in
each of  us.  So we don't need to "make it happen." We need to
understand it, but having done that, all  we  need to do is to
help it along.  And that is much faster!  <g>

I'm  not  saying  it  is  an  easy thing to do, that anybody can do
it instantly full blown.  And certainly  not  like Einstein...  <g>
But a substantial minority of people today can almost instantly
_begin_  to do it, and having begun, go on and make good and
steady progress.  And almost  everybody  can  do it a great deal
more, and better, than they believe they can.  Einstein spent
seven  years building up his mental energy, before "the waters
broke" <g>.  But he was dealing with a heck of a big "chunk" that
needed to be straightened up.   I'm  not  saying that  a  lot of
people can do _that_.  But we also don't need to.  And furthermore
it is much easier today  than  it was in 1905, because the mental
aspect of humanity has developed a great deal since  then,  and
that makes it easier for everybody to think.

It  is also much easier to do it as a group.  That is the core of
what we made happen when I was working  with the gifted kids, and
I've done it a number of times since, with  other  groups.
Sometimes  it  just won't  come  together, but in my experience
most of the times it does.

It's like pulling the cork  from  a bottle.  Sometimes it's very
easy, other times, like in a champagne bottle, you need  to  work
at  it  a while -- but then you get to drink the champaign!  :)

How  about  giving  it a try!  May I suggest something very
practical, that can be a good  "way  in,"  a  first  step in this
direction?  And folks, anybody who is interested, and wants to
play, by all  means  do join  us!   Let's  take the first steps
together, and then if it looks like a valuable thing to do, we
can  keep going!  (And I also need to say that this is the first
time I've tried to do it through EMail,  so in  that  sense  it
is  an  experiment.   But  I see no reason why it shouldn't work
out just as well this  way :) And doing it this way may have some
very interesting advantages, as compared to  when  everybody
is in the same physical place.  So here we go...

-----------------------------------------


Take  some time, about 15 minutes, in a quiet place where you
won't be disturbed.  Have paper and pencil with you.

1. Think of a few, say between 4 and 6, beautiful  things, or
   objects, somewhat different from each other, and write down
   what they are.

2. Take  some time  to  think  about  why  each  is beautiful,
   what is beautiful about each of them.

3. Consider what it is that those  objects all have _in common,_
   that makes  them  all beautiful.  Try to "get in touch" with
   that common quality, to _relate_ to it, even to experience it.

4. Gradually  shift your focus, the center of your  mental
   attention, from  the  objects,  to  that  common quality
   itself.  What is that quality like?  What do you know about it?
   What more can you learn, by thinking about it right now?  Let
   yourself "brood" about it, but with focus, with interest,
   without "fuzzing out," and trying not to get distracted.  See
   what else  comes  to  mind, or if what you are already holding
   wants to "grow," to become richer.

5. Now  keeping your mental focus on that quality (which is
   Beauty, of course) "let go" of the beautiful objects,  let
   them  "fade  away" from  your  mental  field, as much as
   possible, and consider Beauty itself, as a  quality,
   independently  from  any specific beautiful object.  See if
   you can gain further understanding of  what  Beauty is like,
   of it's true nature.

6. With  the deeper  understanding of beauty you have  achieved,
   think of other objects, or events, or  people and how they act,
   or ideas, or anything you know about in the world, and see if
   you  can  find some  that  are  beautiful,  yet  that  you  had
   not thought of as beautiful before.  Note those down as well.

7. Take  your  paper and pencil  (or the keyboard <g>)  and  put
   down briefly  what you came up with, and especially anything
   you can say about the quality itself.   The  writing  down
   is a very important part.   More  than a few times, in writing
   things down, the insight grows, and a much deeper  understanding
   can be realized.  But don't worry about "how well" you are
   writing,  or  whether  it  expresses fully or even clearly the
   understanding you achieved.  Think of the writing primarily as
   a _reminder_ to yourself, as if right then you were  taking
   notes,  in  order  to  write more about it later.  Of course
   if ideas  start  flowing,  and  before  you  know it you are
   writing in finished paragraphs, (as it happens  sometimes)  by
   all means keep  writing!   :-)  But  "finished  paragraphs"  is
   not the purpose.  The purpose is more of putting on paper what
   is  in  your mind, to make room in your mind for more to come.

--------------------------------------------


Now a few things:

Feel free to read everything that follows right now, if you like.
But some of it will only be useful after you have done the exercise
above, and before it may  just  complicate  things.  Either way, I
recommend you don't read everything and then move  directly  to
the  exercise.

Give yourself some time to "shift gears."

In  general,  and especially when you are reflecting on the
quality of Beauty itself, try to concentrate,  to  hold  your
mental focus, so as not to be distracted.  But at the same time,
try  to  do  it  without making  your mind become "rigid," or
overly tense.  Don't get yourself a mental charlie-horse!  <g>
For  a  while,  it  will be somewhat of a compromise.  That's fine.
It will become much easier as you practice.

Also, as much as you can, take an attitude of _interest_  and
_mental curiosity_ in what you are focussing on.  Interest keeps
the attention focused, and will help a great deal, especially at
first.  You can do it  with your eyes open, but it will probably
work better if you close them.

As you think this way, you  also  probably get some images.  Keep
your focus on the ideas, and if the images help the ideas  develop,
great.

If  they  don't, just ignore them, and they'll "go away" <g>.  (and
you can always go back  to  them  after  you  are  finished, if you
like).  Images are _mental objects._ They can be very useful "on
the way  up," just  like  the  beautiful  objects,  and they can be
at least as much useful "on the way down," as  a  way to interpret,
or "translate" what you found at the top.  And images can be very
useful also in all  sort of other ways.  At that highest point, we
can rely on images at first, if  they make it easier to reach
"higher up." But gradually we want to learn to keep our mind focused
on  the actual ideas, an let the images become more and more
subsidiary.  However this is a process that takes some  time,  is
not  at  all  critical,  and  so  can  be  done  with gentleness,
almost spontaneously.

Learning this way of thinking  is  of  course  a  process,  that
with practice  one  can  get better and better at.  It doesn't take
a great deal of time.  Fifteen minutes  a  day,  or even ten, are
enough.  But for the progress to build, it is important to do it
every  day.   (It may  be  easier  to  do it at the same time every
day, but that is not necessary).  If you miss one  day  once  in a
while, that's ok (except that it becomes a precedent!  <g>).  But
if you miss several days in a row, it will set you back, especially
when you are beginning.  And  we all have inner resistances that
will try to sabotage this work.  So if this  is  something  you
want to do, make up your mind you'll make it important enough that
you'll find the  15  minutes a day it needs, for the next two weeks.
And in two weeks you can take another look at it, and decide again.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT RESULTS!  This is the most important thing  of
all.  Especially,  don't  worry  _while you are thinking_ about
whether what you are coming up with is  right  or  wrong.  There
is all the time in the world to do that _later!_ Instead, learn to
keep things _open!_ If you try to figure out "right" and "wrong"
_while_  you  are  thinking, that will certainly shut everything
down -- or even not let it open in the  first  place.   When
things are open and flowing, think of it as being like in a meadow,
with green grass, beautiful flowers -- and some weeds.  You don't
want to get  involved in pulling all the weeds outs, before doing
anything else!  Instead, pick the flowers you like  best, and
arrange  them  in  a  bouquet.   And if you go back often to that
particular meadow, and keep finding some types of weed that get in
the way, eventually you'll want to do  something about that too.
But look at the flowers first!  :-) And when things are  shut
down,  anything, even  something "wrong," is a step toward opening
things up.  And that makes it _right._ <g>

As you proceed from the objects to the quality, things may flow
really well right away, and you may  have just discovered a new
and wonderful way to think.  That can happens right from the start,
much more  often that  one  would  expect.   And  of  course  you
may already have been thinking this way, and already  know  what
I'm talking about.  We are rarely _taught_ to do it, but it is
completely _natural,_ so more that a few people learn to do it
spontaneously.  OTOH  if  things  are,  or become, shut down,
and you are having difficulty, perhaps at the stage  of  getting
a  sense  for the common quality, or at the next step, of letting
go of the objects, again,  don't worry, and hang in there!  Try
concentrating for a minute or two (it's a  _long_  time!   <g>),
then relax,  then  try  again a few times.  Sometimes things may
stay stuck for several days in  a  row,  and  then  it  can get
frustrating.  But remember that a great deal of good is happening
anyway where you can't see it, and it  will  emerge  for  sure,
as  long  as you keep at it!

Remember, Einstein was stuck in just that way for _seven  years,_
and kept at it for all that time, getting nowhere.  Then things
opened up, and  within  a  few  weeks  he came up with Relativity!
<G> (But as I said, we don't  need  to  do  quite  _that!_  <BG>)
And to get things moving, you can also look for resources  in  your
books,  or  at  the library,  and  even  (don't  be embarrassed
<g>), in your encyclopedia, under Beauty.   It's  a  way  to  plant
seeds  in  your mental field.  Sometimes, the most unlikely seeds
end up giving  the  most  beautiful flowers.

After  you  repeat  the  exercise  a  few  days, things will
gradually change.  The first times you do it, you may not be able
to go very far with the last steps.  That is  perfectly normal,
and you'll go further as you go.  Or if you get stuck, you'll go
_a lot_ further  after  you get  unstuck!   <g>.  On the other
hand, the first two steps will soon become routine, almost
trivial.  As  that  happens, you can go through them in a brief
moment,  or  even  skip  them  altogether.   And  in general,
feel  free to experiment along the way.  If you have a hunch that
doing something differently,  or  trying something new, will work
better, by all means go ahead, and see what happens.  It  is  good
to keep  Beauty  as  the  central "thought" for now, and we will
bring in some other ones later, as  we  go.   But if you find
yourself thinking about Beauty in relation to some other qualities,
that is  very  good.

That is not a distraction, as long Beauty remains part of what you
are thinking  about.   If that happens, just be sure you also keep
working with Beauty by itself.

And last but not least, there is  a part of our unconscious that
likes a great deal to think in this way, and will be very  happy
about  it!  <VBG>  That  part will work with you, and help along.
While you'll be "formally" thinking about beauty  15  minutes  a
day, your unconscious will be thinking about it all day!  It will
kind  of  _prepare_  ideas and  thoughts  that  can  emerge  in
your consciousness in the formal period, and also at other
unexpected  times.  It is, of course, a very wonderful thing.
Just your knowing this is going on, and  _welcoming_ it,  will
help  it  considerably.  And if you like, you can also go a step
further.  If, as you go  about  your day, you hold beauty "in the
back of your mind," and during the times you don't have to think
about other things, kind of "bring it forward," casually but with
interest, that  will  help  bring  that  part  of  your
unconscious  closer  to consciousness, and be more effective.  It
may bring about specific and perhaps  deep  insight,  at
unexpected  moments,  or  it  may suggest _questions_ to ask
yourself, or  different angles of approach, for the next formal
period.  Or nothing visible may happen at  all,  but  your formal
thinking will be enriched anyway.

Another  thing that can help considerably, if you like to do it,
is to look for  beauty  _around_    you.   A  flower,  a  smile,
a beautiful object that you may see as you walk down the street,
can "remind"  you of beauty, bring it back to your mind, reconnect
you with it.  You can do this as you go about your day, and you can
also deliberately go and look  for  beautiful  things.   If you
have been thinking to hang some beautiful prints on your wall, or
to buy a beautiful art object, or in any way to bring beauty around
you where you live, now would be a good time to do it.  Of  course
you  don't  need to get carried away...<g>

Putting one, or a few, beautiful objects, where you  see  them
often, will  do  very  well.  It is all to be done with a light
touch, but at the same time, as an _affirmation_to_yourself_ that
you really want to understand what beauty is.  It  is like
_nourishment_ your system will use to heal inner wounds that block
beauty from being more present  to you.   And  that, of course,
will also heal, and "refurbish" a part of you that you can then
use  to  think  in  the same way about anything else.

--------------------------

Oh yes, resistance.  Just as there is a part of our  unconscious
that wants  to help, another part wants to block and sabotage.
More likely than not, the better  you'll  be  doing,  the  more
stray "voices" and feelings and images will emerge, and try  to
convince  you  to  stop.

Don't  pay attention to them.  They'll try to find a way to _get_
your attention.  DON'T  BUY  IT!   Especially,  don't  buy  the
_secondary_ processes.  A typical secondary process goes something
like this: "I'm stuck" [primary; may be true, but also things may
be right at the edge of opening - if you hang in there!].  "I'm
stuck  because  I  must  be dumb."  [not  true]  "Maybe  I'm  just
lazy."  [not  true]  "I'm lazy therefore I'm bad."  [not  true]
"I  want  to  do  this, but I'm bad, therefore I don't really
deserve do be  doing  it."  [not  true,  and argument  twisted
toward stopping] "In fact, I'm bad for even trying, and I've
better stop..." [everything you've been building in your mind
just crashed...<g>].

Out of all that, the only thing that may be true, which is primary,
is "I'm stuck." Everything after that, _is  false,_ is a byproduct
of the first, it is a secondary, _empty_ process.  And  there  is
no  reason whatsoever  to  pay  any attention to it.  Of course it
may be hard to catch it at first, and we  may  only  recognize it
after we got pulled several steps down the primrose path.  At that
point, the thing to  do is  to  go right back to the thought that
was in your mind just before you got distracted, if you can  easily
remember what that is.  Chances are that something very good was
just about to happen right then.  And if you don't remember what
that was, just start again at any point  you like,  and  keep
going.   And yes, making yourself bad for having got distracted,
is another detour of  the primrose path...  don't do it... <VBG>.

Learning to keep your mental focus without getting  distracted is
just like a little baby learning to walk without falling down.  And
as far as learning all the good things we can do with our mind, we
are all  still  little babies...  :) Of course if you really
_decide_ that you are stuck, and not just "feel" stuck ;) you can
do something about that.  For example you can go for  a walk and
try again later.  Or you can push harder right then, and see if
you can break through.  Or  you can call it a day, and try again
tomorrow.

Any of the above sound familiar?  If you thought you were the only
one to  have  those  things  happen  to  you when you try to really
think, well...  <BG>.  And of  course  what  I  said applies to
anything that will tend to distract us.  There  are  _many_
different  versions  of distractions,  of  secondary  processes
that our unconscious can play out.  And it  keeps  downloading
new  versions  of  it,  and the most currents updates, from _its_
BBS...<g>

The key to the most rapid progress, is in learning to  work  with
the part  of  our  unconscious who wants to help, and to recognize,
and at first ignore, the part that wants to get in the way.  That
goes a long way.  And we can go one step  further.  In time, as we
go forward, the resistance gradually has to show itself  more,
and  so  becomes  more visible,  more  defined.  It is then
possible and desirable to seek to understand what it is about,
_why_  a part of ourselves wants to block us from doing something
that is very good.  We  can  talk  more  later about  how to do
that practically, but the result is that a great deal of the
things that gave rise  to that resistance get straightened out,
the  resistance  itself  diminishes,  and  eventually  disappears
all together, and the scope and the ease of what we become able to
do with our mind expands accordingly.

---------------------------------


There is real value in a number of people deciding to work in this
way at the same time.  The mental processes become  easier,  and
go  much deeper,  for  everybody.  It is very much the same
principle that gets different people at different locations to
come up with the same idea, or invention, at the same time,
without knowing about one another.  Of course that happens
spontaneously, while this is planned.  And because it is planned,
once  we  have  built  a  group foundation, it is quite feasible
to consider together, as  a  group,  all  sort  of  different
things,  from  the  nature  of  consciousness,  to star drives,
to very mundane things, and be able to see them in a new light.

As a group it becomes possible to go much further  than  one
could alone, and it can be a very wonderful thing to do!

If you'd like to be part of this,  but  you  are  a  lurker,  and
you _really_  want  to  keep it that way, by all means come along
any way.  But for anybody who  is  up  for  it,  it  is  important
that you post regularly, say every couple of days, something about
the thoughts  you are coming up with, and about any difficulties
along the way.  It will bring  you  closer to the mental "center
of gravity" of the group, and that will enrich the flow  of your
thought processes.  Remember, there are a number of other people
who right now are thinking about  beauty, in  just the same way
you are.  And the more you all post what you do, the more we  all
can  build  upon  one-another.  That strengthens the thought
patterns considerably, and goes a long way to build the  group
focus,  and  so help the group coalesce.  And last but not least,
I do need the input,  as  the  mechanics  of  this  are  going to
be rather different than when you have a dozen guys  all  sitting
in  the  same room...<g>  So  I  need  your  posts to get a sense
for how things are going, find any "lump" <g> that may tend to
form, and see what will be the best road to follow, and the best
size steps to go forward with.

Have fun, and good work!

~Jim~

■ Wings are not only for birds, they are also for minds!

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