Consciousness Work And Auto-suggestion

[JustTom]

Since I've started reading about psychology as a hobby I've become aware of the huge underestimated power that the human mind has. Especially the book Six Pillars of Self-Esteem showed me many ways that a person can change his/her perspective and consequently, their beliefs, mindsets and reality. Just by thinking, believing, we can change almost everything, including biological functions, to certain point. 

Now I was raised as a catholic and although I believe in God(though different from what any big religions preach), I can totally see how some people can unconsciously use auto-suggestion to convince themselves that during a prayer they are having a deep emotional connection to God. Just by thinking and believing very intensely, that he is there, he WILL be there. In your mind. If you really try, you will eventually feel God even if he's not there. That's how auto-suggestion works. I know this because I used to do this as well during prayer. Once I realized I was doing it, I tried to not do it. But then funnily enough, I realized I can't actually tell between the objective truth and between what I created with my mind, subconsciously. 

Now, auto-suggestion is also used for good purposes such as visualizations to make yourself feel motivated, affirmations to change your mental image of yourself etc etc., I'm sure you're aware.

So how then, can you say that, when you're doing consciousness work - as in trying to see reality for what it is, recognizing emotions in yourself, seeing how thoughts arise in your head, trying to find or rather NOT find your ego - how can we be sure it's not all just auto-suggestion again? Full disclosure: I've never done any consciousness work(just basic meditation).
Another way to put it would be this: enlightenment is supposed to be very subjective but pragmatic concept that anyone can try for themselves and is not reliant on faith or beliefs. This is how spiritual people do their thing right? -Scientifically. You have a hypothesis: ego might not exist, reality is MUCH different from what I experience. And you try to verify this hypothesis. But the problem is you verify it with ways that are not objective - therefore you are prone to bias, placebo and suggestion.

I'm not trying to "disprove" anything, I am genuinely interested how you avoid this trap and if at all.

Edited February 16, 2016 by JustTom

[jjer94]

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So how then, can you say that, when you're doing consciousness work - as in trying to see reality for what it is, recognizing emotions in yourself, seeing how thoughts arise in your head, trying to find or rather NOT find your ego - how can we be sure it's not all just auto-suggestion again? Full disclosure: I've never done any consciousness work(just basic meditation).

You may want to try consciousness work before you make claims against it 

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But the problem is you verify it with ways that are not objective - therefore you are prone to bias, placebo and suggestion.

What is objective? Think about that for a sec. What do we deem as objective?

Ultimately, objectivity is just a concept. It's an abstraction of an abstraction (of an abstraction, and so on) of something from subjective experience. Objectivity doesn't actually exist outside of mind. (Nor does subjectivity either, but that's a different story...)

Thankfully, you don't have to believe me on this one. I urge you not to believe me. You can do your own contemplation. Trace any objective concept back to it's core, and you come back to subjective experience. Here's an example: Variable "x" -> a number such as 1 -> pick an object from subjective experience and give it the label "1".

I mean, what's so objective about seeing, hearing, thoughts, touching, tasting, and smelling?

[JustTom]

7 minutes ago, jjer94 said:

You may want to try consciousness work before you make claims against it 

I do! That's why I made this post - to clear things up and make sure I don't do it the wrong way. I genuinely want to try this but first need to know how.

I don't want to get into discussion about objectivity vs. subjectivity. Yeah you filter every single piece of information first through your senses and then through your opinion/experience filters, but that's the point. How do you NOT do that? I mean that's the point of it all right? Let's say you consider yourself enlightened and you know that ego doesn't exist. There is no "you" as an entity, you are just a collection of neurons and other cells that communicate with each other. Now, how do you yourself know that all this knowledge you posses is not fake? How do you know that it isn't all just an elaborate construct of your mind? Afterall, you went into enlightenment to get enlightened. You put thousands of hours of psychological work into this. Can it not be the case that you eventually CONVINCED yourself of all this, instead of actually finding the truth? Subconsciously, if you sit and just think for long enough, this is very possible.

[jjer94]

Great questions!

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There is no "you" as an entity, you are just a collection of neurons and other cells that communicate with each other.

There are no 'neurons' or 'other cells' in my experience, so I have no knowledge of that. 

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Now, how do you yourself know that all this knowledge you posses is not fake? How do you know that it isn't all just an elaborate construct of your mind?

This is an excellent question with a somewhat confusing answer if you're new to the enlightenment scene. 

How do I know the knowledge is not fake? It's not knowledge. Awakenings come about through not-knowing. Think about it. When we talk about enlightenment, we're talking about a Truth that transcends time, space, your birth and your death. It's infinite. How can an infinite Truth arise from finite knowledge? It can't. That's why the Truth can't be communicated through words either. 

What consciousness work is at its core is deconstruction. It's not trying to look for what's true, it's trying to remove what's false so that Truth remains. Thus, the Truth is not an elaborate construct of the mind; it's what remains when the mind is deconstructed. It is beyond all knowledge, all belief, all stories, all hearsay. Paradoxically, Truth is always there, meaning technically you're enlightened right now. What makes you un-enlightened is all of the constructs in your mind that tell you you're not, that tell you you're a body or an ego, a brother or a son, that you believe this belief or that belief. Consciousness work is the deliberate process of seeing through all of your mind's "knowledge." 

"To live in the known is bondage. To live in the unknown is liberation." - Nisargadatta

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick 

[Leo Gura]

It's a legitimate concern for the rational mind. But what the rational mind is not yet allowing as a possibility is that Truth can be accessed DIRECTLY, without the use of mind or sense experience. Is that really possible? Well... do the consciousness work and find out for yourself.

Sounds like you should at least leave it open as a possibility until you've been able to prove otherwise. After all, thousands of serious people have claimed that it's possible, and have totally transformed their lives in the process. There's little reason to doubt them other than fear and closemindedness.

In practice, as it turns out, if you are REALLY self-honest and make Truth your top agenda, you will discover it DIRECTLY in a way that you never imagined possible. But it will be a very tough row to hoe. The amount of people that get lost in the self-deceptive traps of the mind are legion. This is a journey that very few people are man-enough to finish.

[JustTom]

Aight. That makes sense. Surprisingly. This was my biggest concern and reason why I haven't done this yet. Really well explained. Thanks folks! 

Now the last question remains - whether I should sort out more basic things first, such as finishing up uni, finding a strong life purpose and being financially independant. Hm.

[Pierre]

Do what you want to do, or you'll end up in self-denial. And that leads to nowhere...

Don't try to change your life, just insert a bit more awareness in it. And that is Now.

Good luck