Awareness and the thought-web analogy as a communicative foundation
An analytical view on communicatio through the lenses of Advaita philosophy.
1. INTRODUCTION
Throughout the life of a human being, there is a complex communicative process taking place within and without ourselves. When we view communication as a tool to meddle within perception, we are likely to think of one source exchanging information with another in the form of subject to subject. But if we are to imagine an internal conversation (monologue), we can think of the communicative process to be held within one subject.
To discern within the internal process of thinking, I will divide the subject into two parts: I (the thinker or perceiver) and thought (the perceived). Perception itself can in a sense be said to be two or-threefold, either in the form of perceiver-perceived or perceiver-perceiving-perceived, (the last part: perceived, can, for example, be an object and the perception (of) it may differ from perceiver to perceiver. A perception is a form of communication even if it is completely internal. But who or what is actually the communicator when we start to investigate our intimate process of thinking and is it possible to distinguish the meeting-points within perception by becoming aware of our conscious and subconscious mechanism of thinking?
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
Is an approach to communication where the human psyche has a central focus. NLP deals with techniques and exercises in sort of reprogramming our mind, which works with our communicative language in such a way that negative experiences of behavioral patterns can give us insight into how to transform our responses to have a positive effect. NLP holds an extensive amount of theories relating our senses with mind, behavior, and thought patterns. I will not investigate all branches within NLP, but I will in this work focus on the parallels between its science and that of self-inquiry and meditation and how self-awareness relates to communicative conflicts.
For our heart to function properly there is constant communication taking place within our body and importantly in our brain that we don’t pay much attention to. I will present an investigation into our ability to become more aware of our internal language in the form of thinking, and how it could relate to emotional, cultural, and other forms of psychological factors.
From an internal investigation into communication, I will further develop how this can function as a window of perception towards a better understanding of our communication with other people, and attempt to discern between conscious and subconscious reactions.
I hope that this work can aid as a help to better understand conflict and the build-up of our persona through our multi-layered language.
2. PERSPECTIVE
I have chosen to investigate communication through the lenses of self-inquiry and will use the example of becoming a witness to our internal thought-pattern. My field of interest in this communicative process comes from a non-dual yogic perspective (Advaita philosophy, Trika Tantra, Tao, or Zen Buddhism).
All paths regarded as non-dual in their teachings points towards the realization of an underlying cause or witness to the tendencies of the mind. I will in my investigation too, point towards the notion of this witnessing aspect beyond the individual psyche in the hope for the reader to expand their view upon their own communicative behavior.
This written work is solemnly analytical and theoretical, and shows my personal cognitive understanding towards the subject, through the lenses of my own thought-pattern formed by my yogic view.
3. ANALYSIS
Awareness and the thinking of being
Within direct-realization non-dual teachings, the doing of meditation and distinction of spiritual practice becomes concepts from the perspective of the individual, who ultimately is considered to only exist as one window into Self-perception through the action of thinking. But who or what is really the doer, or the witness to thinking?
Our experience of duality is apparent in all its subtle and grosser layers. Non-dual teachings point towards the relationship between the unmanifest and manifest as simultaneously present within all beings and creation (Shiva-Shakti, Alpha-Omega). “Awareness” or “pure consciousness” are commonly used terms to describe the nature of the Self that is the core of non-dual teachings.
To easier understand how this applies to communication and language, it would mean that instead of there being subjects and objects/or matter, there would ultimately just exist one grand subject that is pure consciousness, and perception will in its truth not be divided into parts. This non-dual consciousness has, by its own will and movement, given birth manifest form, within and from its own being.
It is a complex philosophy that has been recorded in some of the oldest eastern scriptures and later given birth to many schools of philosophy, religion, and western free thinkers. In its teachings, the laws of the universe are highly dependent on vibration and energy, yet there is always an underlying cause that binds the sprouting of expansion together: The Self, that can be said to be awareness aware of itself, pure untainted consciousness, or even mind absent from thought-quality.
“If you want to find the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” ― Nicola Tesla
The world as we perceive it is said to be largely stored in the collective and forgetful nature of Self-activity (shakti) because of the sprouting of creation. We can think of the terms “Awareness” vs. “Awareness of”, meaning, that as soon as we become aware of something, the “something” is externalized and divided from our being, making us see ourselves as separate from the perceived. Some yogic teachings provide us with techniques to help us reverse and zoom out to witness the play of perception taking place within ourselves, and to finally let awareness become aware of its own awareness. Here a parallel to Jung’s collective unconscious and karmic patterns suits to be mentioned.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it faith.”
“So far as we have any information about man, we know that he has always and everywhere been under the influence of dominating ideas. Anyone who alleges that he is not can immediately be suspected of having exchanged a known form of belief for a variant which is less known both to himself and to others.” ― C.G. Jung, “The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious”
If an individual uses practice to investigate Self-awareness by exponentially becoming more aware of what is perceived and perception itself, eventually the practice has the potential to dissolve by itself. I have developed an analogy for the purpose of self-inquiry that can be used as a technique to strengthen the conscious relationship with yourself as a witness of yourself. The idea behind the technique I shall present is largely inspired by Jnana yoga and the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, who encouraged the thinker to constantly question oneself by the words of: “To whom has this thought occurred?”
The thought-web analogy, (a practice in self-inquiry)
If I am immersed in a relaxed state of being and a thought pops up in my awareness, I can say “I am aware of this thought”. Now, if I were to follow this thought by asking: to whom does this thought appear?
I would find another thought “to me”, yet it is not enough to say that the one thought came into existence by one other. It is though more correct to say that the thought came into existence by a trillion or so other thoughts, creating the space-time constructed individual consciousness of myself.
If I was to picture this bundle of thoughts making me, me, I would picture something like an intricate bundle of complex patterns, sort of like a multidimensional web of thoughts as strings, being held together by each other.
Each string has itself a complex patterning of other types of subtle phenomena, relating cognition to aspects of emotions and memories, etc. So through these layers the pattern thought-connection makes can vary from one layer to another, making this web of thoughts a hell of a mess to un-tie.
So, since I started my investigation I have found that not only am I aware of these thoughts when they appear, but I have found myself to be aware of a hopeless thought-maze, and the finding of an exit within it seems like an impossible mission.
I can now see that my persona is not only related to this web, but that it is held within the substratum of it.
A new question then arises: Am I just what I think myself to be, and do I even have any control over it?
If it is so that the sum of my individuality is held by a belief system of what I think myself to be, am I not a mere puppet then, held together by invisible strings meticulously tied in ways too complex for my own understanding- which would also be the sum of the very same pattern.
At this point, I have not yet realized the potential of my awareness, for this is where I decide to bypass this bundle of what I think myself to be and decide to take a leap of neglect in the sense of a short-cut straight to the first connective thought-tissue that birthed the sense of “I am”.
Somehow a three-fold perception must have come into existence in the same bundle of primary individual thoughts of myself through perceiver-perception-perceived. This is when awareness becomes really interesting, for you see, as soon I have experienced this leap in my own awareness, awareness itself may become aware of itself and the three-fold perception will explode into new meaning.
But I will not develop this any further, yet I encourage you to play with the investigation mentioned. I will, though, sprout for the idea that the foundation demonstrated above can be seen as a microcosm to a macrocosm creating our collective consciousness, bound in the web of samsara until awareness prevails.
“I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.” ― Albert Einstein
Speech of silence
Words are problematic by nature, because language as a way of communication, description, and discernment can perpetuate our understanding of the known (perceiver, perceived, and perception itself), and let us deepen our conceptual understanding. Yet in reference to non-dual view, Self-realization does not come forth through word-language. It reaches us first in silence (which is incomplete in its statement because the word “silence” is referenced to from the concept of sound), before totally permeating even spoken language with its foundation as the absolute.
Word-expression is potent and can point us inward because of the layers of cognition and emotion intertwined with content and meaning given to it, making our experience of a word or a piece of poetry very intimate. Even though there might be a common understanding of the language used, the layers of viewing differ from individual to individual.
Words can act as powerful seeds when integrated and can point towards self-inquiry. In the same sense, they can wake feelings within, allowing us to follow towards the root of the perceived feeling. Japa mantra is a powerful tool to infuse our minds with the desired scent or meaning of the word. For example, if we often recite AUM 108 times internally or externally, we will eventually taint our being with our understanding of the meaning of AUM increasingly. Its vibration will affect us, and relations to our personal layers of the word AUM will steer our minds in the directions intertwined with it. Your mind is a magnet that attracts your reality.
But as much as language is fantastic in its tremendous depth that goes beyond the examples just mentioned, there comes a point in journeying towards the end of spiritual searching, where words will take you no further. In the crown of your being, sounds emerge in absence of senses.
“It is only in alert silence, that truth can be”
― Jiddu Krishnamurti
NLP and Meditation
I have in my analysis, described a method for investigating one's thought pattern, and pointed towards how this web of thinking relates to cognitive and emotional layers within ourselves.
When there is an expansion in our awareness and we are abiding in a state where we can calmly observe our internal language and reactions, it is called meditation. By realizing how thought-patterns build up and relate to our persona, we naturally have the opportunity to distance ourselves towards our perceived thoughts and emotions. This realization regarding our internal
language will permeate how we react when we communicate with others, and it will influence our understanding of others’ responses. In a sense, we can say that one naturally becomes more forgiving towards conflicts with others or even within ourselves. We might also develop the ability to recognize the build-up of a conflict in action, and then use language more consciously.
Because of an increased level of awareness and witnessing, of the many layers of individual persona, there is the opportunity for recognizing the immensity of influences that have played part in creating the individual consciousness at any given moment. Anything from social construct, environment, economy, politics, childhood trauma, relationships, ..well anything that has affected our persona has had some effect on us, and therefore, our internal and external communication.
These layers or pattern-buildups must influence our being similar to how we influence that which is perceived to be outside of us. By practicing awareness and abiding in our inner stillness we can become less reactionary. In a way, we can see that much of our communication happens in effect to subconscious influence by our language towards, or within ourselves. Through this recognition, we have the opportunity to become more conscious of the way we communicate. It is a form of reprogramming our being to communicate more consciously by increasing our awareness of our subconscious or, more consciously using the potency of language. This is an effect of meditation or self-inquiry.
Neuro-linguistic programming works similarly. But as meditation and self-inquiry naturally affect ourselves and others as an outcome of it, NLP actively intends to reprogram people’s behavioral patterns. The method of NLP deals with noticing the negative behavioral patterns of a person, and then, using the qualities of the behavior to become a beneficial aid for reprogramming. An example: someone who suffers from anxiety, and has a vivid way of experiencing it, usually has a strong relationship between memory and visual thinking. The Neuro-linguistic programmer could then decide to treat the patient using visual tools of reprogramming, because of the visual imprints already affecting the patient’s wellbeing. Visual NLP therapy could include the “movie theatre technique”, a technique that allows the patient to imagine watching their traumatic experience on a screen. The patient fasts forward, rewinds, and plays their experience several times to gradually disassociate themselves from the trauma. This disassociation happens on a subconscious level while the patient consciously revisits an experience. By using the movie theatre technique the NL-programmer can together with the patient tweak the negative thought patterns. This can be done by first becoming aware of thoughts, feelings, and behavior relating to a traumatic memory, and then imagine them to include a more positive experience. One can think of NLP in comparison to meditation/self-inquiry as a treatment to be considered doing vs. allowing effect.
Both NLP and meditation regard our experience to be subjective, and should in that sense be treated by an investigation into the subject of experiencing.
4. CONCLUSION
However we choose to view an individual's linguistic or communicative factors, it is obvious that there are grosser and more subtle forms, as well as there are conscious and subconscious.
Since much of our communication and personal patterning happens at the subtle and subconscious levels of our being, our external communication is equally affected.
The outstanding factor linking NLP and meditative practice is awareness. If a person increases their awareness of their behavior, the person gains insight into the mechanism of themselves and their communicative language. This increase of individual awareness allows for the individual to realize themselves apart from the behavioral patterns present, and therefore allowing for more conscious behavior, and dissociation from a negative experience.
When we act from a more conscious mindset and abide in a meditative state, the reactionary web of our persona becomes slower and less potent in stirring our emotions. Meditation and Self-inquiry can both be helpful for the person who is hoping to become more conscious of his or her behavior or psyche, and for the seeker looking to go to the very depth of the immensity of their being.
I acknowledge that NLP can help treat specific behavioral patterns. Yet I believe that the keys towards understanding and affecting the persona and its communicative patterns lays within awareness and consciousness itself. And to experience the fruits of action, one has to go within, where one can experience not only one's internal language but the absence of it.
I would also like to point out that since experience is subjective, there exist numerous tools, techniques, or therapies besides NLP or meditative practice that lets us investigate into communication. This work only shows one window of perception among other possible viewpoints.
Trace one thought and find another, dismiss them all and find yourself.
/Alexandra
