Steve, when you are deconditioning yourself to these "bad habits," are you aware also of their source? Why is anger so negative in your mind?
I feel through my own efforts of "deconditioning" have proven faulty in the sense that spontaneous action has a more honest effect in at least showing me where I'm at rather than pretending to restrain myself. I don't know if this is the same for you, but I wanted to ask because I recognized that pattern which you described in my own thought process. It just seems to me that you should let yourself--i'm also talking to myself here also--be a pain in the butt. You're being honest and you can also let yourself be grateful for that and maybe also forgiveness, non-resentment, et al. ;-) Tao Shei Fei On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 11:25 PM, SteveW <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > --- In [email protected], "Healthyplay1" <healthyplay1@...> wrote: > > > > > > Um... so does forensics psychology. So-- its as simple as an unconscious > wish --"manifests"? > > > > Sorry to interrupt. .. > > > > Hi Kristy. Actually, I think that Libet's work supports a rather > Buddhist way of looking at it. We tend to assume that the conscious > mind is initiating thoughts and intentions, but Libet's work calls > this into question. Of course, anyone who has practiced zazen soon > notices that thoughts and volitional impulses just bubble-up into > awareness. There is no Little Person in a control room pushing > buttons to make thoughts and volitional impulses manifest. Our > conscious minds only become aware of the volitional impulse about > a half-second after it starts. Libet said that although we clearly > do not initiate the impulse, we do have a split-second in which to > veto it. He called this Free-Won't in contradistinction to Free-Will. > So basically, our volitional impulses, which Buddhists call Samskaras, are > karmic, which is to say that they are conditioned > automatic habits. Some researchers, such as Jeffrey Schwartz (who > is a practicing Buddhist), think that by being mindful of the > volitional impulse in that little half-second, and refusing to > identify with and act upon it, allows us to deprive the impulse > of it's "habit-energy" (vasana) that it needs to perpetuate itself. > If this is done each time the habitual impulse arises, then the > impulse will die out. And this, of course, is how Buddhists de-condition > negative impulses. I, myself, do this on a daily basis. > When I become aware of a negative impulse such as anger arising, > I disengage from the impulse by focussing on the Name of the Buddha. > This provides me with a mental anchor that prevents my attention from > being swept away by the anger. Of course, this has nothing to do with > enlightenment, just with deconditioning bad habits of thought, word and deed > which make me a pain in the butt both to myself and others. > Steve > > > > >
