FROM REASON TO THE ABSTRACT AND BACK
"Thought is the labor of the
intellect, reverie is its pleasure"
.......Victor Hugo
It has been pointed out earlier that reason is the base process
that makes and sustains the
order of the set of concepts and beliefs of the mind of a being. This process has
mostly been "programmed" by society and culture, which means that not only the
very concepts and beliefs have been socially acquired, but even their order - their
logic has been acquired.
But the possiblity of reordering, restructuring and developing an
internal logic that
is more meaningful for the individual is always available, providing the individual has
sufficient Will power left, and the direction of the Will to do so. Otherwise,
nothing
will happen.
Reason becomes potent only when it examines its very own
operating
generalisations. It is the only process that can do so. The only way to do
that is to analyse the roots of the beliefs and generalisations that form
the foundations of the structure of one's own mind, and then to dig deeper
into the assumptions behind the founding beliefs. Reason then becomes a
powerful tool that works on itself by making generalisations about the very
process of making generalisations and their areas of validity.
In the article on rationality and intuition, the rational process
was explained as the
process that maintains the linear thought stream of the mind. It functions by
mainataining an order or arrangement of the concepts and beliefs in the inventory
of the mind. The synthesis process is non-orderly and spontaneous and mostly
remains inhibited or low-key, but can become active, or tends to become active
when the rational, thought process suspends, or breaks, or makes a gap in its
continuity. This break may be involuntary, or may be forced by an external event
that shocks or jolts the linearity or continuity of the thought stream.
"Lack of rationality is a vice where
thinking and feeling are
called for - rationality is a vice where sensation and intuition
should be trusted".......Jung
BREAKING THE RATIONAL
There is another way by which the continuity is broken or can be
broken is when
it is done by the process itself. The most significant event is when the linear process
can "learn" either to suspend itself, or to make a forced gap in its own
continuity in
order for the synthesis process to become operational. This deliberate making or
setting up of a gap can take place when the process itself sets a goal to do so
whenever it is confronted with a problem or situation where the existing inventory
or the order of the inventory is insufficient to deal with the situation. The rational
process sets up a goal to seek a new conception to fill the gap in the existing
inventory or order or context arrangement of the order of concepts. This is
realised as "something missing" in one's understanding of the situation that is
confronted by the being, and the necessity is felt to bridge this gap. This something
missing becomes the basis for the creation of a new concept that can fill the gap
or short coming, that then leads to a reordering and expansion of the inventory.
THE BLOCK HEADS
Sometimes a sticky and difficult situation may arise when nothing seems to sort
things out, not even the making of a gap and suspension of reason. This probably
means that some item or items in the inventory are blocking any new conception
or reordering. For example, those people who hold a strong belief of monism
cannot deal with a situation which appears paradoxical or dualistic. To comprehend
the very nature of the paradox means that they must suspend their most valued
belief, and its associated conception of singularity. But even to suspend that is itself
taboo or unthinkable, and so the person either rejects the confronting situation
outright by dismissing it as non-sense or attacks it will all he has, rather than reverse
his belief to gain understanding of the situation. In such a condition where strong
beliefs are blocking understanding, it is only the complete suspension of the thought
process, or a deliberate disregarding of the existing concepts, as well as the operation
of synthesis process that can lead to any new conceptualisation, reordering or
understanding. This process may have to be repeated several times for the synthesis
to create a new solution or conception that can bridge the gap and resolve into an
enhanced understanding.
LOW LEVEL SYNTHESIS
Any synthesis activity if goes too far or beyond existing
conceptual frames, tends to be
bizzarre, strange and difficult to relate to. Although it too is neccessary ( a deep level
synthesis ), at least once in a blue moon, such experiences are very difficult to
translate
meaningfully. For a co-ordinated activity of the two processes, a low level synthesis is
much more useful.
TUNING THE WILL
The synthesis is a very sensitive process, especially so in its
initiation and so cannot
be forced into initiation. The only force that can cause its initiation is a developed and
fined tuned Will, which can not only trigger the synthesis, but also control the rational
process to force its suspension or its function in the rationalisation of a post
synthesis.
The Will is therefore the key to the initiation and control of not only the synthesis to
take
place, but also plays an equally important role in the post - synthesis rationalisations.
The development of the Will and its tuning is crucial, so that it becomes the central
controller and coordinator between the two processes. But that too can only be
effective if there is the making of a minimal free space for it to function.
FREE SPACE
Another way for a synthesis to take place is to make a sort of
clip-board, an area, an
open, free space in the domain of one's thought process and reason. On this clean slate
one can put clips of ideas and elements of a problematic or conflicting nature and leave
them there so that a sort of subliminal fermentation takes place and these get sorted out
in a spontaneous synthesis. If a significant synthesis breaks out into the conscious, it
can
lead to profound new understanding or creation of a new idea or relationship between
ideas.
STIMULUS FOR SYNTHESIS
A very important requirement for the synthesis process is unusual
or even exotic stimuli
that can lead to the spontaneous initiation of the synthesis process. The best way is to
always look for situations that break the routine and monotony of the linear process.
Change of location, change of people, change of style of interaction, taking on unusual
tasks are all useful ways in which the synthesis can be initiated. But for all the efforts
and
changes, the prerequisite condition for the Will to achieve potencey is : challenge.
CHALLENGES
For the exercise of both the processes as well as the Will there is
only one requirement,
and that is a challege that forces the use of all of one's faculties. There is no
alternative to
setting up or coming across a worthy challenge. To timely recoginise such a challenge can
well be the turning point of one's whole life. To miss the opportunity of a challenge or
to
take on a wrong kind of challege are potential mistakes that one must always be on the
alert for.
ABSTRACT EXPERIENCES TO RATIONALISATION
It is the exotic, strange or abstract experiences that provide the
vital clues to the
development of one's Will, providing these can be effectively rationalised so as to
show a meaningful direction. Out of ordinary experiences in the early stages of life
are very significant, and the whole direction of one's life can take a specific course
depending upon how these experiences have been handled by the rational process,
and how these can be related to the Will. Any rationalisation of abstract experiences
must not be rigid, or else the extra - ordinary experiences will eventually fade out
as well as get inhibited. The rational process must always keep the space open for
the out of the ordinary experiences, and for this reason must train itself to do so. It
must defy the tendency to stabilise itself by coming to hard and fast conclusions.
Any rationalisation from the abstract must therefore be open ended
and not final, only
then the two can compliment each other.
RENEWAL and TRANSFORMATION
Renewal means an expansion, improvement or betterment of one's
understanding of
oneself as well as of nature, and the relationship between them. Transformation is more
radical and implies a fundamental shift in one's entire range of paradigms. It usually
means
a change at the very foundation of one's thought and understanding whereby certain
assumptions that one was sub-consciously operating from are revealed and exposed for
their effect and hold, or the limitations of certain beliefs are shown up, or a drastic
reordering and restructuring takes place as a result of an insight or shattering
experience.
Temporary ransformation may be sought when one is confronted with a new or alien
context or circumstances, in which there is no radical change as such, only a temporary
created one in order to deal with a particular situation or context.
Understanding, and its underlying rational process have to be
continually renewed by
insights and imagination or else stagnation sets in. The difficult part is to keep
generating
the neccessary stimulus for this to sustain on. A sustaining stimulus can only come from
finding and taking on the right challenges that require greater and better understanding.
Stimulus and inspiration are the sustainers and initiators of
renewal and transformation,
but if someone is stuck despite the initiative and effort, that usually implies that a
certain
critical and core assumption or belief that has not been examined and exposed, is acting
as a bottleneck, and thus putting up a major limitation to the growth and renewal of
understanding. To break through means a likely crisis in which the entire edifice of
understanding may even tend to collapse, which, incidentally, is for the good of the
person. To successfully resolve the crisis means a total renewal, even a drastic change
of personality.