My methodology:
The path to enlightenment has often been described the method of ‘no method’. Having said this, even though this is the deepest realization, we will start at the surface.
First by bringing one’s commitments into order and balance, through implementation of techniques such as GTD, Willpower optimization and so on – all of which are based on premiere science and management philosophy.
Secondly we will go into understanding the nature of consciousness through meditation and self inquiry.
We will combine these two core processes, along with an aspiration for healthy diet, exercise and relationships, to cultivate a state which I describe as ‘neuroanalog’. In many traditions, this is the state of mystics, of Zen masters, of people who have dedicated their lives to understanding the true nature of themselves.
However this state alone will not allow one to operate in the modern world, which demands the cognitive faculties and creative efforts of the modern knowledge worker. As such another mindstate which I call ‘neurodigital’ or the superimposition of ideas onto existence, or identification and categorizing of existence will be used in conjunction with the neuroanalog state.
The ratio in time will be upto you, but for myself it works out to about 10-15% ND and 85%-90% NA. The NA state akin to the recently discovered and much hyped ‘flow state’ where the internal commentary of the mind shuts down, and one is totally present in the moment.
To see how these two states overcome the contradiction that comes about from much of modern mindfulness training, even though this technique is incredibly powerful and is where I began my journey, consider the conversation below, I had with a computer scientist friend who inquired about the contradictory teaching of the importance of always being present and the importance of having a critical thinking, conceptualizing, analytical and executing mind.
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To exemplify with a conversation with a friend:
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Adam: hey man, got a question for ya. Recently I've started reading 'practicing the power of now' by Eckhart Tolle. Not sure if you have read it or not but to sum his book up in one phrase he basically says that you must immerse yourself in presence by practicing mindfulness at every chance you can get. I was really behind this at first but recently I have been speculating over the possible side effects of doing this. For example, is self reflection an important part of our daily lives? What happens when we start to remove reflecting on the past/fantasizing about the future? Sometimes it just feels as tho I am pushing further away from human nature as I practice techniques to block out the normal process of human thinking. Hope you can help clear up some of these concerns
6 JANUARY 03:58
Promyth:
Oh I know the confusion man, and it just so happens my cousin sister who is with us at the momment form Australia has been reading this as well. So will go through it with her.
I know this confusion all too well. On the one hand there is the need to plan and relate ideas/experience, to create effective vectors through one's life.
On the other by doing so, we are removed from the 'now' of existence and our own true natures. So in my case it has been helpful to break up my cognition between two states what I call 'neurodigital' and ‘neuroanalog’ (I own both of these domains but that’s another story ;)).
So ND is when you are planning, when you are using the logical mind, as we do for coding or for making sense of experience. I usually make most of my decisions for the day either the night before or first thing the next day – and have a sense of physical, cognitive, other resource allocation and what to expect throughout. I would also recommend you incorporate the Getting things done philosophy by david allen into your ND life.
But once you have decided, once the vector has been clarified (again to the best of your efforts, you can never completely know if your planning has been optimal, or more importantly, that things will go according to your plan, so often things do not, but even those momments can be points to practice mindfulness)…then its time to go NA. To flow. To be. And remain present through no matter what the experience. From as exotic as doing a presentation in front of an audience, through to as mundane as washing dishes, or cleaning the bathroom. Indeed Zen masters were the one’s responsible for the most difficult tasks of the temple such as cleaning the bathroom, while the novices were given more labour intensive tasks.
But NA is the source. NA is what makes ND possible. When having to choose between the two, it is better to lean and trust more towards NA than ND. In ND you are in a state of 10101010. In NA you are beyond both 1 and 0. And NA goes deep. It has taken me years to get more towards the Mariana trench levels, but that’s because I didn’t know a lot of things and had to research and find out. I hope with you and anyone else on this journey it will now hopefully be a lot faster and efficient.
NA is peace, being in the flow state, not super imposing onto reality or trying to understand it. This is because understanding is possible only under limited conditions and to a certain depth across all domains. To Surf it if you will
So to finally answer your question, self reflection is essential for one’s life. But there will come a point where you’lll also recognize when the reflection is becoming too much, or coming at the expense of action or presence, and that is the difference between superimposing as ND (seeing yourself in separation), and NA (seeing the separation as illusory). ND will help you with conceptual problems, practical problems in life, and a conceptual understanding of the self. NA is being that understanding. It is the actual living of your life. Being with the inherent rest state of awareness and finding peace, insights and oneness with any and all of existence itself.
As such I am not an advocate of completely removing the ND aspect of our existence completely. For me the ratio is about 5-10%ND, and 95-90% NA. There comes a point as your practice deepens, that even ND can be done with mindful awareness. It is still worth the effort, and you have to develop an intuitive feel as to when to go about doing this, and when its becoming too much. But more important than understanding the world, is finding your way in it.
I hope that helps. I’ll llink you the GTD philosophy TED, and the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHxhjDPKfbY&t=224s
6 JANUARY 11:08
Adam
thanks man, this helped ALOT! Mate, you should you write a book about all this ND, NA stuff. Call it mindfulness for computer scientists or something like that :')
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