constructive contradiction

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/14/2006 10:51:56 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

Nisargadatta writes:

 

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 05:51:25 EDT

epston

Re: Re: constructive contradiction

 

In a message dated 4/14/2006 2:41:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

lissbon2002 writes:

 

> It´s because these are our concepts telling us that.

> Concepts can be adjusted if this suits our need to be almighty.

> Direct perception of fact cannot be adjusted, so it is not so

> attractive for the ego.

>

>

 

L.E: How strange to personify the ego this way. Here we have the ego or

self

choosing what is attractive and what is not attractive. Ego: Wow! I like

that

so i'll let it in, and No! That idea and experience is unattractive so I'll

just ignore it and keep it out and away from the real Len who is in there

waiting for me, ego, to bring him information. Absurd!

 

Larry Epston

 

 

 

 

 

One more time, the mind splits itself. I've done a lot of counseling, and

lemme make up a typical scenario in a session to show how self deception works:

 

Client: I feel sad.

 

Me: Why?

 

Client: I don't know.

 

Me: How can you not know? You created the feeling.

 

Client: Um.......my husband, Larry, doesn't understand me.

 

Me: Why do you need him to understand you? He doesn't understand anybody.

 

Client: I don't know.

 

Me: What you mean is that he doesn't appreciate you.

 

Client: Yes, that's it.

 

Me: Why would that make you sad?

 

Client: I don't know.

 

Me: How can you not know?....... You're not sad, you're angry.

 

Client: Yes, that's it! I'm angry cause he doesn't appreciate me.

 

Me: Why do you need him to appreciate you?

 

Client: I dunno.

 

Me: How can you not know? Who's need is it?

 

Client: Okay, um.........I deserve it.

 

Me: The problem is you don't believe you deserve it. You project this

unworthiness onto Larry and then get angry cause he doesn't fulfill your own

expectations that he could never possibly fulfill cause it's your self judgment

and

has nothing to do with him. That's the truth that you already knew before we

started but just pretended not to know.

 

 

-------------------

 

Of course, it might take weeks or months to arrive at this conclusion which

is already known at the start of the first session because the client has to

see it for herself or it's just more psychobable to whine to her friends

about, but the point is that it's just a tangled mess of self deceptions and

this

is what mind does.