During a conversation in the comments section in one of my posts, the issue of mind control came up. I have been wanting to do a post on it for a long time, so here it is. I have attached a link to the conversation if anyone is interested- http://extendingmyspine.blogspot.in/2013/01/reps-and-sets-for-strength.html
Before we understand the vast tradition of mind control, it is important to understand the cultural and sociological background behind all of this. Almost all human culture can roughly divided into "civilized" and "un-civilized". The defining factors behind civilization is-
1. Settled society
2. Demarcation of duties
3. Plenty of food
4. Right to private property
5. Civilization likes to preserve itself using methods like patriarchy, government and religion.
Barbaric Cultures are defined by-
1. Constant movement
2. Tiny groups
3. Food has to be found and hunted
4. Strongest keeps the goods.
5. Ultimate freedom for everyone.
A good way to understand the differences between them is to understand their methods of measuring success. In any civilization, the person with the greater goods is more powerful. Thus by default a civilized society is a materialistic society. On the other hand, the most successful barbarian is the one who is successfully alive and well and is getting stronger. Strength is the measure of success- not just physical but emotional, spiritual and psychological. Ultimately a weakness in any one of these things could destroy you. Thus a barbarian is essentially self obsessed- self improvement is their prime concern.
From this rudimentary understanding it is easy to see why all real philosophical bodies of knowledge originate with either barbaric or ascetic cultures.
Therefore what we must understand is the all "philosophical" systems created in civilization are more sociological than spiritual. In essence almost every god or system of gods that exist in various civilized cultures are basically man's rationalization of the fear of the unknown. The primary purpose of these entities is to reward the good and punish the bad. Thus its easy to see that the primary purpose here is to bring order to society by having a higher law giving authority (and a more powerful) than the government.
In contrast almost all philosophical systems rooted in nomadic cultures are primarily obsessed with explaining the universe. This is better understood by the fact that there is no real god or gods the way Christians understand the concepts. For example, the Christian god is all powerful and supreme. On the other hand in Taoism there are almost a hundred thousand gods but not one of them means squat. All of them can even be killed by humans if you were strong enough. It is also an interesting insight into the strongest and the best will prevail philosophy- even being a god does not mean you stop learning and getting stronger, because someone out there will kill you. Another way of looking at it is that with enough hard work everyone can become a god. Even the greatest overseer of the universe (in Taoism), the Jade Emperor, is subject to the winds of change. For example when the legendary monkey king Sun Wukong attacks heaven the third time, he literally pees in his pants and runs to Gautama Buddha for help. And the monkey king was a simple mortal, who really worked his ass off.
The three philosophical systems that are relevant to us as training systems are the Original Vendantic tradition (Hinduism is an amalgamation of the vedas, the bhagwath gita and the bhakti movement- its a lot more Civilized if you know what I mean), Taoism and Bhuddism. The basic construct of all three is similar- the universe itself is the ultimate force, there is nothing behind it per say (Taosim has the Tao which is like the force from Star Wars, but in actuality it is not an energy field as much as a principle that governs the universe, which is again common to all three traditions). Therefore I will get into the examination of only one- the Vendantic Tradition. This is because I am the most well versed in this tradition.
First of all, the vedas were written by the Aryans before the came to India. It is a nomadic piece of work. Before we get into it, let us understand that we must give the vedas the respect they deserve (from a scientific point of view) as whatever the theories are and we don't know if they are true, the math works out. We do not know how they arrived at this figure, but the vedas date the (current) universe at 16.4 Billion years. Please keep in mind that this dating has an entire kalpa (stage) before the expansion of the universe (a.k.a the big bang), which we will get into. If you exclude that kalpa and count from the big bang, the age of the current universe according to the vedas is 13.5 billion years. Modern estimates place the universe as 13.77 billion years old, give or take 37 million years. Its obvious that the theory at least works out the math with extraordinary accuracy. Both Taoism and Buddhism give similar figures. Contrast this with the Old Testament, which dates the age of the universe as 12,000 years. Its almost mind boggling that the ancients were able to think in terms of such large numbers.
According to the vedas (and Taoism and Bhuddism), the Principle of the universe is Duality. Everything has a duality to it. It is the only principle of the universe, the only thing that is constant. In your actions it manifests as Karma (what goes around comes around). In mechanics its newton's laws. In physics its the conversion of energy to matter and matter to energy (E=MC Square). In physiology it is the negative feedback loop. In cosmology its the theory of a cyclical universe. The Vedic assertion is that this principle is all there really is and to truly understand and realize this is in fact to get Bodhisattva (Ultimate Understanding). To be the principle itself is to overcome all your "physical" limitations, that is Moksha. A lot people understand it as leaving your physical self, but this is not essential to the theory. What it means is that your abilities are beyond all limitations, as you have learnt how to apply the knowledge of your Bhodisattva, which of course is ultimate knowledge. You may or may not go beyond your physical self, depending on the path you have chosen to achieve moksha. Nirvana is to integrate with the universe because you have become one with yourself and the duality within you to a degree that you have created a singularity. Thus you are now truly one with the universe and this is the achievement of the understanding of the duality behind duality- the singularity.
All three traditions prescribe various ways one can reach the previous levels. All depend upon an understanding of duality, through some form of its practical application. It will suffice for us to examine one of the most acceptable ways of doing so- physical culture. In all three traditions there is a huge body of literature focusing on enlightenment through exercise. In simple terms, the body is also governed by duality. Thus to understand your body and to be one with your body, is to understand duality- which is enlightenment. To master your body you must master duality which is Moksha or your ascension to a god like status. Thus exercise is an intensely spiritual experience in all three traditions.
To understand how to do this, let us first examine an obvious way of "training" duality- to simply meditate on it. Ths practise is called Zazen by zen practitioners and is the conerstone of Zen Practice. In fact some say Zazen is Zen. You sit n a cross legged posture with your spine straight and you focus on your breathing. That is all. You hold the universal mudra in your hands as you do so. The idea is smple- breathing is in itself and in every way an expression of duality. If you keep paying attention to it, so much so that all other thoughs stop, you will begin to understand duality. Interestingly the purpose of Zazen is to NOT be dualistic. It goes back to the duality of duality, that is to understand it and be it, you must not be dualistic. Its difficult to explain unless you practice it, but can be roughly explained as "Being in the Moment".
Let us examine what happens when you are in the moment during your Zazen practice. You are aware of you breathing exactly as it is happening. Therefore, since your mind is not in the future nor in the past, you are not controlling your breathing, you are simply aware of it. But you are aware of both your breathing, your mind and what is called your larger mind. At this instant you are aware that you have inhaled and that you are going to exhale. Keep in mind you are not controlling your breathing, you are simply observing t. You know you are about to exhale, not because you are thinking ahead (for then you would be controlling it) but because your larger mind tells you so (through sheer instinct). This happens because your larger mind is aware of the duality behind breathing. But if you were to pay attention to that duality, you would no longer be in the moment, and you would once again not be dualistic. Thus the only way to be dualistic is to not be dualistic.
Another way of looking at it s that being in the moment enables you to see the future, through the medium of your larger mind. In martial arts, this manifests as being so much in the moment, that you can predict your opponents movements, just by observing him. Your response is also automatic and appropriate as your larger mind tells you what to do.
In the context of exercise, being in the moment enables you to know what the effects of what you are doing is going to be, which enables you to know what to do, in order to get the best results. The practice of exercise makes you familiar with the principle of duality, which in turn gives you an understanding of your body. This allows you to be more familiar with your body, which allows you to be in the moment during your exercise (and over time in your entire life), which once again facilitates the same. Over time, you will be duality and realize it, achieving Bodhisattva.
Thus the real realm of mind control from our point of view is to achieve such a degree of "being in the moment" (a.k.a focus) that we are able to train perfectly for our purposes. I use a simple progression to teach people how to get started (you can't call yourself a master until you have, you know, ascended).
First of all, no music no distraction during your workouts. Try your best to focus on both the movement of the joints and the contraction of the muscles as you exercise. Do this for 4-5 weeks after which you move on to step two.
Begin getting familiar with your body and learn how to be aware of every little thing in your body. I teach people to do this through the practice of the Wu Chi position. Any Tai Chi practitioner will show you this position or you could download (for free) and read The way of Energy by Master Lam. It gives a very good description of the basic standing meditations. Basically the objective in Wu Chi is to stand like a tree, absolutely immobile, standing in a natural and perfectly balanced position, with you mind "rooted" into the ground (you have to feel you have roots growing from under your feet into the ground, nourishing you). You don't have any thoughts because trees don't think. You just stand there being aware of your body, yourself, your breathing and your roots. In order to focus on the breathing properly you will have to learn to breathe through your stomachs, but most athletic people will find that they already do this. You will find that over time, this is actually an extremely active position- you will literally feel your cells growing, you energy growing, your blood flowing, your nerves firing, your breathing, your strengthening everything. After a while it becomes incredibly forceful. In addition this practice seems to increase hormonal recovery by leaps and bounds. I am not sure why, but I think it is because it creates an optimal environment for adrenal hormones to be produced and it relaxes the mind.
After you have practiced Wu Chi for at least a year, you may, if you like learn the 24 forms Tai Chi movements. This will teach you how to pay attention to your body during movement. Otherwise you could just directly start with using basic exercises with light weights (initially) and retaining this kind of awareness during your exercise. Over time you will be able to do it naturally and smoothly with even the heaviest weight.
The greatest champions in every field (not just sport) ultimately reach this stage in their work, whether they call it Wu Chi, being in the moment or duality or the mind body connection or french fries. Take a look at any video of Dimas lifting or Arnold posing or Jordan dunking and you can see it in their eyes that they have got it. And when you have something like Wu Chi, which have time and time again over centuries taught people how to reach this state, you must use it. Even the monkey king (who attacked heaven) was supposed to have trained 3 hours daily using Wu Chi. You may use Zazen instead. But you must be doing atleast one. Wu Chi and Zazen are like the Squats and deadlifts of the mind control world- if you want to be truly world class, there is no better way to get there. They are the basics. If you want to pursue Zazen, I recommend Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginners mind. Read as much as you can, but just start practice.
If anyone ever takes up Zazen or Wu Chi training and you ever want to discuss it, please comment below.
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