FROM A SITE VISITOR: What did you mean about varieties of determinism?
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR [Referring to the book CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS]: My girlfriend read your book--found it biologically deterministic but is willing to consider its questions.
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: "A" kills person "B.” What's the cause? If "A" reads the point that the cause of all is all, then he does not feel guilty. Raja
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Dearest floyd, Reading the post today, was reminded of words from Yajnavalkya when he attempted to dispel the fear of giving up individuality: “Where there are two, one sees another, one hears another, one welcomes another, one thinks of another, one knows another. But when the whole has become That (Atman), who is seen by whom, who is to be heard by whom, who is to be welcomed by whom, who is to be known by whom?” And…who is killing whom, indeed! g
F.: Exactly, ginny. In order to kill, persons identified with the body-mind-personality triad must be functioning under the auspices of warped or blocked consciousness; in order to drop bombs as an optional, personal choice, persons must be asleep and driven by the effects of warped or blocked consciousness as a result of distorted programming and conditioning;
and in order to refuse to negotiate one’s way through the relative existence via negotiation, one must be driven by a massive manifestation of egotism that accompanies the most firmly entrenched ego-states that have been assumed as identities.
How much influence does cultural determinism play in influencing entire races or countries to exhibit a propensity for war and fighting while other cultures have traditionally preferred peace? A significant role. Some nations on the whole take no offense when leaders make light of destruction, laughing even when a head of their government sings a lighthearted tune about bombing another country.
Persons can be inspired when their leaders exhibit a warrior mentality and speak positively of what fighters they are (that is, announce that their role is "The Fighter" and "The Super Fighter").
[Recall that it was Columbus who wrote in his diary of the natives he found in the “New World”—an interesting concept in itself—that they were so peaceful and docile that they were sure to make wonderful slaves.]
Now, to continue with the discussion of the combined roles of biological determinism and personality determinism begun yesterday, but first, to reiterate:
Advaitins share the understanding that the cause of all is all in order to allow seekers to be free of misunderstandings in one more area of human behavior during the relative. If one cannot understand the effects of personality and programming and conditioning determiners and then be free of those influences, then they will function throughout the relative existence with no more freedom than that of a Pavlovian dog.
The way that the personality type of Type Ones through Types Fives drive thoughts and words and deeds in “relationships” was covered yesterday. Here are the remainder:
Type Sixes are generally dependent, often driven by fear and anxiety and often seeking others to take care of them and provide security. (And Type Sixes account for 50% of all females on the planet and 50% of males on the planet. Want to control 50% of the population of the planet? Just play to their fears and their anxieties.)
Types Sevens will avoid commitment or tend to be ambivalent and distracted.
Types Eights will be demanding and controlling and uncompromising.
Type Nines can be stubborn, passive-aggressive, and defensive.
Is the greatest factor in determining personality type probably environmental? Likely. Yet are there also biological aspects of personality? Definitely.
So the biological determiners work to drive persons into relationships to meet desires and to assuage fears and then personality determiners drive behavior in their relationships. Maharaj was a proponent of using science to support the teachings, so, in terms of biological determiners, consider the influence of the limbic area of the brain:
In laboratory studies, male rats have been found to be stimulated by sexual visuals and smells (the response having been detected within the limbic area of the brain including the hypothalamus and the amygdala). No such response was registered in female rats.
Human testing showed a similar response. Even if human females found certain visuals to have some arousal effect, they did not show as dramatic a level of increased activity in the limbic area as human males who were shown sexually-stimulating pictures.
Such differences are examples of biological determinism in terms of human male and human female thoughts and words and deeds, and such biological influences can combine with other determiners (such as environmental, cultural, natural, and experiential influences) to create totally different agendas between males and females in relationships.
Consider the natural/biological determiners that inspire males of various species to fight for dominance and the right to breed with females. Examples can be seen (1) in the wild as rams fight—on some occasions to the death—for the right to breed with a group of ewes or (2) in human cultures. [See tapes of “The Jerry Springer Show” for examples of sleepwalking humans whose more prurient instincts drive them to fight for breeding rights.]
The fact is that rams seek sex and ewes trade sex. Ewes “save themselves” for the “best” male, a status determined by the superior physical prowess that is evidenced when that male wins the fight over the ewes. (Those persons who take themselves to be functioning on "a much higher plane" will certainly be offended by any suggestion that some humans exhibit the same behavior when biological factors are at play, yes?)
That natural determiner among ewes is activated to assure the quality of the species and to answer their drive (a) to be taken care of and (b) to be protected from advances from rams to which they have no attraction and (c) to have a sense of security. Naturally, the ewes sense that those desires can best be met by the strongest or most dominant male.
Again, as natural as that is, many persons take offense at the notion that the same natural determiners might drive human behavior. Having evolved—in their minds—to “far higher levels than the animals,” surely what is happening in their relationships cannot possibly be so simplistic and offensive and biologically-driven as to involve a male who is seeking sex and a woman who is trading sex for security or protection or being taken care of.
Yet if one studies the survey results of 1000 male newlyweds and 1000 female newlyweds who were asked why they had married, the males indicated they were "tired of the dating scene" (tired of the chase for a sex partner) and the females top three answers dealt with "security and/or financial issues."
The answer “I married for love” did not make the top 15 responses offered by the 2000 recently-married persons. Are there exceptions? Of course. Are they in the majority? Research suggests not. Are some ram/ewe-type parallels in evidence? Yes. Is that a result of biological determinism? Yes, especially among the non-Realized. [See CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS for full details. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TODAY’S POST:
TWO OTHER OFFERINGS ARE AVAILABLE:
More and more seekers are requesting an understanding of how a personality formed in childhood is still determining and controlling everything that is thought or said or done in adulthood. Others have inquired about an opportunity to speak one-on-one about the seven-step “path” to Realization.
Thus, two opportunities are being offered from now until Dec 15th at 50% off:
PERSONALITY TYPING:
Here’s what is included in the package that is available for the next two months (the service available to international visitors but these price being only for the Continental U.S.):
A copy of the personality test (B) Priority mailing of the test (C) Analysis of the test results (D) a one-hour telephone session to discuss the results (E) the cost of the telephone conference. Cost is US$95.
ONE-ON-ONE SATSANG VIA TELE-CONFERENCE
For the next two months, a tele-conference to discuss any aspects of the Advaita teachings one-on-one will be offered. [Rich from the
To arrange either package, >Click ARRANGE PACKAGES provide all of the information requested, and in the message box at the bottom, indicate that you want to make arrangements for the PERSONALITY TYPING or for the ONE-ON-ONE ADVAITA SESSION or both.
