Realization is nice. It stops the seeking and gives incredible peace of mind. However, it does not wipe the slate clean of your habits, conditioning, and unconscious programs. These buried vassanas still operate: "A vasana literally means 'wishing' or 'desiring', but is used in Advaita in the sense of the sub-conscious or latent tendencies in one's nature."
The first changes are due to a loss of wishful thinking, imagining that something outside yourself will make you happy. These wishes diminish over time. You find that you avoid drama and discover that peace is a primary virtue. You don't go seeking experiences. It's all right here.
The subconscious is programed from ages one to seven years. An animal has instincts, they are hardwired and there isn't much they can do about it. If you've been around animals you know how strong the instincts are. In humans, instincts are few, but what we are programed with during our early years becomes our instinctual behavior. Because they are unconscious, not chosen, but taken in to survive our family and culture. In other words, to fit in. Realization does not automatically remove these.
I have never been one to meditate. Contemplation always suited me better. However, I have had some success doing subconscious reprogramming just before I fall asleep. I developed acid reflux due to a stressful family situation. It lingered after the situation was resolved. I felt guilt, and resentment. As a last resort I spent three evenings before I fell asleep imagining a golden light coming down and through me removing all guilt, shame, and fear. I told myself that I no longer stored these emotions in my body.
It took three days for all the symptoms to stop. That was a few years ago, and the acid reflux has not returned. That's a pretty big return on a few meditation sessions of reprogramming my subconscious. Below is a link to a short video by Dr. John Lipton. I think it makes the case very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpGsAgE3TkA
The first changes are due to a loss of wishful thinking, imagining that something outside yourself will make you happy. These wishes diminish over time. You find that you avoid drama and discover that peace is a primary virtue. You don't go seeking experiences. It's all right here.
The subconscious is programed from ages one to seven years. An animal has instincts, they are hardwired and there isn't much they can do about it. If you've been around animals you know how strong the instincts are. In humans, instincts are few, but what we are programed with during our early years becomes our instinctual behavior. Because they are unconscious, not chosen, but taken in to survive our family and culture. In other words, to fit in. Realization does not automatically remove these.
I have never been one to meditate. Contemplation always suited me better. However, I have had some success doing subconscious reprogramming just before I fall asleep. I developed acid reflux due to a stressful family situation. It lingered after the situation was resolved. I felt guilt, and resentment. As a last resort I spent three evenings before I fell asleep imagining a golden light coming down and through me removing all guilt, shame, and fear. I told myself that I no longer stored these emotions in my body.
It took three days for all the symptoms to stop. That was a few years ago, and the acid reflux has not returned. That's a pretty big return on a few meditation sessions of reprogramming my subconscious. Below is a link to a short video by Dr. John Lipton. I think it makes the case very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpGsAgE3TkA
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