Meaning and Perception
The interpretation of perceptions depends on existing models, in which we often key on a few specific aspects of something in order to give it meaning (e.g. the red aces of spades are generally not seen). This involves the function of memory. This is probably a part of the reason that the writing and reading of kanji (chinese characters) are separate operations. The recognition of a character may depend on a few key points, which are sufficient to recognize it, but insufficient to draw it. The earliest such model, which may serve as a reference point for all others, is one's own body image. [SFF]
Part of the stability of perception comes from the interplay of meaning and emotion . Meaning can lead to a specific emotion (an attacking bear --> fear), but the emotional state in which a perception is interpreted tends to bias the interpretation. The current emotional state tends to perpetuate itself and spread out to other, often unrelated people and events. This is a main factor in projection (see above), in that one's own emotional state is seen reflected in others, and is particularly active when the actual cause is not part of the consciousawareness (for any of a multitude of possible reasons). This is a separate process from the tendency of ripening samskaras to draw people with similar samskaras.
Perception is related to change. It is hard to perceive something that is unchanging, we become "blind" to it. This is related to the brain's quest for stability, allowing it to tune out the constant background and focus on a few dynamic elements of determined importance. Thus perception is relational and dynamic, depending on what has just been perceived, as much as on the absolute characterization of the perception. The experience of taking a "warm" shower after bathing in cold ocean water also illustrates this point. When the body has turned blue, even the "cold" water feels warm or hot. This is also true for our sense of body position, or posture [SFF]. This dynamic aspect of conscious perception (meaning and interpretation added to the raw physical sense) insures that each of us has a purely personal, subjective, experience of the world around us.
The interpretation of perception may require a reference point,
which Rosenfield suggests is the body, or
rather one's sense of one's own body. Any sensation, or memory, will only have meaning in relation to
one's self as reference point. He discusses the case of Madam I who
retained all her senses, except for pain and for the location of her
own body. I.e. the internal nervous
sensors that locate the body and which register pain seemed to
not function. The result was a loss of awareness of self (unless she
was touching one part of her body with another part) and an apparently
altered state of consciousness in which
she could not recall familiar places or people, and those that were
in front of her seemed "changed" and lacked any emotional charge. In
an apparent effort to remedy this she would frequently touch herself,
perhaps in an attempt to establish her own reality. Thus the
disassociation of self and body resulted in a loss of memory, emotion,
and the sense of familiarity when perceiving known objects or persons.
It is suggested that the physical cause was a lesson in the limbic system. The psychological cause was
apparently the violence of her husband. [SFF]
It may be argued that all meaning, or understanding, is self
referential. It is only to the extent that we can relate something
to our own self that it acquires meaning and becomes real. In this
case, self includes previously integrated experiences. This is the
bottom up formation of meaning or understanding. Access to the
higher layers of mind (e.g. the
atimanas) allows extensions of the understanding into new
areas beyond the simple integration of past experience. However,
even when people have had experiences of expanded consciousness,
much of what they experience may tend to be lost as they return
to their normal consciousness, as
there is no basis for its understanding at this level. [SFF]
Rosenfield discusses the idea that we form a dynamic body-image which is the main reference
point for all our perceptions. This is always changing, never really
complete, and requires an effort to maintain and update. In persons
suffering partial paralysis, it appears, that their whole relation to
their paralyzed limb changes. O. Sacks reported losing all memory of his leg and of
its use, it became something distant and alien. There was not only
a loss of the leg from his self-image, but also a loss of emotional attachment to it. Moreover,
with the only connection to a limb being that through the eyes, which
seem to say that it is still there, while all the internal senses
say that it is not, there is a conflict which may be resolved in the
refusal to recognize the space where the limb is at all. With no
reference point there is no
space, and the mind/brain suppresses the visual perception of the
related space as well. [SFF]
Our normal conscious state has a
sense of continuity to it. We generally feel, excepting the normal
fluctuations of daily life, that we are the same person today as we
were yesterday. This continuity is essential to the stability and
coherence of a well formed ego,
and is based on the models we form of ourselves
and the external world. Continuity
is based on the abstractions and concepts of
long term memory, which are the key to providing context and
meaning to events and objects.
In people who have lost functionality in their hippocampus their ability to form new long
term memories fades, and they become amnesic. As long as there is a
thread to follow they may hold things in mind, but once distracted
they forget again. [AM] This form of living in the moment is related
to, but quite different, from the states of consciousness sought by the
spiritual aspirant. In the later the
consciousness is withdrawn from the past and future and focused in
the present by the effort of conscious will, rather than through
the inability to access them. [AHM]
This aspect of mind, is largely a function of the manomaya kosa, the subconscious
analytic mind. It is based on, grows out of the sense perceptions of the
kamamaya kosa, the conscious
mind, and may be aided by the intuitive imagery of the atminanas kosa, the unconscious
mind. Flashes of insight etc. come from this level, while the
filling in of detail ect. is carried out by the subconscious.
[AHM]
The development of language parallels the growing
understanding and use of relationships and categories
(generalized names). Relationships to self come before
relationships between others, etc. Blind children show
different patterns due to a different set of relational
tools. A blind child has a more difficult time with
relationships between others, but develops a sense of
past and present earlier (only after catching the rolled
ball, can he/she know it was rolled). Language also
depends on having a model to copy. Without contact with
other people it does not develop, and without contact
with adults, only a less evolved and less well defined
language develops, and after puberty this development
stops. It will take a second "generation" of children
to develop a truly grammatical language, abstracted
from that of their older fellows. This is seen in the
experiences of deaf children not exposed to adults
using sign language, and in the evolution of creole
languages from pidgin (in the second generation).
This is seen as evidence for the processes of abstraction
in the brain, rather than any built in linguistic networks.
It is seen as a model of the evolution of language in the
human species. [SFF]
Consciousness is seen as
the result of self-referential categorization,
which is also at the heart of memory
and language. While this process may develop rules over time,
it is the process rather than the specific rules that reflects
the actual workings of the brain. [SFF]
The loss of the ability to use certain words in brain
damaged patients is not a loss of specific words memories, but
the disruption of processes of language or those that evaluate
perception. Abstraction and
the formation of categories is said to require language. One
may perceive that two colors are quiet different or similar
at an early age, but only later do the categories of "colors"
form, and they are language and culture dependent. The formation
of these categories requires the ability to understand
relationships. They start with simple groups and relationships
and compound upon each other. [SFF]
When we are "lost" in the immediate, we are on automatic,
and tend to be unconscious (at least of what we are doing). This
is similar to the state of many psychotics. However, for most
people, when the need arises they can readily pop up a level or
two, into a larger context or frame, in which meaning is
provided, even when there has been a distinct discontinuity
at the concrete level. We are then said to be more conscious.
The psychotic, on the other hand, becomes disoriented, confused,
anxious and possibly hostile, when faced with a discontinuity,
because they cannot pull back (up) enough to find a context
that is not discontinuous. [SFF]
Words may be simple labels, or they may be "names" which
carry meaning, i.e. relationship and category. This is a higher
level of language and thought, abstracted, or derived, from the
level of discrete, raw perception
, and is intimately bound up with
memory. The inability to use words as more than labels, to
have a sense of their "meaning" may be related to the inability
to self-reference the category that the word represents, e.g.
colors. Disruptions of the ability to relate to aspects of
ones body image may therefore
affect language and the use of words, just as they affect the
sense of one's body or various types of
memory. [SFF]
There is a hierarchy of models, and of meaning. The most
basic are rarely conscious, having to do with recognition of
features in images or touch or sound, e.g. edges or lines etc.
These are integrated into qualities, then objects, then groups
of objects etc. At a higher level, we have whole topics, or
subjects, e.g. baseball, car maintenance, baking, guitar
playing, massage, etc. Each with its own "world view",
"language", facts, skills, etc. When these larger scale models,
or maps, overlap and seem to flow together without a break,
they form a seemingly integrated and whole sense of self.
But at times there are boundaries which don't match exactly,
where there are discontinuities. The mind then has to either
move to a new level where the boundary can be seen to be the
result of the different maps, where they can be integrated, or
it may chose to ignore them. In many cases this is easy, in
particular if the maps involve different sets of activities
and people, in other cases the discontinuities may be more
jarring, and are covered over with elaborate mental
constructions (in the extreme, neurosis), or simply suppressed
and kept out of conscious awareness. [AHM]
It seems that in most cases, at all levels there is a
dynamic flux of "models", or conceptual constructions, both in
the nature of the construction itself (e.g. what is a "tree"),
and in the relationships between all the different "mental
objects". There is probably a wide variation in the fluidity,
dynamism, and flux in different peoples minds, or even in
different areas of the same mind, or at different phases of
life. In some cases there may be a great deal of rigidity,
often in response to external conditions or pressures, or in
response to internal stresses, trauma, etc. This is similar
to the "hard, strong" feeling of
kyo energy that covers up, protects, and actual weakness or
injury. [AHM]
On the other hand, up to a certain point the more fluid
the constructions, the more adaptable and creative the mind.
However, there is probably a balance, in that when the fluidity
is increased too much, it can all come unglued, and any sense of
reference, or integrity may be lost. When the mind is stressed,
either by an external perception or event, or internalized flaws
and inconsistencies, it is hard to remain at a given level of
integration. It may either go down, falling apart, by retreating
from the effort of integration (there is a strong fear of this
in us which helps to resist change), or it can go upwards, to
higher levels of integration, ultimately dissolving (rather than
falling apart) into the intuition of the atimanas. [AHM]
Even "normal" people may at times experience sudden shocks
or disruptions in their world that are so severe that they have
trouble rising to a level that is not disrupted. We can see the
sense of self, or world model,
as being layered, with each layer being broader, more integrated,
and more comprehensive, than the one below it. The lower layers
are also more immediate, or concrete, more discrete, closer to
the raw perceptions, where there
is no continuity and all events are isolated. At higher levels
there is more continuity and less discontinuity, but a strong
unexpected event may produce a discontinuity rising through many
levels. The deep of the discontinuity may in fact be a measure
of its strength. Our awareness
can move from level to level, and in general will attempt to
rise to a level in which events may be experienced in a
continuous fashion. However, there are varying limits to the
depth and breadth of each self, and in some events these may
be reached before the discontinuity is bridged. This is a
traumatic experience, and may be met with denial, suppression,
and various mental gymnastics in an attempt to "remove" the
discontinuity at a lower level. [AHM]
In other cases the shock may induce us to rise to a higher
level, to integrate our experience in a new way and thereby
expand our consciousness. This is the heart of tantric sadhana. Clash and
cohesion. Many of the various
clearing techniques have the goal of revisiting past events
and bringing them back into consciousness in a controlled
setting, with support and safety, allow the person to rise to
a new level, which they had failed to do originally. In many
cases this is possible due to the growth of the self in the
meantime. The greater the expansion of the self, the greater
the discontinuity it can handle. There may be junctures at
which the distinction between lateral growth and rising to
a higher level may be confused. [AHM]
While western psychological
models deal with the construction of an increasingly larger and
complete ego self, the
yogic traditions see the process
as moving on to higher levels of mind,
in part due to the willingness to abandon, leave behind, or
transcend, the small ego self. This discussion shows clearly,
however, the need for forming
a coherent ego, before it is transcended. The dissolution of
the ego, is not that of the psychotic, who descends back to the
lower levels before ego formation, though it may appear as such
externally, but rather one in which the sadhaka has risen to
levels above it. [AHM]
Languages are even larger maps, which may correspond to
cultures, and world views. In large languages, like English,
however, there may be many sub areas that are not fully
integrated. The mental world of physics, and that of shiatsu,
may both be expressed in English, but with quite different
vocabularies. In fact this is a source of much miscommunication,
when the same word is used by two persons based in different
maps. The old saying "being on the same page". One way of
viewing all sorts of personal growth, both that of over coming
"problems of the mind" and that of the "growth of the spirit",
is that it all involves the working of the boundaries, the
integration of maps (large and small), rising above the
discontinuities, becoming ever more aware of the unity of
existence. There are many methodologies, analytic study, or
intuitive exploration, or direct clairvoyant perception. [AHM]
I feel a need for coherence in my life, to have the pieces fit
in place, to make a coherent whole. When I am in a certain "mode",
such as working on a paper, or reading a book, or teaching a yoga
class, or going to class at Psychic Horizons, then there is a
limited world that is fairly coherent and in which I can feel
comfortable. There are unlikely to be an surprises outside of a
certain range of possibility. I can even switch from one to the
other without too much difficulty, and to some extent can blend
them into a larger whole. This is the most comfortable, when all
the pieces of my life, including family and friends are perceived
as a global harmony and unity.
However when there are too many transitions, or when there
begin to be conflicts between the various parts, in terms of time
allocation, or goals and direction, then I am less happy, more
prone to fears, uncertainties etc. There is an especially uneasy
time after a long period of being intensely into one mode or
another, i.e. when there has been a single focused theme, as in
a certain research project, or preparation for a meeting or trip,
or Christmas etc. Once this "goal" has been reached, there is a
disquieting sense of being lost, which is often compounded by
being tired, and the siren call of all the other modes that may
have been on hold, or shorted during the period of intense focus.
There is also the urge, or desire to have people, places,
processes, stay relatively constant in my life. In part this is
because if most of them are unchanging, then one can "handle"
more of them. If one aspect starts to change rapidly then it takes
more attention and energy to follow the changes and to adjust to
them. When many aspects are all changing at once, then it becomes
overwhelming, chaotic, unpredictable and uncontrollable. The rate
at which everything in the world around us changes is a strong
stress on all people in the modern world. The amount of change
that we are required to handle keeps increasing at what seems
like an often alarming rate.
When I read about the focus of the Tourette's person, or the
response to music of the amnesiac, then I sense a kindred spirit,
the longing for a tune or rhythm that will hold my world together,
allow it to be whole and comfortable. The doing never seems to be
a problem, but the drifting, and uncertainty in between the doing
is difficult to relax with. It is almost exactly the response to
being in a small boat. When it is underway, and powering through
the waves, there is little unease, but if it is drifting on the
waves, not powered or anchored, then the stomach protests. Even
underway, if the waves become chaotic or unpredictable, there can
be trouble, compounded by fear if the situation seems really
dangerous. By the uncertainty is the worst, a sort of psychic mal
de mer.
The question now is how to find one's Self among all the modes,
all the roles that I've learned to play, all the different scripts
and plays that I am acting in? Most importantly can I learn to relax
amid the chaos, to let go the need to understand it all, to see where
I'm going, and to trust that I am guided and supported no matter
which way the winds blow or the waves toss? Is it the challenge to
move a level above the expanding ego, to find the actor behind all
the roles? Does this mean letting all the roles go? at least for a
while? In finding and being one's Self will the need to play any
role disappear? or will the guidance as to which role to play be
forth coming?
Meaning and Body Image
Continuity of Consciousness
Language and Meaning
Names
The Hierarchy of Maps and Models
Large Scale Meaning
