Chapter 27 tension and relaxation

tension and relaxation The unconscious state of mind is known as a major discovery in modern western psychology.The human mind does not completely emerge in the current consciousness, and there are many things hidden outside the current consciousness, as if there is a boundary.What floats above this boundary becomes consciousness, and what settles below this boundary is not conscious at the time.This boundary is called the threshold of consciousness by psychologists.Subliminal consciousness is also known as the subconscious mind, also known as the unconscious.But this is just a rough analogy. It can also be said that the current consciousness forms a circle, and those who are excluded from the circle and are not aware of it for a while can also be called external consciousness, or side consciousness.This kind of above-threshold and sub-threshold, inside and outside the circle, is not a clear division, but gradually blurred, gradually dimmed, and even completely unknown, and it is not always such a distinction.In fact, it is always changing, sometimes the sub-threshold rises, the upper-threshold falls, the outside of the circle squeezes in, and the inside of the circle escapes, so the mentality is changing all the time.In short, what is currently realized is by no means the whole of the human mind.When it comes to the subthreshold, suprathreshold or the weight and boundaries of consciousness and subconsciousness in the outer circle, it is also different from person to person and from time to time.Some people have, at certain times, only a very small part of it, so to speak, supraliminal consciousness.Some people sometimes have less subliminal consciousness and more supraliminal consciousness.In other words, the circle of consciousness is enlarged, there are fewer outside the circle, and more inside the circle.Some people sometimes do the opposite.Some people sometimes have loose and flexible changes in the inner and outer circles of the suprathreshold and subthreshold circles, while others have difficulty in changing them.The so-called people who are difficult to change mean that those who are below the threshold cannot rise above the threshold, and those who are outside the circle cannot squeeze into the circle. If so, it will become a hardening of mentality.Some people sometimes have obvious differences between suprathreshold and subthreshold, or inside and outside the circle, but they don't feel conflict.Some people sometimes have subconscious and conscious conflicts, and even split into two personalities.For example, a government is revolutionized by the lower classes of society, or foreign tribes invade from all sides, separate regimes and rebels, forming anarchy, or two governments confront each other.These tricks have been studied with great interest by modern Western psychologists, and they have roughly become common knowledge.

In fact, consciousness is just a concentration point of the human mind at any time.The human heart must move towards a certain object, and this kind of movement is also called attention in psychology.Attention is awareness.All consciousness gathers at the center and surroundings of this point of attention, and as it gets further away, it becomes blurred and becomes unconscious or unconscious.Therefore, the distinction between suprathreshold and subthreshold and inside and outside the circle is actually just the difference between closeness and distance to the current point of attention.Pay attention to the shift of points, and the whole mentality will also shift accordingly. The parts of intimacy and distance are changed, that is to say, those outside the circle squeeze into the circle, and those above the threshold fall into the subthreshold.If the mind is made to pay no attention to everything, and not move towards any object, then the mind will be like a blur, and the boundary between the upper and lower thresholds of the inner circle and the outer circle will disappear.This is what happens when a person is asleep.Concentration of the mind, you have to use some strength to control it.If those controls are weakened, the mind will be loose, and if there is no control at all, the mind will not be able to concentrate.When you want to sleep, you must try to release your control over the mind, let the mind relax, and pay no attention to the outside world, so it is easy to fall asleep.When you first wake up after sleeping, you must try to strengthen your control over the mind. Once you control it, your mind will be excited and concentrated, and you will become an awakened state.If so, then the so-called circle of consciousness or threshold of consciousness is originally caused by the concentration of the human mind.You gather what you want to be conscious of, and exclude and suppress what you don't need to be conscious of, so that it becomes two halves of consciousness and unconsciousness.If your power to control concentration is strong or weak, it becomes the tension and relaxation of your mentality.The subconsciousness of nervousness is easy to be clear, but it is also easy to be divided into two halves.With a relaxed state of mind, the consciousness is not easy to be clear, but the heart is easy to dissolve into one piece.

Zhuangzi said: "Those who have deep desires have shallow secrets."When the human mind concentrates, its origin must have requirements, which is the so-called lust of Zhuangzi.Concentrate your mind because of your requirements, let those that meet your requirements enter the circle of consciousness, bright and active, and those that do not meet your requirements are excluded from the circle of consciousness, dim and dim.You organize your mind like this, there are advantages and disadvantages.For example, the people's organization-government naturally has its needs.But those inside the government use their authority, while those outside the government are idle and useless, and they are oppressive and not free. There is a fable in "Liezi", which says that when a person enters the market, he immediately grabs gold when he sees it, and he is arrested. When asked how brave he is, the answer is cloudy.This is because his attention is too concentrated, his emotions are too tense, and he has a deep desire to grab money. Therefore, although there are others, he ignores them, is absent-minded, turns a blind eye, and blocks his eyes. This is a good proof of Zhuangzi's words. .Speaking from history, the power of the dead is far greater than that of the living.Speaking of a person's day, the power of sleep at night is greater than the power of waking during the day. All wisdom and power are nourished at night and then used during the day.From the current state of mind, the remote consciousness outside the circle of consciousness is not more useless than the central consciousness in the circle of consciousness.Zhuangzi's so-called secret is to let this kind of remote consciousness actively participate in the activities of the center.If you exclude too much and suppress too much, it will not only make your secrets shallow, but also produce reaction and cause disturbance.Just like a government that is too strong, too centralized, and too isolated from the lower classes, it is necessary not only to reduce the intelligence of this government, but also to cause revolution, so that this government cannot avoid being overthrown.In psychology, the so-called broken personality, insanity, and even all crazy states are caused by too much tension and depression.The milder symptoms are dreaming at night, those remote consciousnesses that are expelled outside the circle of consciousness during the day, and when your control is loosened at night, they will sneak into the circle of consciousness to act wantonly.Although it was not a breakdown of personality at that time, although it did not enter the realm of madness, it was always the turmoil and reaction in your heart.Zhuangzi said: "A perfect man has no dreams."This state is to tell you that your mind is peaceful, your spirit is calm, your whole personality is coordinated, and there are no restless elements lurking in your heart. Once that kind of state of mind arrives in the daytime, you will naturally be clear-sighted, lively, and can respond to music when.The above said: "Know the way of day and night."This is the limit.If you stare too hard at a word, if you stare too concentratedly and nervously, you will be confused and unable to recognize the character.If you try hard to find a needle in the ground and exhaust your eyesight, the needle will not be found.If you can relax a bit, let your eyesight do its job, the needle will suddenly throw itself into your sight, and you will see it accidentally, without any effort.This is ironclad proof that you understand.

Let us roughly divide the human mind into two types: tense and relaxed.A person who is nervous is like a flashlight. If you tighten the light spot tightly, the light will become stronger and the aperture will also shrink.The loose type, such as the light spot of a flashlight, is reversed to enlarge the aperture, but the light power is weak.People who are accustomed to intense concentration often focus their minds on one point and exclude all external things, so it is easy to go deep and go sideways.People who are accustomed to relaxation and indifference do not always focus their minds on one point, so what they see is wider and more comprehensive, but not deep and detailed.Intellectually speaking, the former type of people are suitable for exploring in natural science.The latter type of people are suitable for experience in the humanities.Emotionally, people of the former type are intense and intrusive.The latter type of people are plain and full of sensibility.Western peoples have more of the former type, while Chinese people have more of the latter type.This difference is still due to the natural environment and its production enterprises.Desert nomads and marine businessmen, because of their tight lives and doing everything, tend to cause psychological tension.In the farming society of the plains, things are leisurely and idle, and there are more time to do nothing, which is easy to cause psychological relaxation habits.Western natural science is a product of tension.They like to eliminate all irrelevant things as much as possible, and only go straight from one point to the next, so they can discover all scientific knowledge.Religion is also a product of tension.All kinds of ghosts and gods under the experience of Western religions seem to the relaxed mind to be neurotic.If psychoanalysis is used to explain it, it is actually caused by the intrusion of his peripheral consciousness into the center.Any fiery religious psychology must have the strongest sense of war between heaven and man, and a great revolution will surely break out in the depths of its heart.Because the usual psychological organization is too strong and hardened, once the balance is lost, the consciousness outside the subliminal consciousness circle rushes into the heart, completely overthrows the original central organization, and completely remodels the personality. There is a big shock in the personality, the old personality collapses, and the new personality ruthlessly builds a new one. , This is the highest state in religious experience, making people go crazy into a new world.In religion, it is a divine inspiration, a gift from God, and a descending spirit from God.Others, such as love psychology and war psychology, are also products of tension, and they all rush to a certain point with fervor and recklessness.The entire personality is concentrated on this point. If the upper threshold is described as lower, his mental state should be like a pyramid, and the upper threshold is condensed into a spire, which is the object of his love and struggle. Everything else is suppressed. At the bottom of the tower, I was so oppressed that I couldn't breathe.This state of mind is fundamentally restless and restless.At the feet of the God of Love, under the banner of the God of War, it is easy to go crazy, and it is also easy to turn around and convert to God and believe in divine power. In fact, God and divine power are just a great revolution when his outer consciousness invades the center.In the books of Zhuangzi, a state of emptiness and tranquility is often praised, and later Zen Buddhism described it as often vacant, Song Confucians such as Zhou Lianxi called it quiet, empty and dynamic, and Cheng Zhu called it respectful.People who often use these skills can't be infected with love demons, can't go to the front line, can't fall in love, and can't fight.The so-called emptiness does not mean that there is nothing in his mind, but that he is relaxed, not tense, unorganized, and awakened flatly, opening his whole mind, opening the door and opening the window, so that he is exquisite in all directions, always ventilated, and ventilated everywhere. Everything on the outside can be felt at any time and anywhere, and everything on the inside can be loosened at any time and anywhere. The overall intelligence is not suppressed or yearned.Such a person, the whole state of mind is harmonious.For example, a glass of clear water without any dregs, don't build walls around your heart, and don't let subliminal or outside the circle have the mental energy to suppress and reject for too long.Such people cannot believe in religion.The so-called not being able to believe in religion is just that he will not have the religious experience of seeing gods and ghosts, and he will not feel the kind of great duel between heaven and man.The kind of big duel between heaven and man is looked down upon by the Orientals, who think it is an unsound and unstable personality.Such an attitude, when used intellectually, will not block various departments and aspects, and only drill forward to one point, so it will not be able to invent all kinds of new knowledge in modern Western natural science.

The former tension type, applied to religion, is the opposition between God and the devil.Applied in philosophy, it is the dualism of spirit and matter.Applied to the organization of political society, it is class and the rule of law.Applied in life, it is a strong struggle and progress.Applied intellectually, it is the depth and specialization of the polygon.The latter type of relaxed mind, applied to religion, is the unity of man and nature.Applied in philosophy, it is the monism of All-That-Is.Applied to the organization of political society, it is the peaceful ideal of Datong and Taiping.Applied in life, it is leisurely, tranquil and peaceful.Applied in reason, it is to adapt to things, consider the situation and reason, and not fall into prejudice.All cultural forms of the East and the West can all be enlightened from this one.