What can we do to perceive the subjective truth? 1)

In my previous article, I talked about the importance of valuing and facing the wishes of those in the former stages of mental maturity in order to increase the purity of subjective truth.

This is the final part of the subjective truth series. I would like to talk about how to perceive the subjective truth.

The premise is that the subjective truth is not something that can be expressed entirely in words, but is imaginary, like a lump of energy, so I hope you will see this as a way to help you feel connected to the subjective truth, rather than a methodology to beautifully verbalize it.

There are two major approaches to perceiving subjective truth: one is to trace the source of what we value as unchanging from our past experiences and current activities. The other is to take an intuitive and abstract view of the tendency of our consciousness and examine its validity. In this article, I will talk about the former approach of perceiving the subjective truth based on concrete experience.

Perceiving Subjective Truth from Original Experience

Since the subjective truth is a source of inner energy, it is highly likely that the embodiment of that energy has appeared in our past experiences. This is an approach that attempts to perceive the subjective truth by looking back on past experiences and wondering if those experiences were the embodiment of the subjective truth.

Let’s try to identify as many experiences as we can that have the following elements. It does not have to be an experience in which all of the elements apply, just as long as one of the elements applies to you.

1) I had a lot of inner energy (at least at the time)
2) I was able to work proactively and positively for a relatively long time (even if I was initially given the opportunity to do so by the surroundings)
3) I had a sense of fulfillment.
4) I had a sense of immersion.
5) Inspiration often came to me.

I will briefly explain why these five are the criteria for extracting experience. First of all, since the subjective truth is the source of inner energy, we can say that the content of (1) is the nature of the subjective truth itself, and as for (2), it is because of the inner energy that we are able to work positively and proactively for a relatively long period of time, even if nothing is expected by those around us.

For (3), I use the term fulfillment in the sense of a stable pleasant feeling with low arousal rather than a short-term pleasant feeling with high arousal, which is the feeling we get when we are connected to the subjective truth.

The sense of immersion in (4) appears when we are connected to our intuitive consciousness (to which the subjective truth belongs), and can be regarded as a state in which our intuitive consciousness is connected to our bodily consciousness without or unconsciously through our thinking consciousness. This is a phenomenon that tends to occur when we are connected to our intuitive consciousness.

What experiences do you recall? In my case, the following experiences made the list.

▼ Tennis
・From 1st year junior high school to graduate school
・Energy, contentment, and immersion.
・Inspiration was rare (motivation, but no sense)
▼Physics and Mathematics
・I started to be interested in it in the upper grades of elementary school and went on to graduate school.
・Energetic, sometimes immersed.
・Inspiration comes from time to time.
▼Group and team activities
・During my six years at university and graduate school, I was immersed in club activities. Also, when my oldest son was in elementary school, I coached a local baseball team for about six years.
・Energy, fulfillment, and immersion.
・There were times when inspiration came to me, but they were rare.
▼Entrepreneurship in the education business
・From 2003 to the present
・Energetic, fulfilled and immersed
・Lots of inspiration
▼Overseas travel and business trips
・There was a time when I went on business trips and travels every month, though not to a large number of countries.
・I had a lot of energy at that time.
・I felt less fulfilled and immersed than in other activities.
・Inspiration was easy to come by.
▼Learning
・I have been trying to learn something new for a long time.
・It depends on the content, but once I decide to do it, the energy lasts.
・A sense of fulfillment is present, but immersion is rare.
・Inspiration is relatively hard to come by.

Capture the wish behind the experience

Since these original experiences are concrete, they may have led to subjective truth, but they are not subjective truth itself. In order to understand the subjective truth, we need to understand the wishes behind each of these original experiences.

A. What did you wish for in the source of your inner energy in that experience?
B. What sensations did you wish to have repeatedly in that experience?
C. If you had a similar experience, what, if anything, would have led to the loss of inner energy, fulfillment, and immersion?

For each experience, choose one of the questions above that you feel comfortable with, and capture the wish.

Here is a brief explanation of why these three are the questions that capture our wishes. Since A is the very definition of subjective truth, if we can answer this question, we may be able to perceive the subjective truth or its further embodied wish.

As for B, it is an image of intuitively and sensitively capturing the feeling of being connected to the subjective truth. It is not a question of capturing the subjective truth or the wish itself, but by sensing it intuitively and sensitively, it becomes easier to feel it without involving the thinking consciousness.

As for C, I think it is an interesting question that will help us find the most important factors when we run various simulations. This may be a bit confusing, so I will explain it in detail with my tennis example.

▼What if tennis was table tennis? (If tennis were not an element)
…I don’t think I would feel very immersed or fulfilled. However, if I had been playing table tennis all my life, I might have been fine with table tennis.
▼What if it’s not a sport, but Shogi or Go? (If there were no sports element)
…I don’t think I would feel immersed or fulfilled. Even if I were to play Shogi or Go all the time, I think the element of sports that uses physical senses would be essential.
▼ What if, hypothetically, the element of competition were to disappear?
…There is a sense of immersion and fulfillment in just practicing.
▼What if tennis is just a social event?
…I don’t think I’ll be able to feel immersed or fulfilled. I want to immerse myself in tennis itself.
▼What if tennis was taught only at tennis schools?
…I might feel a sense of fulfillment, but I don’t think I would feel immersed.
▼What if the opponent is not as good as I am?
…It’s fun, but it’s not going to be immersive.

When I think about it this way, I realize that my wish is to immerse myself in sports, even if it’s just for practice, with someone of equal ability. In this case, a partner of the same level of ability is a condition for immersion, so the point is, “I want to immerse myself in sports. Sports is a concrete expression, but in its essence, it is an image of seeking “immersion with physical sensation.”

We capture our wishes for each experience in this way. In my case, it went something like this. (I have an image of my wish slowly becoming verbalized as I write it down myself right now!)

▼ Tennis
…Immersion with physical sensation
▼Physics and mathematics
…I want to see and feel the beauty of being able to explain many things with a single law.
▼Group and team activities
…I want to feel and see the moment when the power of a group or team is demonstrated, which cannot be done by one person.
▼Starting a business in education
…I want to explore the essence and realize and see it become the foundation of society.
…I want to feel the moment when the power of a group or team is demonstrated, which cannot be done by one person.
▼Overseas travel and business trips
…I want to feel a sense of growth.
…I want to touch and feel the world that I have not seen yet.
▼ Learning
…I want to feel a sense of growth.
…I want to touch and feel the new world and new senses.

Sorting out conditioned themes

If we capture our wishes in this way, we can see that there are many different wishes within us. The next thing we can do is to sort out what we have been conditioned to do.

Conditioning here refers to the fact that we are conditioned by those around us or outside of us to act in a certain way as being desirable. We are all influenced by conditioning in various ways from birth, from our parents, school, and neighborhood.

For example, if we study hard, we will be praised, or if we study hard and get good grades, we will be praised, and the external stimulus of praise reinforces our behavior of studying. There is nothing wrong with this kind of conditioning, and parental education and schooling will never be free of conditioning.

Conditioning allows us to learn how to think and behave in order to adapt to society. Conditioning is not a bad thing, because living in subjective truth and living in adaptation to one’s surroundings and society are both important.

However, when it comes to subjective truth, it is a different story. Since subjective truth is truth for the person, it is essentially different from external or ambient conditioning. Therefore, when we try to understand the subjective truth, we need to try to sort out the things that are conditioned by the outside or the surroundings.

There is a valid point of view to sort out what is conditioned and what is not.

Suppose you don’t do it, suppose you are not aware of it, will you feel fear or anxiety?

The reason why this question is effective in sorting out conditioned things is that the repetitive stimuli in our lives have formed a value system of “doing it or being aware of it is good. Conversely, not doing it or not being aware of it is not good.”

Not doing it, not being aware of it.
↓
↓ ← Value system that “not doing it is not good”
↓
Awareness that it is not good
↓
Anxiety/fear

Again, it is not a bad thing to have conditioning. Rather, we can say that conditioning remains today because it was a necessary element for us to live in harmony with our surroundings and society. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if we are able to live a healthy life now, it is thanks to the conditioning we have received.

Also, it is not a black-and-white story of whether or not something is conditioned. I think it is more appropriate to think of it as whether there are relatively many or relatively few conditioning factors. Rather than trying to find something that has no conditioning at all, I think it’s better to explore something that has relatively little conditioning and that brings up inner energy for us.

In my example, the factor that I was conditioned with was that I wanted to feel a sense of growth. I don’t remember my parents ever telling me to study, but from an early age, watching my father and older brother, I naturally gravitated toward the path of learning, and I think I had a sense that I would be praised for my studies and that people around me would take notice of my growth.

And even now, I cannot say that there are zero factors that might make me be recognized by the people around me by having a sense of growth. On the other hand, if I don’t have a sense of growth, I may feel anxious about whether I can continue as an executive.

When I think about it this way, I can say that for me, “wanting to have a sense of growth” is a relatively strong conditioning. Although it may not be entirely due to my own subjective truths, I think of it more as a feeling that I have acquired in order to adapt to external conditions through conditioning.

So far, I have talked about how to perceive the subjective truth from the original experience. As I was writing this article, I had many insights into the process of perceiving my own subjective truth. I hope you will try this process when you have time, and share your feelings and thoughts with me.

Here are the quests of the day. (If you’d like, please share your thoughts in the comments.)

・What experiences, if any, have you had that correspond to items (1) through (5) below?

(1) I had a lot of inner energy (at least at the time)
(2) I was able to work proactively and positively for a relatively long time (even if I was initially given the opportunity to do so by the surroundings)
(3) I had a sense of fulfillment.
(4) I had a sense of immersion.
(5) Inspiration often came to me.

・What is the wish behind this experience? (Please choose one of the following questions that you think is appropriate.)

A. What did you wish for in the source of your inner energy in that experience?
B. What sensations did you wish to have repeatedly in that experience?
C. If you had a similar experience, what, if anything, would have led to the loss of inner energy, fulfillment, and immersion?

・Which of the following wishes is more affected by conditioning? On the other hand, which wishes are less affected by conditioning?

Bunshiro Ochiai