Archives: IQTuneUps

Imagine yourself in a lifeboat with twenty other survivors from a storm that sank your ocean liner.

There is no hope of immediate rescue since the ship sunk without a radio message being sent out. Almost all travelers have been lost. The lifeboat is almost filled with other people. You know it will be several days or perhaps even much longer before help arrives.

There is drinking water and food for a week or two depending on the daily allotment agreed upon. You’re soaking wet. Though not freezing, the temperature has you huddling and uncomfortable. There is no overhead, and everyone is exposed to rain, wind and sun.

Think about the sacrifices you would be willing to make. Think about the psychological needs and desires and beliefs you would give up for physical survival and harmony with the needs of the group. Think about personal space and hygiene and the utter lack of privacy. Think about the danger of the sea and sun. Think about the reactions to stress of the others and how they might act in this dire situation. What might they do to you?

Daydream about this for five minutes.

Ask yourself,When I am projecting myself into this imagined scenario that is fraught with uncertainty, how do I feel? To what extent is my imagined travail a real stress for my nervous system to handle? If I felt-all day long-like I did during this exercise, what would be the long-term effects on me?

Why was this so easy for me to imagine? Just how creative am I?

To what extent do the problems I imagined having with the other survivors actually occur in my daily life when I deal with people? How many of these problems that I see in others are, to some degree-no matter how slightly-my personal problems too? Was this story somehow symbolic of my life?

If I were a saint, by my own definition, what would I then have imagined happening in the lifeboat?

How did I feel, morally, about “creating” all those other people, the challenging conditions, the behaviors? When daydreaming, as far as the characters in my dreams are concerned, am I God? How is my relationship with my “lifeboat universe” different from God’s relationship with the created universe I am in now?

If I could have “entered” my imagined lifeboat as “another character” and approached the “me character” within that dream, how would I go about explaining to that “me character” why “Everything’s okay. I’m the creator of all this. You don’t need to worry. I’m just having a fun little consciousness exercise, and after it’s over, you won’t even exist!”? How would I make the “me character” feel perfectly happy about this?

Why did I follow the rules of this exercise? Why didn’t I have another ship just happen upon the lifeboat within a few minutes?

Read and do this exercise step by step before looking at the follow-up questions. Your “innocence” will give this exercise just a bit more “kick”. The follow-up questions-if read beforehand-will reduce the impact of this exercise. This also means that you should read and do each step of the exercise before you read the next step’s instructions. Each step takes a few seconds.

Step One: Close your eyes and pretend that you are a camera on a tripod. Your goal is to take three pictures of your immediate surroundings. Like a camera, your eyes will open rapidly (for about ONE second or less) and then close again during which time your head rotates to the next “shot”. Do this rapidly-doing all three shots in less than five seconds. Your eyes should only be open long enough for the “shot to register” or “for you to see what there is to see”-just a glance.

Step Two: (Did you do Step One? Don’t read this until you do.) Now repeat the above process, but this time, on each shot, you must name at least two objects in your view before you can close your eyes. Do this as quickly as you can, and then close the eyes and rotate to your next shot.

Step Three: (Ditto on the “innocence” proviso) Now repeat the process, but this time, on each shot, you must determine which object in your view is definitely one of your LEAST favored of all the objects you are seeing. Then close the eyes and rotate to your next shot.

Step Four: (Ditto) Repeat the process, but this time, on each shot, you must determine which object in your view “you like more than most of the objects”. Then close the eyes and rotate to your next shot.

Step Five: (Dit) Now repeat Step One again with the intent to “completely turn off” your identification processes, your judgment processes and even any recognition processes. This can be done with some practice. Play with this. Try shorter periods of opening the eyes to prevent the mind from having enough time to “get it together” to have an “opinion” about the input coming from the eyes. Then “graduate” and see how long you can get your eyes to be open before “serious thinking” about the view is started by the mind. Count yourself a success if you can get to the point where you can keep your eyes open as you glance about the room, rapidly changing views, and be convinced that for the most part you are not on a “naming binge”.

Ask yourself,How did I feel when I closed my eyes? What relaxed? Did I “miss” my visual input? How do I use “closing my eyes” as a psychological tool?

What would it be like to be able to close my ears this way? My sense of touch, smell, taste?

During Step Two, how close to the center of my visual field were the “two named objects”? How often do I “center my sights” during ordinary use of my eyes?

What do I do with my eyes when I want to think about something other than visual input? Is there a way that I can do this same sort of thing when I want to just “be” while “thinking experiences” are occurring? Can I “put aside” paying attention to thinking like I can put aside attending to visual input?

How much work is it for me to “think” about what I’m seeing?

What is easier for me, deciding something was or was not a “favored” object? Is this how it also is in my daily life with my other judgments?

What percentage of my “ordinary use” of my eyes involves naming, judging, identifying, and separating visual input into individual objects?

How easy would it be for me to see a group of persons I know without the mind “going nutzoid with processing”? Can I “just see” them?

What would the payoff be for me, if I use this mechanism as a psychological “warning light” to tell me when I’m “really being triggered” by my input? What would I want my mind to do if the alarm goes off?

How is it that I am so comfortable with “so little” “verbal” processing of the visual information actually happening in my daily experiencing? Typically, what is my attention being placed upon if my mind is not producing thoughts about visual input? How often am I completely “blind” in this manner?

Read this entire exercise, including the follow-up questions, before beginning the exercise.

Choose someone you love that you are experiencing daily discomfort with because of unresolved issue(s). Here is a ten day process that uses the below list of “intents” that will impact on this situation. Time used for this exercise will total to about one hour over the ten day period. The first statement/intent should be used for the first day, the second the second day, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put the name of your loved one in the “blanks” of the statements. On the first day, write down the first statement on a sheet of paper. Afterwards, easily and comfortably read this statement aloud six times-softly but loud enough for someone to hear you if they are in the same room as you. Then, close your eyes and think the intent statement six times-use your fingers to count them.

While you are doing the writing, reading and mental repetition, it’s okay if you do not wholly believe that you are telling the truth when you use the statement, but at least HOPE that you are telling the truth when you use the statement.

After the mental repetition, sign the paper, and put the paper where you will see it easily. Wait for awhile-until it feels right-and then, using another paper, do this whole process again. You are finished with this day’s intent when you have six sheets of paper. Spread it out over the day. At the end of the day, do something symbolic to the six sheets of paper to show closure-burn them, throw them away, put them in your diary, eat them-whatever.

Each statement deserves its “own day”, so do this entire exercise over a ten day period. Each statement that you do therefore has a minimum of 78 “iterations”. Savor each iteration, focus on each, and take your time. Taking your time on this really pays off. Warning: this is real work; it takes time, and you will benefit most if you do it in a dedicated fashion. You are going to tweak your personality, and any love you put into the exercise will show up in the results.

Day one: I am eager to change the aspects of myself that create an uncomfortable relationship with __________.

Day two: I release my attachment to the conditions that support an uncomfortable relationship with __________.

Day three: I want to release myself from any need to be able to manipulate or control __________.

Day four: I want to give up even the slightest need to find fault in or change __________.

Day five: I am willing to give up my need to express anger with __________.

Day six: I want to and will accept a life supporting relationship with __________.

Day seven: I hereby completely surrender to __________ being who he/she wants to be.

Day eight: I want and am willing to receive a life supporting relationship centered around truthful experiences with __________.

Day nine: I accept and hold dear a life supporting relationship with __________.

Day ten: At this time, in this moment, now, I have a life supporting relationship with __________.

Ask Yourself,

What is my expectation about the results of the above exercise?

Am I willing to commit to the kind of time and effort that this exercise (and others I might also do) requires? How much am I willing to do and how much time am I willing to spend to get my life straightened out?

Am I hoping for a “magic bullet” that will effortlessly shoot all my problems?

How much of my motivation to improve is dependent upon my perception of the efficacy of the technique involved? Do I only truly and deeply commit to an effort if I am “guaranteed” precise and timely results?

How much is my perception of a psychological tool’s validity dependent upon my core willingness to change?

How much of my evaluation of a technique is intuitive instead of scientific?

What would I say, if after doing all of the above exercise I then had very positive observable results or, the opposite-no tangible results? What would my emotional reaction be? Would this reaction generalize and be applied to other psychological tools? What is my intuition’s guess on what percentage of these kind of tools “really work”?

Did this exercise work? How well?

How much during the day did I dwell on the statement and its ramifications? Did I actually “run the statement” many more times than the actual exercise “forced me” to do? Did this “churning the concept” yield many “side thoughts” about the possible meanings of the statements? Did churning develop a consensus about the core expectation of results for each statement?

What was the range of emotional reactions to the statements during the process? Over the ten days was there a trend in the evolution of the emotions I had during the statements?

How much faith did I have that this exercise would have a positive effect? Did I “secretly” support or resist the exercise-or both?

Why did I select __________ as my “target”?

During the ten days, did my definitions of words and phrases in the statements significantly change? On day one, did I have the same meaning for life-supporting-relationship as I did on day ten?

Imagine that you are living 200 years ago and that you are quite wealthy. You have a large house with servants. You have all the luxuries that are available at that time. Think deeply about the lifestyle that you would lead. After setting aside sixteen hours for sleep and running your financial affairs, think about what you would be doing with your other eight hours of life.

Consider the culture of the times and what your probable values and morals would be-given the kind of upbringing you would have had at the time. Think about how your personality of today would have to be retrofitted to “cut it” back in those days. Imagine what the “core you” or the “DNA potential of you” would have manifested back then. See if you can imagine what it is about your “seed” that would have flourished and what parts of you would never have had a chance to manifest.

Ask yourself,What do I have now fully flowering that would have been squelched or would have withered then?

What freedoms do I have now that would have been “out of the question” then?

How am I a product of my times now? What cannot grow now-the good and the bad-that my times prevent? Would I have a stronger adherence to my religious values?

Could I have gone on witch-hunts, put someone in prison for being in debt, or watch a flogging in the town square? What is the difference between watching a flogging in the town square and watching a Hollywood movie that convincingly shows a flogging in the town square?

Can I overcome my era, culture, tribal beliefs, and “modern addictions to technology” that keep me “in my place”? What drummers’ beats have me hypnotized? Given food, water and shelter, could I spend a year in a log cabin without anything else but “me”? What would I be like after such a time of solitude?

How can I develop a sense of wonder for all that modern times offer me when I consider that even a fabulously wealthy person back then could not even make a phone call, have fresh fruit in winter, surf the Web, or know the wonders of duct tape? How do I see today with the eyes of a person brought forward in time? Can I appreciate the fantastic world I truly live in today?

What does it signify that I get jaded so easily? Why is everything “so last week” so quickly to me? What is the value of having a nervous system that is such a “newness junky”? How can I make it serve my self-development?

How is my human body an environment that supports or hinders my “perfect self” from flowering? If I were an angel what lessons and growth would I never have a chance to experience?

Can I and, if so, should I transcend everything? Can I act wholly from within-completely uninfluenced by my environment?

What can I do to water my deepest roots?

Decide which two of your friends are at the ends of your “morality spectrum”-that is, which friend of yours is the “most sinful” and which is “most saintly”. The “low” friend will be the one that constantly challenges you with ideas, behaviors and emotions that are, more often than not, below the standards that you feel that a “proper human being” should have.

The “high” friend will be the one that most often excites feelings in you of awe, admiration and, perhaps, some chagrin that you personally cannot always match this person’s personal sense of integrity, work ethic, honesty, compassion, kindness, simplicity, etc. After you have selected these two, consider for a few minutes the experiences you have had with these persons over the last year or longer. Focus on remembering YOUR behaviors around these persons.

Ask yourself,

Do I have “shifts” in morality when I encounter different persons?

How much do I lower my personal standards when I am with my “lower” friends? When I am with a “low” friend, how often do I find myself wondering or feeling “What’s gotten into me?” or “I don’t believe I just said/did that!”?

Do I have to consciously keep myself from “untoward” behaviors or speech around a high friend or does this happen automatically? How do I “shift” into “good me” so effortlessly? How would I feel if my high friend invited me to a party, and I found out that I was the “low” person at the party? Would I be inspired to grow or be relieved to be able to finally leave and get back to my “kind”?

How do I recognize low and high? Is something low because of how I actually uncomfortably feel when I do/say/think that low thing, or is it because of what I think I SHOULD feel to be a member of my family, community, peers, and other groups?

What is my appraisal of my morality: that I have inner standards based on personal philosophy and emotional reactions OR that I have assimilated outer standards by being “raised” in a certain way and never having consciously watched these values being “programmed” into my nervous system? How much of “me” was built by “me”?

If I were to suddenly be transported to the “Gates of Heaven” along with all my friends, how would I FEEL when the gatekeeper asked me, “Hey, who are these others? Do you think all these persons should be allowed inside with you?” Would that feeling be close to how I feel when I sum up the whole of my life/self?

For the most part, does my spectrum of friends pretty much encompass my personal limitations? Do I regularly do things that my lowest friend would consider “too low”? Do I regularly do things that inspire my “high” friends? How does my life reflect the “birds of a feather flock together” concept?

How do my friends represent who I am? If I were to suddenly “jump ahead” in my morality up to the standards of my highest friend, what percentage of my other friends would “drift away” or “be dropped by me”? If I were offered the opportunity to push a button and instantly make that shift, would I push the button?

What would be the payoff for me if I pretended that everyone was on my “good end” of my spectrum? Could I “pull that off”? Could I permanently shift into “good me”?

If I were to go alone to a new place, would I want my group of new friends to be much different than the present group? If not, why not? If so, can I begin a transitional process? Is there any truth to the idea that I might be “trapped” by my friends and cannot “evolve” any faster than the group as a whole evolves? Would it ever be the case that my friends would “hold me back” because of the impact of their desires, energies, and “ways”?

How strong am I? Can I make decisions that move me forward as fast as I want to move? Is there a fear of or resistance in me to growth? Do I surround myself with these friends to “keep me at a certain speed”? What is the spiritual function of my relationships?

Bring to mind an experience you had earlier today-something “fresh”.

It should be an experience that lasted at least a few minutes and had some emotional content that was “noticeable”. It does not have to be a very important event.

Consider the details of that experience for a few moments-enough that the sub-events of the experience are remembered in the order of their occurrence. Then quickly run through the experience again. Try to “get it good” as if you are an author describing an experience of a character in a novel. Try to re-live the experience.

Ask yourself,Why are certain parts of the experience now “blank” or “not being filled in” or “unattended to” or “not fully envisioned”? Am I unconcerned about these lost parts? Are parts of my life “really not worthy of being stored”?

How quickly do my experiences fade into a “limbo” from which they are almost or entirely unavailable to me when I try to remember them?

What can I really remember-easily-about my past? How much detail is “lost forever”? 30%? 60%? 90%?

In light of how little I remember easily about my life, how much sense does it make when I juxtapose that fact with how intensely I would feel if a doctor told me that I was losing my memory at an unusually rapid pace?

How important are memories when I define myself? Would I be “more a person” if I could remember twice as much about my life as I presently do?

How much less am I able to recall the life details of even my most deeply loved friends? How much of my life dies when I die? What remains? What is the value of the memories of others of me?

Do I have experiences stored in memory that are easily retrievable and vividly detailed enough that they can equal the “dynamism” of “lesser but nearer in time” experiences? Why am I so attached to faint, vague, less detailed memories from long ago?

What is happening right now that I will not remember a few minutes from now?

In my earliest childhood memory, was the “I” that received this experience THEN the same “I” that is re-living it NOW?

What are the values of my strongest memories? How often do I “pull them out of the photo album”? How is my personal history different from a character in a book? After I die who will page through my life story?

What do I do more: imagine the future or recall the past?

If I could set aside my attachment to all my memories, would it be “easier for me” when it came time for me to die?

Who am I right now that no memory can capture?

Position your hand in a way that it is comfortable. Keep your index finger motionless-DO NOT move it-and stare at it intensely while you say these words aloud AND mentally simultaneously:

I want my finger to move.

Finger! Move!

I command my finger to move.

This finger will now move.

I am completely controlling this finger, and I will now move it.

This finger is an intimate part of me and will obey my every whim.

I give myself permission to move this finger despite the instructions of this exercise that I should not do so, and I will now move this finger.

Now, after you stop speaking the above sentences, simply move your finger-go ahead-it’s okay. Note that you DO NOT have to have words going through your head to make this motion happen. Move it quite a bit and focus on the effortlessness of the motion AND note the exacting precision and control you have over the motion.

Ask yourself,Who moves my finger?

Who was speaking the “words-that-were-disobeyed”?

What is the difference between the “person-that-talks-inside-me” and the “doer of my actions”?

Who am I? The talker or the doer or both? If both, how is this logically possible?

Why am I so comfortable with this set up?

Why does the “talker” usually assume “it” is the “doer”? Why doesn’t the talker say things like, “I saw my finger move, but I had no part in the moving of it.”

Does the doer also create the “talker’s words?”

What percentage of my life “happens” without the talker’s participation? What is the value of the talker? Do I always have to have mental words to accompany my actions and feelings? During the times of my life that are most filled with meaning, how often does the talker “come up with words to match the occasion”?

If my talker could always generate “really beautiful words” for my life, would my life then be much more meaningful?

If the talker comes up with words that call for an action I consider immoral, can I “just not do it” like I “just didn’t move the finger”? Can I give the doer permission to ignore the talker?

Would the doer ever act without my “final go-ahead”?

How often am I aware that I am “finally giving permission” to the doer to act?

What would life be like if I were always consciously in charge of all doing?

The following is a completely possible series of events.

You decide to walk somewhere, and just before you take your first step, you decide to pick which foot to start out on.

You choose your left foot.

You take your first step, and unbeknownst to you, your foot kills several extremely small dust mites that are living on your floor.

One of these mites is crawling in a direction that would have taken it towards a small spider which is almost dying from starvation.

The mite would have given it enough nourishment to live another week.

The spider will die and will never get a chance to build a web in the corner of your room where a week from now a mosquito is “scheduled” to be captured by the spider.

That mosquito is going to be carrying a deadly virus, and two weeks from now that mosquito, because it will not be eaten by the spider, will infect nine people with this virus.

Ask yourself,What would I say to one of the infected persons if by some happenstance it was completely proven to both of us that I could have prevented it from ever happening?

How do I feel about causing something quite negative to happen that is completely beyond ordinary human ability to foresee?

What amount of vigilance must I maintain to feel free from any moral responsibility from being the start of a series of events that ends up negatively? How far do I have to see into the future?

Do I take risks that are more easily foreseen that I would ordinarily not take if I thought a bit about it?

If I were ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that every time I took a long walk, something negative would occur after a very long chain of events (weeks later and dozens of events removed), would I still walk?

What is negative? How do I decide if the persons that were infected did or did not “deserve” having the virus?

How do I know when to intervene with the destiny and fate of another person?

I could be of some help to almost everyone I know, but I do not do so because there would not be any time left to do anything else; what is my criteria for overcoming this impasse? How do things get to my “front burner”?

Why do I feel responsible for my actions when they are almost entirely created and carried out by automatic processes? When I accidentally break something of someone, why do I say, “I’m sorry.”? Why do I feel “ownership” of my actions and their consequences in the short term but do not do so for the “longer” term?

Get a blank unlined sheet of paper, and be prepared to really follow these instructions fully and emotionally. Do the steps, one at a time, carefully and in order.

On the paper draw an oval that is roughly the shape of a human head and is about eight inches high and six inches wide. If you are an artist, do not “make a big deal” out of this effort. Leave about an inch of space on the paper all around the oval. Now, say aloud, “This is my face that I am drawing.”

Next, carefully decide about where your eyes should be placed and put two tiny dots to represent where the pupils of your eyes will be. Say aloud, “I will be seeing out of my eyes that are forming in these two spots.”

Now carefully draw your right eye’s outline that will contain the whole of your eye’s iris, pupil, and white areas. Say aloud, “This is my right eye which gathers the colors of the world.” Now draw the right pupil and iris around the dot you previously placed there. Say aloud, “This is my living right eye.”

Next repeat these steps for your left eye. When finished, additionally say, “These two eyes are my living connection to the world’s beauty.”

Now, place two dots where you estimate your nostrils should be placed, and then draw a nose of some sort that “contains” these dots. Say aloud, “These are my nostrils through which will pass the vital breath of my life.”

Draw a simple line for your mouth, and say, “This is my mouth through which the world shall hear of my truth.”

Next, draw ears, and say, “These are my ears into which I will accept the living words of wisdom from every source imaginable.”

Finally, add eyebrows, eyelashes, hair and the beginning of a neck. You may add anything else you like. Then say, “This is my sacred image’s symbolic representation, may I always honor and bring dignity to the manifestations of myself.”

Ask yourself,How would I feel right now if, when I was not there, this picture were tossed out as a crumpled ball having been thought as a worthless scribbling or mindless doodle? How much do I like this picture now-despite its less than artistic merit? What will I now do with this picture? Why is this decision easy or hard to make? Why is it that I prefer to be the one to make it rather than, say, having a “stranger” decide?

How is it that a few strokes on an almost worthless piece of paper have been transformed into something of value to me? However little that value, what is that value?

How do I manufacture value for myself in daily life? Once it has been done, how do I feel about un-doing such value? If I tear up this paper, how forgiving of myself would I be? How do I withdraw value from objects?

How do I “draw” value for myself in the “scribbles” that the lives of others are to me? How much value (negative or positive) do I manufacture everyday in my environment? How conscious am I of the mechanics of my mind as it assigns values to incoming perceptions?

Is there any value in my perceptions if I do not manufacture any? What is the most important part of a perception-clarity of the sensory input or the meaning, value and/or content I insist it represents?

Do I always have the same value for the same input?

What would be the payoff to completely mastering the creation of value in my life? What would perception be like if I simply stopped creating value?

When my environment causes a strong emotion in me, is there logic to my assigning causality of my emotion to the environmental stimulus? If I refuse to create value, do any stimuli have intrinsic value that is absolute?

The following statements are almost certainly true; however, some are truer than others. Watch your intuition’s sense of certainty fluctuate as you read them.

Within the next ten seconds, somewhere on the earth, a shoelace will break.

Exactly at this very instant, somewhere someone is reading the word “rhododendron”.

Right now, an ant is crawling over a rock.

On this earth, at this moment, a child is dying of starvation.

Ask yourself,Is anything certain-absolutely without exception?

How does absolute certainty affect my spiritual beliefs?

At what exact point in time did I feel the phrase “Exactly at this very instant” applied? Was I reading the word “rhododendron” at that moment? Or, did I take too long to read that word?

Do I feel the list writer cheated with the “ant” statement? Why is that statement so certain?

What percentage of my knowledge is composed of “facts” that are entirely speculation but nonetheless believed by me to be absolutely true? Does this kind of believing differ from spiritual faith?

How can I “defend” that I am “certain” that a child is always starving to death and yet hardly feel much emotional reaction to that fact?

What mechanism works within me to keep my emotional “temperature” within certain limits? How do I cooperate with this mechanism?

In which situation would I most likely have a stronger feeling: Seeing on television a starving child in a distant country or seeing a parentless child living in an abandoned building in my neighborhood?

How do I participate where my morality, my knowledge, my beliefs and my heart meet in one issue’s challenge? Do I preside over these situations or merely wait for the issue to resolve itself without my conscious efforts?

Do I need to be more inwardly pro-active and carry the banner of my morality to my “inner self” which largely creates emotions and thoughts without consulting me first?

How would I do that?