| THE GROWTH OF UNDERSTANDING |
By Ken Ward
A student clutching a pile of books and rushing to a university class might not normally be compared with, say, a Buddhist monk meditating in a lotus position contemplating existence, or a Japanese Zen student studying a koan, or even with a high magician performing a Kabbalistic ritual, yet it seems all these students are progressing through the same four stages of growth and all are seeking their enlightenment.
For those interested in mental development, it is no surprise to read about exotic and religious systems that claim to enlighten, but they may be surprised, or even astonished that students in traditional education follow the same stages, seeking the same result.
Many systems refer to stages of development and of initiation, but here I am using the 4 stages proposed by a conventional psychologist, William Perry, Professor of Education at Harvard. Perry proposed that students in higher education pass through a number of stages, and the 4 stages mentioned here are a grouping of his 9 stages. These 4 stages relate (roughly) to each of the 4 years of a well-taught university course - one where students are encouraged to become researchers and innovators, rather than merely regurgitate facts and theories.
1. Dualism
In both traditional university education and in esoteric and religious studies, students arrive, ready to sit at their teacher's or guru's knee, and, wide-eyed (and bushy tailed), await answers to the mysteries (of science, art, or the spirit). They are in Perry's first stage -- Dualism. That is, thinking is dual -- there are only two rational views of a statement: it is right or wrong. There are only two ways to do something: the right way and the wrong way. There are only two aspects of artistic judgement: the beautiful and the ugly. And there are only two types of people: authority figures who know the truth (such as teachers, gurus and doctors), and others, who have nothing to contribute. The student believes that the teacher knows all the answers and is the final arbiter of right and wrong, true and false, etc. Although students may have a short respite, when the first year is used to consolidate their previous knowledge, by the second year at the latest, the wise teacher or guru begins to challenge the student's dualistic beliefs and knowledge.
Students expect to be taught knowledge and skills which will give them confidence and certainty. They expect to learn the laws of the universe, but they discover that this isn't exactly what they will learn.
An example of Dualism is the central argument in 'Language, Truth and Logic' by the philosopher A J Ayer. In this book, he argued that all knowledge is empirical. Everything else -- religion, art -- is nonsense. That is, there are two categories: empirical knowledge and nonsense. The only way to truth, according to the book, is through scientific method. And everything else -- literary theory, ethics, law -- is nonsense, insubstantial pondering. However...
While a first reading of the book might give us a temporary feeling of certainty, that this is clearly true, we might apply its principles to determine what material is worthy to be called knowledge and what is nonsense. The natural place to start testing this idea is the arguments of the book itself. We can ask ourselves, in what category are the arguments in this book: empirical or non-empirical (and therefore nonsense)?
Are they empirical? Of course not. They are philosophical. So, by its own principle, the book is nonsense. And our dualistic test for knowledge must also be nonsense. So, perhaps there is knowledge that isn't scientific knowledge, after all. What we previously believed clearly true, we now believe to be clearly false. Such contradictions also occur and are encouraged in other systems.
For instance, a Buddhist student may crave enlightenment above everything else. But he learns that in Buddhism, attachment and craving lead to human suffering. Is, then, the craving for enlightenment just another way to cause suffering! Such contradictions leave us confused, and challenge our dualistic way of thinking. In Zen, this confusion is actively encouraged by the use of koans.
In Zen there is a story of a master named Dongshan Shouchu who was asked "What is Buddha?" As the monks were making flax at the time, he said, "A ball of flax." Such an answer seems completely non-sequitur! Their task, like ours, is to unravel the ball of flax, and to understand or transcend the contradictions.
When confronted with contradictions, what can the student do? Of course, she might drop-out, and keep her duality by dulling her mind to any exceptions. Alternatively, she could move to the second stage.
2. Multiplicity
To do this, the student must give up the idea that there are right ideas and wrong ideas, and acknowledge multiple ideas. Also, the student give up the idea that teachers and gurus are infallible. After all, if there are no right ideas, the teachers or gurus cannot know what is right and what is wrong. They can no longer be teachers and gurus.
This stage is called Multiplicity. It refers to believing there are many viewpoints, all equally valid. Students in this stage believe:
- Ideas are multiple, that is, there is more than one valid idea.
- One man's opinion is as valid as another's.
- There is no unity, only diversity.
Here people can agree (and disagree) with anything. Even strange and weird theories! The students are still highly influenced by their teachers and gurus. But here they are complying with what the student thinks the teachers want from them. This is a stage of rejecting dualism and preparing the student for greater development, whether in traditional or esoteric education.
In Buddhism, the student may meditate on thoughts: how they arise; how they develop; and how they pass away. Ideas begin to be perceived not as inherently existing, but impermanent. This is also the stage of Multiplicity.
At Multiplicity (and later stages) students may be haunted by the ghost of dualism, where, although they believe ideas are multiple, they cling to the hope that one day the true answer will found.
This stage makes students less credulous, because they have learned there are many different viewpoints. Their craving for false certainty diminishes.
We should point out that some kinds of moral and social relativism are examples of multiplicity (not Perry's next stage of Relativism). In social or religious relativism, the student believes there are many types of behavior or good, and many religions and beliefs --all equally worthy and true. Beliefs are relative to the individual's society, etc. The student believes that beliefs are multiple and neither good nor bad. So this 'relativism' is the stage of multiplicity. There is also a plurality of things, and no unity.
The following illustrates the difference between dualism and other stages. Suppose a student is given the question: Which of the following is correct?
- 1+1=2
- 1+1=10
- 1+1=1
A Zen master, Zhaozhou, was talking to a student when a dog walked by. "Has a dog the Buddha nature?" He suddenly asked.
The student tried to think quickly, but the master suddenly yelled, "Mu!"
While this story has many meanings that cannot really be verbalized, one interpretation is that the master caught the student being dualistic -- trying to think whether the dog had the Buddha nature or not -- and he made him jump to shock him out of that kind of thinking.
3. Contextual Relativism
After this stage of Multiplicity, where the student believes that there are many viewpoints, each of which is as good as another, the student begins to learn that while all theories are equal, some theories are more equal than others. Some viewpoints are nonsense or extremely weak; others are stronger; and yet others have almost universal application.
Perry called this third stage Contextual Relativism. Theories and beliefs are not mere opinion. Although there aren't any absolute truths, some ideas are better than others. They are more rational. They have more scope. They have more support from evidence. At the stage of relativism, students have a greater belief in the power of some tools to find truth. For instance, logic, scientific method, observation, historical support, applicability, aesthetics, etc.
They are able to list a number of possible answers to questions, and they will evaluate the relative merits of these. But they are still more likely to do this to please their teachers.
4. Committed Relativism
The final stage is called Committed Relativism. Students are committed to learning diverse opinions and introducing their judgments and evaluations to select those ideas to use. They learn that there are many resources, but no gurus. They can learn from everyone, but some people, such as professors and gurus can contribute more and be effective mentors. Of course, the opinion of someone who has spent years researching a subject is more valuable than the opinion of someone who has not. Some guides are clearly better than others. But none can replace your responsibility to decide. Yet to judge, you must listen and learn from whatever resources are available. That is, there is respect for all theories, but no gullible or credulous belief in any. Belief is provisional, and based on good reasons, not just preference. People at this level remember when they were dualists, and therefore show respect for those who are still moving through these stages. At this stage there is a new unity.
Because at this stage of development there is diversity, the new unity is not the merging of all things into one, but the acknowledgement of the wide range of circumstances where different rules apply. Therefore, people who have developed to these higher stages are less likely to apply theories and principles mindlessly.
In physics, for instance, we might think of 3 realms: the micro realm (where Quantum Theory is useful), the normal realm (where Newton's theories apply) and the mega realm (where Einstein's theories are used). The physicist needs to apply his knowledge thoughtfully. He does not apply a rule which works in one realm to another where it doesn't work.
It seems there are no absolute rules, and every rule has exceptions. This is illustrated by a priest's joke. During the Second World War, a prisoner of war in Germany went to his priest to confess.
The priest listened impatiently as the soldier told him: "Father, I lied to get off the work party. And I broke into the food store. I stole some food. And a guard came in and there was a struggle. I killed him."
Rather angrily the priest interrupted him. "Stop boasting my son, and tell me something you have done wrong!"
So even in strict ethics, an act that is normally considered unquestionably wrong, does not seem so evil under some circumstances.
At this level, there is unity, but not simple unity. The desire to over-generalize is diminished. Valued principles in one area may not be mindlessly applied to another. A child knows that we can wash dirty clothes in a washing machine. We can also wash dirty curtains in a washing machine. Even dirty trainers can be washed in a washing machine. But what about a dirty baby? Even children might draw the line at applying the washing machine principle to the baby.
Yet we find that even some poets dream of the day when we can apply scientific principles to solve all of our ills. And some scientists believe that ethical principles have no place in science.
For instance, in the theory of evolution, there is the principle of the "survival of the fittest." This may be scientifically right. That is, right in the realm of science. But to apply this principle to society, to produce a master race, or to improve the health of nations -- even though it may (or may not) be scientifically right -- is, in terms of thinking, akin to putting the baby in the washing machine. What is sometimes appropriate and right, is sometimes inappropriate and wrong. In the realm of society, ethics is more important than, or is as important as, science. At level four of cognitive development, committed relativism, there is not a mindless application of a 'correct' principle in one realm to another. Here unity is a viewpoint. When looking at a scientific experiment, we may consider ethics to be less important than scientific method. But when looking at society, ethics looms in importance. It is not inconsistent to consider a principle right in one realm, but terribly wrong in another.
thinking without learning is perilous"
—Confucius
Beyond these stages, the student progresses to understand that 'truth' and other concepts exist -- but not in any simple way. The truth cannot always be clearly stated or verbalized. Yet even though we have moved beyond mere words, our foundation of knowledge is secure and rational. Here we might more meaningfully speak of knowledge as a skill, and speak of knowing (a process) rather than of knowledge. While this sounds mystical, there are many examples where we can know, but not be able to clearly articulate our knowledge. For instance, few or none of us can clearly explain how to swim or how to ride a bicycle. And those people who have a good memory for faces may not be able to tell us precisely how they do it so that we can do it too. Nonetheless, even though we cannot clearly explain how to do something, we might be able to swim, ride a bicycle or have a good memory. We can clearly do these things, even though we can't explain them.
In summary, we have claimed that in many systems, students progress from blind belief in experts, facts and theories, through a stage of believing all knowledge is equal, to stages where they compare a multiplicity of ideas, choosing those ideas which are more rational, better supported, etc. They are certain of things not because they have accepted a theory, but because they have evaluated the alternatives - perhaps in the process creating a new theory of their own - and have chosen the most appropriate. And still, they keep their minds open.
About Ken Ward...
Ken started the original version of the Trans4mind site with Peter Shepherd back in 1995, writing prolifically and creating a huge site of his own at Freeing Your Mind - take a look, you'll see he has an amazing mind.
| MIND DEVELOPMENT COURSES 1-8 |
Many people have bad experiences at school and perhaps later in life, when attempting to study a new subject. It is easy to quickly get bogged down with new terminology, and often, new concepts and procedures seem unclear. This situation can quickly get out of hand as the student gets left behind and the subject either becomes an ongoing struggle or it is abandoned. But none of that is necessary; it is possible to succeed with the study of any subject.
With this course you will learn how to study a subject with maximum comprehension, with excellent recall, and with the ability to apply what you have learned effectively.
You will also learn how to take notes at rapid pace from books or live lectures, and how best to represent that information with key words, mind maps and flow charts that aid memory and understanding.
These abilities will be useful for your home studies, at college or work, and for your study of further Mind Development courses. You will indeed be able to succeed at studying effectively those subjects you are interested in, even those that were difficult before.
Click here to learn more about the Super Student Course...
The first course in the Mind Development system is "Super Vision," a home-study course to improve the mind's capacity for visualization and integration between left and right brain, boosting memory, creativity, natural eyesight and drawing ability. This is a new way of seeing - and being.
The practical exercises offered in this course help to develop visual perception, which is one branch of non-verbal communication, and address the subject of breathing and relaxation. Adequate oxygenation of the brain and a relaxed state of being is necessary for further developing the mind.
The eyes and the ears are the main channels through which one gains information about the world. As with listening skills, training in visualization and looking makes you more aware. When you are more aware, the subconscious mind has less influence. This means you are more relaxed, less anxious, less easily upset, a better memorizer - and your vision is improved.
Click here to learn more about the Super Vision course
This course teaches powerful communication skills that enable you to be more effective at work and in those situations of everyday life where better communication can make all the difference.
The Effective Communication course offers a series of practical exercises which develop the skills of communication and help the student to apply the fruits of his or her learning here and now - both to his or her personal growth and to the practical issues of personal relationships and business.
Improvement in our ability to communicate externally is reflected by a similar gain in communication between parts of the brain. The practice exercises enable development of all areas of the brain, even those which have been long under-used. They affect, particularly, the integration of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Each hemisphere governs a different way of thinking and seeing the world. By doing the exercises thoroughly, the student can bring both halves of the brain into mutual communication, so that he or she is freer to think holistically and experience the world from an expanded point of view.
Communication is the vehicle for all further techniques, so communications skills are a vital aspect of Mind Development. The Effective Communication course includes practical exercises to enhance the person's capacity to listen attentively and comprehend. Following that, questioning skills are practiced, which have relevance to communication, memory and understanding. This will help the student to maintain control of communication in practical, social and business situations. You will also learn about practical problem solving and how to achieve your goals in life.
Click here to learn more about the Effective Communication course
This course teaches the skills of concentration as a means of educating the will. Often, when we put our mind on something, we think of something else and this, in turn, reminds us of something else. The mind wanders from one thing to another by associations, until the original thing is forgotten. 'Concentration' means putting all one's attention on something, and keeping it there for as long as one wishes to. So if you concentrate on a book, you are aware of the book and you are not thinking, looking or listening to anything else. If you are concentrating you are awake and aware. In much of everyday life, most people are effectively day-dreaming - at worst they are sleep-walking automatons. Their minds flip mechanically from one thing to another, never resting on anything for very long or intentionally. This process may go on for the whole of their lives and they never learn or achieve anything of consequence.
Unless we can wake ourselves up from this mechanicalness and sleep, we cannot begin work on ourselves and we cannot get things done in life. We must learn the mood of concentration - of actually BEING in the Here-and-Now, noticing and observing, and focused on our actions.
Concentration is a means to develop the will, so that life may be lived purposely and creatively, rather than as a reaction to the flow of sensations. Because you will not flit from one thing to another, like a butterfly, you will be able to choose to focus your mind on things, e.g., study or work, and will increase your skills and knowledge in these areas. Most importantly, you will be able to focus more clearly on your vision of what you want to achieve.
In short, your mental life is both intensified and broadened. The ability to concentrate is, therefore, a valuable skill which will enhance all other skills. Almost all the drills and exercises of Mind Development help develop your ability to concentrate. But are there are ways to improve your concentration directly? Yes, and this course teaches the best of them.
Click here to learn more about Concentration: Educating the Will
This home study course can double your reading speed and supercharge your brain's capacity to digest, remember and implement huge amounts of information... essential ingredients to success in your professional and personal life.
We all learn to read at school, after a fashion. But for most of us, this is not an optimal use of our brain power. In this course you will learn to better use the left brain's focused attention combined with the right brain's peripheral attention, in close harmony. Good communication between the brain hemispheres is a prerequisite for creative thinking and also a sense of well-being, where thoughts and feelings are integrated.
Reading may be defined as an individual's total inter-relationship with symbolic information. Reading is a communication process requiring a series of skills. As such reading is a thinking process rather than an exercise in eye movements. Effective reading requires a logical sequence of thought patterns, and these patterns require practice to set them into the mind. The methods currently used in schools do not touch on the issues of speed, comprehension and critical analysis and indeed all those skills which can be described as advanced reading techniques. In short, most of your reading problems have not been dealt with during your initial education. By using appropriate techniques, the limitations of early education can be overcome and reading ability improved by 500% or more.
The course teaches in-depth reading techniques that greatly improve literary intelligence, so that you can clearly perceive the ideas and values that the writer is expressing and relate them to those of other authors and so be better able to make objective conclusions.
Click here to learn more about the Power Reading Course
In most civilized societies the development of language centers in the left hemisphere of the brain will produce dominance on that side, while spatial, visual and intuitive problem-solving skills, which are based on right-hemisphere relational processes, will be underdeveloped.
Though a highly developed memory and intuitive skills are not essential for life in modern society, they were important survival skills for primitive man who had no reference books to look up when he forgot something, no maps to guide him on long journeys, and was often in perilous situations where intuitive insight made the difference between life and death. To further evolve, we need to reclaim this heritage, which depends on the restoration and integration of our right-brain processes.
Without memory there is no knowledge, without knowledge there is no certainty and without certainty there is no will. We need a good memory to be able to orient ourselves in a rich network of all that we know and understand, to make sense of it and to move forward to attain goals that are based in reality and true to our selves.
You will learn advanced memory techniques in the Creative Memory Course that utilize the amazing powers of the right brain, which enable you to "file away" any new piece of information so that it is readily accessible for future immediate access.
As you continue to use the methods of cumulative perception taught in this course, this kind of random access memory begins to become second nature. Many memory experts call this the "soft breakthrough" because it happens almost imperceptibly at first, instead of hitting you like a mental bolt of lightning. Everything you find important is given its own unique mental file. Just like the executive whose desk has been buried in paper for years, who suddenly discovers his computer can do a much better job of storing and arranging information, a filed, organized mind suddenly begins to perform impressive recall tasks on demand.
Click here to learn more about the Creative Memory Course
This course by Gregory Mitchell is on the periphery of Mind Development but nonetheless illustrates how closely mind and body function in co-ordination.
Using these techniques Gregory was able to run 100 meters in a time that nearly matched the then British champion, with relatively little physical fitness preparation (60% or less compared with a typical athlete). You may not personally want to increase your sprinting speed, but the principles described here have many applications both for physical and mental development.
Click here to learn more about Zen & the Art of Sprinting
The Goal of Zen is the state of 'No-Mind'. This is an intuitive way of dealing with the world. The aim of this course is to enable a student to turn on a particular form of 'No-Mind' consciousness that can be applied to a practical task - that of arithmetical calculation. Habitual responses are set up which are the inverse of linearity. Several parts of the calculation have to be handled simultaneously; the result will be obtained about five times as fast, so it appears to be instantaneous.
Click here to learn more about Zen & the Art of Calculation
| ARTICLES |
Outline of the MD System
Architecture of Memory
Medium Term Memory
The Knowledge Net
Negative Intelligence
Ancestral Knowledge
Savant Consciousness
Educating the Paradoxical Minds of Man
The Road to Self-Actualization
The Software Approach to Cognitive Development
Adult Mental Development
Ego Autonomy Overcoming the Superego
Two Ways of Knowing
Negative Thinking
The Three Worlds
The Independent Mind
The Unique You
Freedom to Change
Growth of Understanding
Educating the Will
Lecture to the Theosophical Society
Are We Born Equal?
The Unconscious Mind
Cognitive Unconscious
The Triune Brain
The Power of Mind
The Importance of Drills
Freudian Psychoanalysis
Jungian Analytical Psychology
Adler's Individual Psychology
General Systems Theory
About Gregory Mitchell