Tendulkar - Shots

Evolution of Consciousness(40)-Rational Vs Emotional Response

Gurdjieff's Self-Remembering (Rational Vs Emotional response)

In the last post, we said, in the Psychological plane,

Both Cause and Effect lie within the ‘ME’, external reasons are only triggers.

That is,

Contrary to the common notion,

The individual is entirely RESPONSIBLE for the instability, not the external  reasons.

Accepting this responsibility,

We will see how to employ self-remembering to see it for ourselves.

What is self-remembering ? In his own words

 Normal or Common nature of reaction

Normal reaction to an incident is impulsive especially in adverse situations.

Impulsive in the sense, reaction is mechanical, quick and emotional.

One can find its profound form in road rages.

In the event of minor traffic incident, emotions build up to the level of rage,

escalating a minor situation into a major confrontation.

This can happen even to people who are normally rational and balanced in their response.

Inability to avoid or change the situation and sense of failure give raise

to behavior of failure which is anger and aggression.

In other words, response is shifted from the plane of Reason to raw Emotion.

One can understand it more clearly in a simpler situation.

It is similar to a teacher disciplining a kid by talking (Reason) to him, if talks fail anger

and Aggression (Emotion) is manifested to bring about the change.

The transition from ‘Reason’ to ‘Emotion’ is spontaneous.

Normally, one is not even aware that such a transition took place.

This can also be viewed as -

If Ego fails to change the situation through organized Super-Ego, it employs

unorganized id to tackle the situation.

Generally speaking, all go through this process without being aware.

But by Self-Remembering, that is remembering one self during such an episode

one can become aware of these shifts and gain control.

Note:

Self Remembering is done during the episode, not afterwards- that is analysis, not

awareness.

Now, what happens if one remember one self?

If one remembers one self or become conscious of one self in an adverse situation,

One can ‘SEE” the following events and shifts taking place in the consciousness  

The ME/Ego

-           Finds itself unable to change the situation with reason or civility

-           Recognizes failure as hindrance or defeat

-          Shifts to ‘raw’ emotion and aggression(id!)  to avoid failure/defeat 
-         This brings confusion and instability on the plane of  Ego

-          Turbulent emotion raises with strong urge to yield (id overriding Super-Ego!)

(If one does not remember one self, it is all spontaneous – unconscious).

Now,

If one can persist and remain conscious as a witness to process without yielding to the

turbulent emotion,

The following events take place in the consciousness

-         Emotional turbulence withers out because the observing 'I' do not sustain it by yielding to it.

-         Calmness and Stability comes back  

-         Aggressive response rolls back.

It is tough but watching the struggle in itself is an experience.

If rightly done, one is freed from the frantic response on that particular Issue.

So, there is no more automated unconscious response.

One is free and stable and can take any decision consciously and intelligently. .

The Ego-Self cease to be the arbiter but will stay as a tool with vast empirical

knowledge at its disposal.

Self-Remembering may bring about such behavior modification but its real objective is

realization of the True-Self – Which involves purging the particular ‘I’  itself.

If one keep working on ‘Self-Remembering’ wherever possible.

One may begin the journey from turbulent Ego-Self to tranquil True-Self.

Evolution of Consciousness (39)- Cause & Effect

Cause and Effect in the Psychological Plane.

 It is long time since I posted.

My apologies to those, who were reading my posts, spite of its short comings.

I will do my best to post as frequently as possible.

Now,

Coming to the topic,

We are familiar with the Cause and Effect chain in the Physical plane.

They are deterministic in nature - ice heated will invariably become water and so on.

Does such a sequence exist in the psychological plane?

For instance,

Does loss of money or job bring about a deterministic effect on a person?

We know through our experience that it is not so, because we do see

Same quantum of loss has different psychological impact on different persons.

For example,

Death of dear ones may produce psychological paralysis in one person and minor

depression on another.

Looking closely, unlike in the Physical plane,

The external causes do not have any deterministic (automatic) effect on the person.

Instead,

It is the ‘ME’ that judges, qualifies and quantifies the causes and produce an effect.

The effects can be positive or negative.

The intensity could be disappointment, depression, Suicidal/Homicidal Tendencies or

Ecstasy, Joy etc.

It all depends on one’s content of Ego-Self.

What we are arriving at is,

The effect entirely depends on one’s Ego-Self and not on external causes.              

As far as psychological plane is concerned,

External causes can be considered only as Triggers or Reasons, similar to the triggers

that create allergic reactions in the body.

Let us take a broader look,

Rain can be beneficial to a farmer and detrimental to a street vendor.

Rain can be source of fun to children and source of worry to the old.

The Rain as such is mute but gains meaning only through the ‘Me’.

This is the idea behind the phrase ‘you are the World, World is you’.

It is not the physical World but the relationship one has with the world through the ‘ME”.

The world that ‘I’ interacts, is essentially the world created by the ‘I’.

Pleasant possibilities or painful realities that one DISCOVERS in the world are actually 

PROJECTIONS made by the ‘ME’.

That is,

In the psychological plane Cause and Effect are internally related (Subjectively),

Where as cause and effect are externally related (Objectively) in the Physical plane.

In other words,

Cause and Effect are two sides of the same coin – The ME or Ego-Self.

Therefore,

Though one is not responsible for the external causes, but entirely

responsible for its influence and impact.

Because, it is the Ego-Self or Me that assigns the meaning and value to the other wise

mute events.

On realization of this ‘responsibility’,

One is able looks inward into the belief-system of desires, ambitions, prejudices etc.

This can bring stability, clarity, focus and energy to handle the situations rationally and

intelligently.

But,

Normal reaction to an adverse situation is panic, confusion and instability, putting the

blame entirely on the external causes.

Therefore,

One has to stop the normal impulsive response and become conscious of reactions

arising out of adverse situations without yielding to it.

The useful tool here is ‘Self Remembering’ by Gurdjieff.

We have discussed its potential, structure and simplicity many times in the earlier posts.

But,

Self-Remembering is not passive empirical knowledge but active ‘Being’.

That is, one has to remember one self even while reading this text.

We will visit it again.

Wine & Wisdom - Samuel Johnson

From ' The Ethics of convivial drinking' 

Evolution of Consciusness (38)- Ego vs Soul

Ego vs. Soul.

According to religions, Mystics and Seers,

The true identity of human consciousness is Soul and the Soul is said to be

Eternal, Blissful and Wise (Ultimate Intelligence & knowledge).

But, normal state of identification is that of personal Body, Mind and Intellect.

Which constitute the persona - individual’s personality/ego.                                          

This identity being personal is limited and finite due to finite nature of the Body

and limited knowledge of the Personal Mind.

However developed and refined, the body has physical limitation and the

personal mind has limited knowledge due to additive nature of knowledge.

So, the world view and the experience would also remain limited.

But, if we look at the fundamental pursuits of Ego-Self,

They are similar to the attributes of the Soul in their essence, as below.

 

Pursuits of Ego-Self                Nature of the Soul  

Immortality                                      Eternal

Perpetual Pleasure                       Bliss 

Complete knowledge                   Wisdom 

 

Failure in realizing the goals is due to finite nature of Individual Body and Mind.

But goals are pursued since the days of civilization and continues with the help of

Science and Technology. 

For example,

 

Ego Aspirations               Science & Technology   

Immortality                       - Cryonics – Body preservation at low temperatures  

Perpetual Pleasure        -Research on Psychedelic substances

Complete Knowledge    -ToE - ‘Theory of Everything’, String Theory etc.

 

Science and Technology may succeed.

Even if it succeeds, according to Jean Paul Sartre view –

 

Even if Man is immortal, Life is made finite by the choices one makes.                 

That is,

Even for an immortal man, intrinsic limitation of Egoistic knowledge(Psychological) will create a boundary, beyond which there will be conflicts.     

So, the peace, happiness and repose one seeks in life may remain elusive.

Immortalizing the ‘Me’ and the ‘Body’ may not quench this thirst.

Considering these limitations of the individual Ego-Self,

It appears that Ego-Self is a poor imitation of True-Self or Soul.

That is,

Ego-Self is imitating the attributes of True-Self or Soul, and also giving hope by

becoming better over time, like a fake product becoming better through refinement.

And, possibly we are refining a fake product to make it original.              

But, fake can never be the original.

This comparison reveals two main aspects,

Firstly,

Deficiency of a fake product can be experienced as such only in relation to the original.

And secondly and most importantly

Fake product has no foundation without the existence of the original.

If we apply this thinking to the ego-self,

The sense of inadequacy we feel towards Ego-Self could mean that it is not the original.

And,

Sense of lack of repose in Ego-Self could mean that it has no foundation either.

So, by this coarse logic, we can say that Ego-Self is not genuine and another true identity of 

the self has to exist 

But,

In the case of external fake and original objects, it is self evident and straight.

We don’t have such liberty in the case ‘Self’, because it is internal and we are conscious of 

only one self  that is  ‘I’ or ‘Me’.        

So, existence of True-Self or Soul is based on logic (Coarse/ Superfine) or Faith.

It is not an empirical fact.

Now,

Is it possible to gain some certitude regarding its existence beyond logic or faith?

It is possible because,

There are episodes of experiences where Consciousness do not require the Ego for its 

sustenance.

For instance,

During the sensations like Fascination, Wonder and Awe etc, one can notice the absence of 

Ego, but still one is perfectly conscious.

Absence of Ego doesn’t make the consciousness as impersonal, it is still personal without Ego

 playing the role of arbiter.

These episodes of experiences also show that Ego is not indispensable as sole arbiter but can

 simply remain as repository of practical knowledge.     

So,                        

By becoming aware or remembering one self during such episodes, one can not only gain

 certitude but also 'feel' a  self which is not anchored in Ego.

And to move any further,

One has remember one self in day to day situations, thereby stopping the mechanical 

response and weakening the role of Ego-Self as sole arbiter.

Less domination of Ego-Self as a consequence allows the True-Self to flower.

Many mystics or seers uses the word ‘Flowering’ or similar word to indicate that one can not

arrive at True-Self or Soul through deliberate Ego centric act.

Since, any outcome through such act will be within the ambit Ego-Self.

It is like, any deliberate act to over come inferiority complex will end up as measure of one's 

inferiority than anything else. 

So, True-Self or Soul will start to ‘flower’ on its own when domination of Ego-Self diminishes. 

 

 

Evolution of Consciusness (37)-Oneness Of Religion(Gurdjieff)

Multiplicity & Oneness of Religions.

MULTIPLICITY of Faiths and Religions exist only at the periphery.

As one gains understanding and moves towards the center, differences that exist at the

Periphery gradually reduces like distance between the radii of a circle, and vanishes at the

center, where truth of ONENESS alone prevails.

As long as one stays at the periphery, the differences continue to exist.

Differences are caused by the relative expressions of the absolute.

Expressing the Absolute is like expressing an alimentary TASTE,

which is not present in any of the known food.

So, it is relatively expressed in comparison with the known tastes.

When it comes to ‘Religious Experience’ of oneness, it becomes much more complicated.

Because, realized souls not only try to express and explain the ‘Experience’ but also

formulate a system to enable others to attain that state of consciousness.

These systems are naturally anchored in the society of that particular period,  

culture and social mores.

And, the respective religions  have come a long way from the founders to the contemporary followers,

covering centuries, going through divisions and changes in their structure and form.

                                               

So, differences bound to exist not only among religions but also within a religion.

Secondly,

Religion also became an identity of a person or a group.

Together,

Religious expressions and identities have become sources of disagreement and conflict.

The point is,

The religious Knowledge and Identity has very little to do with religiosity as such.

In fact, kernel of the religion is out of focus, obscure and left for the chosen ones.

 This trend is unavoidable and inevitable as long as one remains at the periphery.

That is maintaining oneself in the plane of Dogmas, Concepts, Ideas and Ideals.

Staying at the surface level may give identity, belonging, solace, security and

esoteric knowledge of the faith.                                        

All this can only add up to one’s psychological identity and knowledge.

And, we know,

‘Knowledge’ is not ‘Knowing’,

 Just as,

 Self-Discovery is not 'knowledge of one self ' but knowing one self.

It is imperative that one has to move from Plane of Knowledge to Plane of Knowing.

For that to happen, one has to go deeper towards the center irrespective of the faith.

One has to move from,        

‘Conception’ to ‘Perception’

‘Idea’ to ‘Fact’

‘Belief’ to ‘Realization’

In other words, one has to move from Religious identity (Ego-Self)

to Religious Truth (True-Self).

                                                                                         

Then alone religion become a meaningful human endeavor, otherwise it will remain a

divisive factor like any other collective identity. 

Evolution of Consciusness (36)-Meditation & Gurjeff Self-Remembering

Meditation and Self-Remembering

The word Meditation has become too common like Love.

So, it is not very clear to the common man what exactly it means.

If we look at the word meditation, it contains meanings such as To Ponder, Going into an

issue deeply and so on.

In religious or spiritual context it has deeper meaning like communion with God or Super

Consciousness.           

Normally,

In religious traditions meditation is practiced to attain their religious goal – Mukti,

Nirvana,  Salvation etc.

They may do so in a monastery, ashram or even in a mountain cave isolated from the

material world.

                                                              

For a common man,

Several schools based on various religious traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, Christianity, and

Sufi etc) or otherwise teaches methods of Meditation.

Normally they are aimed at achieving good health, peaceful mind, concentration etc.

These methods generally constitute Prayer, Breathing techniques, chanting Etc, derived

from religious traditions.

.

They are generally successful in their aims with testimonials to support the claim.

Now,

We will see little detail about the techniques and depth psychology explanation.

Prayer

Prayer is normally a petition made with utmost faith,

The faith and the surrender of the self silences the active conscious mind,

This quietness enables the conscious mind to be in a receptive mode,

Then the unconscious which has more depth and clarity projects an answer to the prayer

into the conscious mind. 

Probably it must be so, because

Not only saintly people,

Even a terrorist or a leader prays before planting a bomb or bombing a country and their

Prayers are answered.                                   

It must be their unconscious mind - God can not be a party to those affairs.

Breathing

Breathing techniques are based on the theory that breathing pattern is related to state of

Mind.

                                                               

We can normally notice the difference in breathing when angry and normal.

But there are subtle pattern changes in the breathing, which are not so obvious but related

to particular thoughts, feeling or abstract state of mind.

So, by regulating or controlling the breathing pattern, it is possible to alter the state of

Mind or acquire the desired state of mind.

By regularly plasticizing and prolonging the duration of desirable breathing patterns, the

other breathing patterns are used less and  less, and over time because of disuse thoughts

related to the patterns loose their dominance and wither out.

It is like muscle entropy, where muscles die out of disuse.

Chanting

Chanting involves repeating a particular word or phrase, generally a positive suggestion.

Constant repetition dulls and silences the conscious mind and the unconscious accepts the

Positive Suggestion,

Over time that brings changes in the conscious level of the person without being aware.

Concentration

Concentrating on an Image or Personal God excludes the other thoughts and focus on a

single thought or image silences the conscious mind, putting it in the receptive mode.

The unconscious works on the demand.

Some may have vision of the Deity or God and hear inner voice projected by the

unconscious mind in to the conscious mind.

 

One can see, in all these there is a demand or aim for fulfillment, and since the conscious

mind is made quite, the unconscious mind find ways to fulfill the demand.

That is,

This ‘Meditative’ state of mind is more efficient than the normal active mind but same in

its essence,

Because the problems addressed are Personal and ego-centric issues.

So, by being successful, they can only strengthen and advance the ego-self.

These explanations are meant only for a common man, because the same traditional

approaches practiced by austere Saints or Monks can have ultimate effect of dissolution

of Ego-Self, since their Prayers and Aims are not ego-centric.                 

So meditation can be practiced for relative fulfillment of personal mind or absolute

dissolution of the same.

But it is better and also imperative that one has to understand the personal mind

before going for its fulfillment or dissolution.

.

Common Man’s Meditation technique to understand the Personal Mind or Ego-Self     

                                                                                                     

We know about Gurdjeiff’s   self-remembering and fairly discussed about it in the earlier

posts.

Remembering one self is becoming conscious of every action and response

It includes even normal acts like walking, eating and talking etc.

No act or thought should escape one’s awareness, however trivial.

Normally, as habit one does not ‘Remember one self’, whether ‘acting’ or ‘responding’.

One acts or responds mechanically and impulsively based on past memory.

This Mechanical act or response does not bring about understanding of the situation

Or the ‘Me’.

So, to understand, one has to stop the mechanical response.                                                     

For that to happen,

One has to remember one self during the act.

In other words,

Apprehending the consciousness as it acts.

To understand what is “Apprehending the consciousness as it acts”

Saint to a Disciple: What are you meditating on?

           

Disciple: I am meditating on Anger

           

Saint     : Are you angry now?                                                                                 

Disciple: No

 Saint     :  Meditate on Anger, when you are angry.

 So,

Apprehending the consciousness as it acts is self-remembering and also meditation.

It will stop the mechanical response,

That is consciousness is arrested from appealing to the ‘Me’, which provides the ground

for an automated reaction from the past memory.

Added to that,

One become conscious of the particular 'Memory' or 'Experiance'  that qualifies

the situation (Good or Bad) and subsequent automated response.

Here,

Since consciousness is arrested at the act and not yet associated  with the the ‘Memory’,

One become conscious of the 'Memory' but not influenced by it,

So, the response now can be based on merit or fact of the situation, not necessarily on

memory alone.

It may appear little misty in the narration.

By testing   ‘Self-Remembering ’, one can gain complete clarity.

So,

                          

Self-Remembering is the simplest (not easy) Meditation technique for a common man to

understand the Self and its contents (Desires, Motives, Prejudices etc).

Because,

It makes no demand except attention and also it can be practiced any time, any where and

for any duration.

We will visit Meditation again later.

Evolution of Consciusness (35)-Desire & Gurjeff Self-Remembering

Anatomy of desire and Gordjieff Self-Remembering

Life is all about desire, however troublesome it may be.

Usual but serious metaphor is camel eating fruits along with thorns

 and bleeding but continuing to do so.

Human desire is much more complex.

We will try to see the simplicity (kernel) behind the complexity in this post.

Desire is felt as an urge ‘to be’, ‘to have’ or ‘to do’ something that gives pleasure or

satisfaction, and also to avoid pain or suffering.

Fundamental urges meant for Preservation, Procreation etc, which are independent of the

Ego or the Personality also comes to the surface in the form of Desire.

How this mute Drives are felt as personal desire is another topic.

 If we take bodily need to have water.

It is expressed as a desire to drink water, pleasure in drinking and

a feeling of ‘satisfied-thirst’.

Generally

Everything one does is out of desire including

Desire to avoid pain,

Desire to remain content,

Desire to eliminate desire,

And Desire for God or Enlightenment

It is obvious that all desires can not be realized, so fear, frustration, struggle etc.

exist along with desire.

To avoid negative impact arising out of desires in one’s life and society,

Desires are categorized into good, bad, necessary, not essential, luxury etc to have some

control over them and permissiveness as well wherever resistance is futile.

But it is evident that,

Spite of both Control and Permissiveness, frustration and struggle still persists in one’s

life and as well as in the society because of desire.

Approaches of Control or Permissiveness are addressing the desires in its concrete or

particular forms and hold good for some time before breaking up.

So, instead of approaching concrete or particular desire,

We will try to approach desire in its abstract or generic form.

Now,

we will see the basic or general structure of Desire and its mechanism.

One can put it as a sequence for easier understanding

It begins with,

1) Perception of an object.

 2) Contact with the object.

3) Sensation generated by the object.

4) Association of sensation with an Idea or Image in the memory

5) Idea or Image qualifying the object as desirable or undesirable

6) Desire to seek or avoid the object.

It is from the 4^th stage that the desire as such comes into existence.

Let us take an example,

 A person is status conscious and strongly believes that owning a luxury car will improve

his social standing.

Supposing he happens to travel in a luxury Car, we will see how the ride affects his

Consciousness. 

Now the steps,

1)      Rides in a Luxury Car (Perception and Contact)

2)      Pleasant sensation is experienced

3)      Pleasant sensation is associated with his ‘Status Image’ of the Car

4)      The ‘I’ with the ‘Status Image’ qualifies the Car as essential for status.

5)      Desire arises to own such a Car.

Let us look at it the other way.

Supposing he has no status image associated with the Car, what would be the out come.

He will still enjoy the ride as before and might even say ‘It is an excellent Car to have’.

But,

Since there is no particular ‘I’ or personality with ‘(Car) Status Image’ in the Ego-Self,

There is no creation of an association or bond between the sensation and the ‘Me’.

So, once the ride is over,

The sensation ends or consummated leaving no residue to linger on.

Result is,

There won’t be any urge to own the car or frustration of not owning the car.

So, it is the Image in the memory that is responsible for desire not the sensation itself.

In this case, the image can be easily deduced but may be difficult in other cases.

For instance, among the similar cars, one may prefer a particular model.

The preference may have more than one image in the background.

Now,

One can logically understand the mechanism of desire,

But, to be effective in real life, one has to be consciously aware of  the mechanism.

Self-Remembering and becoming conscious of Desire.

Normally, things happen fast like Contact, Sensation and Desire.

Mind acts mechanically, impulsively and one do not remember one self during the

episode of a particular Desire.

To become aware or conscious,

One has to be attentive and ‘remember one self’, when desire rises.

One has to hold on to the consciousness as such during ‘sensation’.

One has to stay with the situation (Sensation) without engaging the past to recognize the

Sensation (Associating with an Image) or ending the situation by taking a decision

(Resisting or yielding to it).

As we mentioned before,

Mind will stagger for a while and then become calm and stable.

Here,

The perception is not distorted –Not qualified by the past or concluded by a decision. 

In this perception (reversed one), one can become aware or see that,

It is not the Object that creates the Desire but an Image in the ‘Me’ finds the object

desirable.

Now, one can identify and analyze the image, its background and features consciously

(It is not analysis done after the episode like Postmortem).

This stops the mechanical nature of the mind and enables one to have conscious control

over desire.

This control in turn enables the person to accept or decline the ‘Desire’.

This is not Resisting or Yielding to the desire, which has frustration behind.

One has to test it in every occasion possible.

Again,

Self-Remembering here is not about eliminating the desire but becoming conscious,

making a conscious response instead of impulsive mechanical reaction.

This will help one to identify imaginary needs and false personalities in the ego-self.

This in turn may bring one little closer to the True-Self.

Evolution of Consciusness (34)-Conflict & Gurjeff Self-Remembering

CONFLICT & Gurdjieff's Self-Remembering

Conflict is normally perceived as a problem due to difference of opinions or views.

Conflicts can be at global, national, institutional or individual’s level.

But the common factor is disagreement over ideas, opinions etc.

Conflict resolution at global or institutional level is elaborate, complex and will persist

as long as conflict at individual level exists.

So, what is important is conflict that exists in an individual because it is the individuals

who collectively make the bigger entities.

Disagreement is inevitable.

It is obvious; no one can be right about everything every time.

But, why disagreement should create conflict.

Let us bring it down to simple form to understand its structure.

There are two kinds of opinions one come across- Objective and Subjective.

Regarding external entities (Car, House, Business, Decease etc…), one can have

Objective opinion based on one’s knowledge.

Regarding internal psychological entities (People, Religion, Culture etc…), one can have

Subjective opinion based on One’s Ego or the ‘Me’. 

In other words

One can have objective opinion in the physical plane and Subjective opinion in the Psychological plane.

Say for instance,

If one has a objective technical opinion about a Car, he is ready to change or give up the

opinion, if an expert in the field says it is not correct.

So, there is no conflict or antagonism in the mind over disagreement.

(Even here, if one has a ‘Self-Image’ (Psychological) that he is ‘Knowledgeable’, he may

accept the expert opinion, but feel down as if his ‘Ignorance’ is exposed and ‘Reputation’

is damaged.)

But generally one knows that his knowledge is limited and ready to change his Objective

opinion in the physical plane.

Now,

In the psychological plane, one’s opinion is subjective.

Opinion is based on the Ego or ‘Me’, rather created by it.

As we know,

The content of the ‘Me’ is acquired or learned from the society, and it includes everything

from background, brought up, culture, values, prejudices, past experiences etc.

All subjective opinions are dependent on this ‘Me’.

The problem is,

Though the content of the ‘Me’ or ‘Ego-Self’ is psychological ‘Knowledge’,

It manifests itself as a persona in our day to day engagements.

 (We have already seen this aspect in the earlier posts).

So,

If some one disagrees with a subjective opinion, it will be perceived as a personal challenge 

and the other will be looked upon as an antagonist.

‘Disagreement’ is not over the Opinion but with the ‘Me’ or ‘Ego’ – The Persona.

This false perception makes the ‘Disagreement’ into conflict leading to antagonism.

Say for instance,

If some one disagrees with one’s religious belief

This is perceived as a challenge to the person him self.

Religious belief is not looked upon as ‘knowledge’ but as identity of the Person.

So, the disagreement is not about an ‘opinion’ but the about the ‘identity’.

This transforms the disagreement into a conflict and to antagonism between individuals.

(This antagonism collectively leads to enmity between population groups.

The chaos we witness today has its origin here and one can also logically see that the

solution do not exist in the plane of ‘Belief’. )

How to deal with the situation (at individual level)

Now,

If one remember one self (Self-Remembering) during the episode of ‘disagreement’,

That is if one stays with the situation, without going beyond the situation

–        To the past for justification, to the future to end the conflict.

Initially the mind may stagger urging one to react and end the conflict by going beyond the present.

But, if one persists, the staggering mind will become quite and one can see the false

Personality and its motives with its roots in the ‘Belief’.

(It is false personality because a ‘Belief’ is an idea not actual or realized truth)

And also see the cause behind the attitude of antagonism.

That is,

 If ‘Disagreement’ is acknowledged,  the very existence of this false personality is at stake.

So it tries to defend itself by taking a hostile stance.

The moment one become conscious of this process, the mind stops the mechanical impulsive reaction

 and become stable and balanced.

One may not give up his belief, but hostility ceases.

Because, one can actually see that the ‘Self’ is not at stake over the issue.

By becoming conscious through Self-remembering, one is not immediately eliminating the identity, 

but  one gains control and depth in awareness.

This in turn reduces mechanical reaction and increases conscious response.

In general,

Not only beliefs but also images such as ‘Wife’ or ‘Husband’ can give rise to conflict,

If a ‘Woman’ or ‘Man’ do not fit into the ‘Image’ – which is a social construct.

If one becomes conscious of Images or Identities and their potential for mischief, one can

handle them rationally, without bias and avoid escalating a ‘disagreement’ in to a ‘Conflict’.

Now the larger picture,

If this is applied to all identities and images of one-self and others,

One can approach life not as a ‘conflict’ but as a journey (Pleasant or Otherwise)

 towards the True-Self.