Your DNA and your personality are different. DNA is purely biological. It is hereditary. Your biological traits from your parents may be passed on to you. You may carry certain physical features of your parents but not their IQ or personality traits. When you first enter the world, you are a body. That is all. Mind is yet to form. Later in life, it is imposed. As you develop, you are informed about the traits that define your caste, clan, family tradition, and so forth. Therefore, those who identify with a specific caste, group, region, or religion acquire distinctive characteristics of the castes, groups, regions, and religions they represent. But in reality, these traits have nothing to do with your biological DNA, your hereditary material. Besides, your intellect and personality are shaped by your cultural background. And it’s not your personality. It’s not real. It originated outside. Everything, even your knowledge, does not belong to you. It is borrowed stuff.
The subconscious has been programmed with this cultural heritage. It expands as you do over time. It doesn’t age and deteriorate. Your personality is primarily shaped by your subconscious which is culture specific and culture bound. You have developed this subconscious over time, but it is not yours. Despite coming from outside, you claim ownership over it. It is in charge of all outward manifestations of your reactions. The author of the article makes no representations regarding any acts. Only reactions exist. We react. Unfortunately, we misinterpret these reactions as actions. A stimulus always elicits a reaction or response. This reaction is not a deed. It responds to a stimulus.
The information for all of our reactions in the present is taken from this manufactured subconscious which has come from outside. Nothing ever happens on its own. It has been planned out by the subconscious. Our ideas, thoughts, emotions, feelings, opinions, impressions, images and so forth are the promptings of the subconscious. It is in charge of determining your routine behaviours in daily life. You turn into a zero if the subconscious is empty. Then, your true nature is revealed, as you are. But the subconscious entirely hides it. It is similar to wearing a mask.
We must consider whether we are capable of escaping from this subconscious, which is to blame for all of our responses, feelings, conflicts, and so forth. Can we survive without our subconscious minds? Nobody is immune to its influence. However, its effects can be diminished if alertness is kept at all times. It’s known as awareness. The ability to live a well-organized life on the surface depends on this awareness. How can we cultivate this awareness? It cannot be cultivated since it involves routine exercise. This is the human dilemma. So, the best course is to remain an eternal watchdog.
The purpose of meditation is to keep a constant watch over your attitude, thinking processes, emotional reactions to situations, and other things. This must occur from moment to moment. Meditation is not sitting in a corner cross-legged and observing your thoughts. The actual meditation can happen only when you are eternally vigilant of your movements on the surface of life. Everything else has to take place in a wakeful state. All your responses or reactions to situations are the ultimate cause of the building up of the subconscious. If you can take care of your body and mind while you are awake, it won’t have much of an effect on your subconscious, which is an extension of the conscious; it is a reflection of the conscious.
Three young guys once underwent a monastic initiation and became monks. One day, they came upon an ordinary man who was residing in a shanty with basic needs and comforts. He refused to acknowledge that he was a sincere renouncer and leading a normal life. However, the three young renouncers started a conversation with the ordinary guy about life. The three young monks believed they had the upper hand in every argument since the common man was mute. One day, noticing the three young monks sitting under a tree with eyes closed and immersed in what they believed to be meditation, the ordinary man shouted loudly, ‘Tiger, tiger, run for your life.’ No sooner the three young men leaped and ran, leaving their robes. They arrived at the shack nearly naked, went inside, and fastened the door. They breathed a sigh of relief as they saw the ordinary person seated calmly inside. Nothing transpired. They wore the clothes that the ordinary man gave and left without engaging in conversation.
