While reading through a Case Study which me and my friend are going to present at an upcoming conference, I had this insight.
In the case study, the patient had internalized instrumental or what is called Operant Conditioning where every action was done to please and/or gain the approval, validation of their parent. That led to me to think of Bhagavad Gita.
In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjun to forget about the actions of his work and just focus on the work. Do your work and the results shall follow. If you look at it from the modern psychological perspective, he is de-linking action from consequence. Basically, breaking up the link between Stimulus and Response.
Stimulus and Response comes primarily from the Classical Conditioning Experiments of Ivan Pavlov. The dog is fed food after a bell rings, later, the dog develops salivation, a natural response whenever the bell rings, in anticipation of the food.
In Instrumental conditioning, the animal is rewarded for the action. For example, the cat inside a cage is rewarded with food and freedom, every time it presses a particular lever. Actually, the cat learns to escape and eat the food outside, but the whole pattern is the same.
The animal mind focuses on the reward. So is the case with the human mind, isn't it?
"I want a hefty salary to buy that expensive house so my relatives and friends respect me."
"I want to become a civil servant/politician so I and my family have prestige, money and a stable, secure life."
All the while, the real work is in the mind, working on the same principles that the animal works on.
It is this animal mind that the scriptures tell us to get rid of.
If we dissociate our minds from these conditioning methods, what happens? Why would the scriptures tell us this anyway?
Well, first up I feel that we would look at the larger picture. Instead of just crass commercial and material gain, we might look at the long term gain and the gain of those around us.
For example, in trying to be rich, am I taking care of the environment? My family? My city? My nation? One can get rich in many ways, but what is the use of it when there will be no planet left for us to live in? If we thought by being a little more detached, maybe we would see the larger picture and take a more holistic approach.
I think its just wonderful how Krishna tells Arjun to break a conditioning principle that we humans have now scientifically proved and understood over the past hundred years or so. I wonder what more did the ancients know and we are missing out from knowing and sharing with the rest of humanity because of not looking at it from various perspectives.
Until then, adios!
In the case study, the patient had internalized instrumental or what is called Operant Conditioning where every action was done to please and/or gain the approval, validation of their parent. That led to me to think of Bhagavad Gita.
Stimulus and Response comes primarily from the Classical Conditioning Experiments of Ivan Pavlov. The dog is fed food after a bell rings, later, the dog develops salivation, a natural response whenever the bell rings, in anticipation of the food.
In Instrumental conditioning, the animal is rewarded for the action. For example, the cat inside a cage is rewarded with food and freedom, every time it presses a particular lever. Actually, the cat learns to escape and eat the food outside, but the whole pattern is the same.
The animal mind focuses on the reward. So is the case with the human mind, isn't it?
"I want a hefty salary to buy that expensive house so my relatives and friends respect me."
"I want to become a civil servant/politician so I and my family have prestige, money and a stable, secure life."
All the while, the real work is in the mind, working on the same principles that the animal works on.
It is this animal mind that the scriptures tell us to get rid of.
If we dissociate our minds from these conditioning methods, what happens? Why would the scriptures tell us this anyway?
Well, first up I feel that we would look at the larger picture. Instead of just crass commercial and material gain, we might look at the long term gain and the gain of those around us.
For example, in trying to be rich, am I taking care of the environment? My family? My city? My nation? One can get rich in many ways, but what is the use of it when there will be no planet left for us to live in? If we thought by being a little more detached, maybe we would see the larger picture and take a more holistic approach.
I think its just wonderful how Krishna tells Arjun to break a conditioning principle that we humans have now scientifically proved and understood over the past hundred years or so. I wonder what more did the ancients know and we are missing out from knowing and sharing with the rest of humanity because of not looking at it from various perspectives.
Until then, adios!
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