VOL.51, October 29,
1968
THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF
CONDITIONED REFLEX RESPONSE
To change the form of any living thing we must first cause it to react. Reaction is produced by the introduction of a
disturbing element.
In
order to change our own body, and to improve it intelligently, we also need to
discover an exciting element to bring about the desired change. To
consciously bring about a change for the better in our nature we must first
discover what "better" really implies. Then somehow we must expose ourselves to the
"element" that will produce this change.
To
admit that we are wrong, or ailing, or failing in any way at all, we must admit
that some disturbing element has changed us and acted upon us in a mysterious
way. Certainly we would not purposefully and consciously change ourselves in a
negative way; this would not only be foolish, but also impossible.
As
people, we are in trouble. Why? Because, in the absence of the correcting
stimuli (conscience within), the external pressures of nature impose themselves
upon us. The life sap of faulty change
is emotion excited by external pressures. When we allow an external source to
stimulate us we then become externalized, and grow in the wrong
direction. The trouble is this: We
egotistically try to endow that stimulation with a pattern for
self-improvement. But what really
happens through that activity and excitement is that, by our own efforts, our
mind is distracted from the knowledge of our failings.
Emotional
experiences supply our ego with the illusion that we have improved our
lot. However, what happens in Reality is
that we change by immutable laws with each emotional experience unequivocally
for the worst. We cannot endow ourselves with character, health, or beauty
unless we become obediently responsive to the Divine Impulse.
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