Have you heard about the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov known primarily for his work on classical conditioning?
The conditioned reflex was taught in high schools about the famous Pavlov experiment on dogs. Pavlov used a bell to call the dogs to their food and, after a few repetitions, the dogs started to salivate in response to the bell. Pavlov called the bell the conditioned (or conditional) stimulus (CS) because its effect depended on its association with food. He called the food the unconditioned stimulus (US) because its effect did not depend on previous experience.
Here is a story we can relate to the conditioning behavior.
During a research experiment, a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank. The shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked, and ate the smaller fish.
The biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other. Again, the shark quickly attacked but the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.
This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks. Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually, the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.
The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack. The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.
What does this story convey?
Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally give up and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we were unsuccessful in the past, we will always be unsuccessful. We get conditioned to see a barrier in our heads, even when there is no real barrier between where we are and where we want to go.
Our mind continues to believe that the circumstances will not change for us to succeed, and we become pessimistic. The optimist keeps on trying, but it is really the opportunist who keeps his eyes and mind open for options and changing circumstances to grab the opportunity and move on to success.
As humans, we have been extremely conditioned in our lives. Our past and its experiences with knowledge and memory inform us how to react to current situations. It is this conditioning which is responsible for most of our behavior, to ourselves, to others, and to every situation in life. It is this conditioning, through which we form our perceptions of reality, of others, and of ourselves.
Makes one feel rather programmed does it not?
Our conditioning develops our limiting belief system, and we stay in a specific mindset failing to see outside of the box.
If you could find a way to de-condition your mind and convert your beliefs into unlimited expansive beliefs, your behavior changes. You feel empowered and begin to live with a fresh mind and outlook.
Learning is necessary to grow as an individual, nurture your mind, and improve your quality of life. Instead of seeing reality as one big action and reaction, perhaps you can come to see reality as it is, ever-present, ever-changing, always new.
Our conditioning exists in many forms and reactions, some of which we are not even aware of. It is embedded in our subconscious mind, and it automatically surfaces every now and then by getting triggered by any stimulus. The compelling force of the conditioning is fed by your identification with it.
There is no reason to react out of conditioning, rather you can respond appropriately out of the creative space or energy within, the space, which is the nothingness, the simple perception of pure silence as the base of your being. In simple words, from that space of silence, you can be aware of anything that arises in your consciousness, as it happens, and then you can change it as required.
Relaxing into the gentle awareness of the pure silence of this moment through meditation, you will find that there is nothing that can move you from here. There is nowhere else but now.
At this moment you can let all of it go by realizing that you are not your conditioning, nor your past, nor your reactions. You are the Pure Silence of being itself. In that, you are freedom itself.
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