Psychological Exercise 1: Experiencing Opposites

This exercise, like many that require introspection, is best done at night or in the evening when inactive and when it is quiet. The first part of the exercise is to pick something, anything, and then focus your attention on it.

Psychological Exercise 2: Inside—Outside

The logic and geometry of experiences is different from the logic and geometry necessary to get through everyday life in public. Here is an experiment in introspection the reader can do to see what I mean: Focus on a sensation deep within your body. Now focus on one on the surface of your skin. Now focus on a visual sensation somewhere outside your body. Now focus on a far away sound, as far away as possible. Now try to focus on outer space, space past our Milky Way galaxy, the furthest part of space there is. Now ask yourself where this last experience took place. I think you will find that the experience of outer space, if you had it at all, was a combination of thoughts and images within your own head. So, typical of the laws of logic and geometry for experiences, outer space was outside your body, beyond sights you were seeing and sounds you were hearing, but, at the same time, it was inside your head. — If you want to explore your own experiences, you have to get used to this kind of twist. (this exercise is also found in Short Observation 96)

Psychological Exercise 3: Picturing the Lord

"God is in the Heavens." If you are thinking about God, and you are thinking of Him in the Heavens, you are doing this in one of two ways: 1) you are outside under the sky, actually looking up into the sky, and picturing Him up in the sky. Or, 2) you are inside, picturing Him, picturing the sky, and picturing Him in this pictured sky. For 1) you have to be outside, with eyes open, looking up at the sky. For 2), you can be inside, sitting in an easy chair, eyes closed, imagining the sky with God in it. There is such a big difference between 1) and 2) that I think people who think about God in the heavens in the second way may not be able to picture Him in the heavens the first way. (this exercise is also found in Short Observation 92)

Psychological Exercise 4: If you believed in omens

Let's say that you walk outside and see, in a tree across from where you live, 20 or 30 agitated crows, squawking. If you believe in omens, do you think you would take this as a good or bad omen?

Psychological Exercise 5: Ways of looking at eyes, ears, and skin

Picture the eyes and ears as extra-sensitive parts of the skin and sights and sounds as feelings received through touch. At the same time, picture the less specialized areas of the skin as relatively insensitive eyes and ears that receive sights and sounds through touch.

 

Psychological Exercise 6: The Whole Picture

This is an exercise to demonstrate "the Whole Picture" with respect to perception of colors and to feelings and moods.

The last few pages contain the "punch line" or the "moral" of the exercise.

Each of the next 25 pages will contain an image of a color such as this

 

and also a multiple choice question.

You may choose more than one answer for each.

In some cases, no answer may fit perfectly.

Please feel free to come up with your own answers. That is, please don't feel limited by the choices.

There are 29 pages (including this one), and, for the full effect of the exercise, it is necessary to go in order and not skip ahead, especially not to the end.

These questions are not meant as a quiz or test, so there are no ratings as to right or wrong, correct or incorrect or even a place to record your answers.

The questions are meant only to stimulate self-exploration and thought about the meaning and place of good and bad feelings.