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We Live in a World of Hypnotic Illusions

Many of us, for instance, believe that imaginary lines drawn on the ground and deep in the middle of bodies of water are so real we would be willing to kill and die for them. Something that the birds and fish who cross these imaginary lines (known as borders) would find strange.

Some of these labels take on a life of their own such as the label that we are shy, anxious or depressed. And so we filter out those times, those 'exceptions' when we effortlessly chatted with strangers, or felt safe, or experienced one of those of genuine moments of happiness that occur to all of us.

Even the most depressed person is not depressed 24-hours a day. No one is depressed when they are sleeping or startled or something grabs their attention. They just 'believe' they are always depressed and do not question this label.

The source of this problem can be traced back to when we were small infants. Somehow the process of socialization, particularly the acquisition of language, caused what George Gurdjieff called our "being-consciousness" to be split into two parts which now have "nothing in common with each other." Parts we now call our conscious and subconscious.

Although we spend most of our waking lives in the hypnotic dream-like state of waking-sleep, we only use the word 'hypnosis' in a very specific context, which, according to George Gurdjieff is when this process occurs in an accelerated way and the results are concentrated.

And unlike our normal dream-like state, this "acceleratedly concentratedly" version is one of the main tools we can use to break free from the delusions, contradictions, and dark, distorted impulses that haunt and fracture all of us and prevent us from living the life we could be living.

As George Gurdjieff repeated many times; we lack any real internal unity and are filled with a mass of contradictory impulses. We may decide to eat good nutritious foods one day and suddenly give in to those darker impulses to pig-out on junk food the next. One part may want to drink and another to stay sober.

This becomes obvious if you have ever seen someone drift into a deep trance because their breathing deepens and slows. The muscles in their face flatten and both sides of the face become more symmetrical. Blood also flows more easily to the surface of their skin making them more flushed. You can even see this change when someone is sleeping and their subconscious is in charge.

This also gives rise to things such as our ego and "Mr. Self Love" and "Madame Vanity", which contrary to what many believe are not bad or evil. They are really "sentinels" that are there for our protection, because that deeper part, which should have been cultivated and developed, is unable to protect us from stray influences and suggestions. So they stick up for us and stand in the way and prevent suggestions from entering us, even if those suggestions are really beneficial.

Conventional hypnotists, not quite understanding this, have simply labelled this defence mechanism the 'critical factor of the conscious mind' as if labelling it explains it and tells them all they need to know.

Now one of the keys to understanding why this all happens lies in what George Gurdjieff calls "mentation by thought" and "mentation by form". He says that animals are capable of mentation by form, or thinking by form, whereas mentation by thought, or thinking by thought is uniquely human. And the main thing that distinguishes human from animal thought is words and language.

Some have even simplified this and talk about how we can think in words or pictures. But this is to ignore our other senses because mentation by form involves thinking by images, non-linguistic sounds, smells, tastes and sensations.

This also partly explains the power of affirmations. They bind the conscious mind in a straight-jacket and allow something to seep inwards and something deeper to grow.

Unfortunately this "false consciousness" has now become our "autocratic ruler" and it messes us up and causes such disharmony and fragmentation within us - like the ignorant and superstitious servant who usurped the master's throne.

The Power of Hypnotherapy

George Gurdjieff never made things easy for his students. He wanted us to struggle to extract meaning and so he made sure he never spoon-fed it to us. And so in his deliberately complex way he phrased this:

"[T]hen indeed my boy, if the crystallization of data for engendering in that localization an idea of something opposite to that which has already arisen in them and somehow become fixed, is assisted in a corresponding manner, and if moreover the actions evoked by this idea are directed upon a disharmonized part of the planetary body, an accelerated change in it possible."

Or to phrase this in a more understandable way: we need to conjure up a positive to cancel a negative. So part of the solution for someone who has problems with anger involves conjuring up a memory of feeling love and acceptance, while chronic despair and hopelessness are counteracted with joy and hope.

Of course, this simplified understanding ignores the layers of complexity that should be teased out of this quotation by those who seek to practice hypnosis. This is because if the original anger arose from a belief and we attempt to counter it with a feeling, we are not really summoning the opposite. This is why a deeper understanding of Gurdjieffian Hypnotherapy is an invaluable tool in any hypnotist's arsenal.

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Explore Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy in Toronto with Allan Clews.