BUDDHIST THOUGHT CONTROL:

>By way of immediate action, a stand must first be made against thought, against mental processes. "I do not know" - it is said -"anything which, when unbridled, uncontrolled, unwatched, untamed, brings such ruin as thought-and I do not know anything which,
when bridled, controlled, watched, tamed, brings such benefits as thought." Thought, which everyone lightly says is "mine," is, in reality, only to a very small degree in our power. In the majority of cases, instead of "to think" it would be correct to say "we are thought" or "thought takes place in me." In the normal way, the characteristic of thought is its instability. "Incorporeal"-it is said - "it walks by itself": it "runs hither and thither like an untamed bull.'" Hard to check, unstable, it runs where it pleases. In general, it is said that, while this body may persist one year, two years, three years or even up to a hundred years and more in its present form, "what we call thought, what we call mind, what we call consciousness arises in one manner, ceases in another; incessantly, night and day"

>Asceticism is not a cowardly resignation before life's vicissitudes, but rather a struggle of a spiritual kind, which is not any less heroic than the struggle of a knight on the battlefield. As Buddha himself said (Mahdvagga, 2.15); "It is better to die fighting than to live as one vanquished." This resolution is in accord with Evola's ideal of overcoming natural resistances in order to achieve the Awakening through meditation; it should he noted, however, that the warrior terminology is contained in the oldest writings of Buddhism, which are those that best reflect the living teaching of the master. Evola works tirelessly in his book to erase the Western view of - a languid and dull doctrine that in fact was originally regarded as aristocratic and reserved for real "champions.

>In its fluid, changeable, and inconsistent character, normal thought reflects, more-
over, the general law of samsaric consciousness. This is why mental control is considered
as the first urgent measure to be taken by one who opposes the "current."

>The struggle now begins, The symbolism connected with the Khattiya, the warriors, is again used. The texts speak first of a fourfold, just striving (cattdro sammappadhana) to be won by bringing to bear viriya-bala, the heroic force of will, which has already been considered as a requisite for the Ariyan disciple or combatant.

>The first instrument is SUBSTITUTION. When, in conceiving a particular idea, there arise
harmful and unworthy thoughts images of craving, of aversion, of blindness", then we must make this idea give place to another, beneficial idea. And in giving place to this beneficial idea it is possible that those deliberations and images will dissolve and that by this victory "the intimate spirit will be fortified, will become calm, united, and strong." Here is the simile; "Even as a skilled builder with a thin wedge is able to extract, raise up, expel a thicker one," just so, the immediate substitution of one image by another has the power of dispersing and dissolving the tendencies and the mental associations that the first was in course of determining or of arousing. What is "unworthy," in one text, is defined like this; "That, whereby fresh mania of desire sprouts
and the old mania is reinforced; fresh mania of existence sprouts and the old mania is reinforced; fresh mania of error sprouts and the old mania is reinforced." We are not dealing with moralistic aspects but with what may he described as ontological or existential references. It is a matter of overcoming and obstructing samsaric nature, of neutralizing the possibilities of fresh "combustions in oneself. Particular aid is given by the idea of the harmfulness of certain thoughts; upon the appearance of a "thought of ill
will or cruelty," one must summon "wisdom conforming to reality" and then formulate this thought: "There is now arisen in me this thought of ill will or cruelty; it leads to my own harm, it leads to others' harm, it leads to the harm of both, it uproots wisdom, it brings vexation, it does not lead to extinction, it leads to self-limitation." If this thought is formulated and apprehended with sufficient intensity and sincerity, the bad thought dissolves.

>This leads us immediately to the second instrument: EXPULSION through horror or contempt. If, in the effort of passing from one image to another as the first method proscribes, unworthy thoughts, images of craving, aversion, or blindness still arise, then
the unworthiness, the irrationality, and the misery they represent must be brought to mind. This is the simile: "Just as a woman or a man, young, flourishing and charming, round whose neck were tied the carcass of a snake, or the carcass of a dog, or a human
carcass, would be filled with fear, horror, and loathing, so, the perception of the un- worthy character of those images or thoughts should produce an immediate and instinctive act of expulsion, from which their dispersion or neutralization would follow. Whenever an affective chord is touched, then by making an effort one must be able to feel contempt, shame, and disgust for the enjoyment or dislike that has arisen!'

>In order to employ this ascetic instrument of defense to its best advantage we have to presuppose in the individual an acute form of interior sensibility and a capacity for immediately projecting the qualities that arouse instinctive repulsion onto the image
of what is to be eliminated or neutralized. Hindus have the myth of Siva, the great ascetic of the mountaintops, who with one glance of his frontal eye-the eye of knowledge- reduced Kama, the demon of desire, to ashes when he tried to disturb his mind.

>The third instrument is DISSOCIATION. When undesired images and thoughts arise, they must remain meaningless and be ignored. The simile is: as a man with good sight, who does not wish to observe what comes into his field of view at a particular moment can close his eyes or look elsewhere, When attention is resolutely withheld, the images or the tendencies are again restrained. The simile we have just quoted brings out clearly what we have said about the state of passivity in which man finds himself during most of his mental and emotive life: has he, indeed, this power of looking or of withdrawing his sight at will? Images, psychoaffective aggregates of fear, desire, hope, despair, and so on, fascinate or hypnotize his mind, subtly tying it, they "manipulate" it by their influence and feed on its energies like vampires. It is essential that this ascetic instrument not he confused with the common and simple process of "chasing away" a thought, a practice that often has the opposite effect, that is, of forcing it back, strengthened, into the subconscious, according to the psychological law of "converse effort." It is rather a matter of destroying by not seeing, by neutralizing the disposition and by leaving the image alone. The preceding instrument, also, should be regarded in this light: it is not repulsion by one who is struggling, but a reaction arising from a superior state of awareness and from an earnestly lived sense of the "indignity" and irrationality of the images and inclinations that appear.

>The fourth instrument is gradual dismemberment. Make the thoughts vanish one after
another successively. The relevant simile gives the idea of the technique very clearly:
"Just as a man walking in haste might think: 'Why am I walking in haste? let me go more
slowly' and, walking more slowly, might think: "But why am I walking at all? I wish to
stand still' and, standing still, might think: 'For what reason am I standing up? I will sit
down' and, sitting down, might think: 'Why must I only sit'? I wish to lie down' and might
lie down: just so if harmful and unworthy thoughts, images of craving, of aversion and of
blindness, again arise in an ascetic in spite of his contempt and rejection of them, he must
make these thoughts successively vanish one after another.

>It is possible, however, that the mind in its irrationality may not be subdued even by
this method. In that case one must pass to d'rect action, that is, one must come to grips
with oneself. Whence, the last instrument: if, while making the thoughts gradually
disappear one after another, irrational impulses and unworthy images continue to arise,
then, "with clenched teeth and tongue pressed hard against the palate, with the will you
must crush, compel, heat down the mind." The simile is: "as a strong man, seizing
another weaker man by the head or by the shoulders, compels him, crushes him, throws
him down." Again, for real success in this direct form, of struggle one must be able to
call upon the illumination, the energy, and the superiority that proceed from what is
outside the simple "current. Only then is there no danger that the victory will be merely
exterior and apparent, and that the enemy, instead of being destroyed, has disengaged and
entrenched himself in the subconscious.

>In order to clarify the various stages of this subtle war, an author has adopted the
following simile: it is not possible to avoid the appearance of images and inclinations in
the mind: this occurs spontaneously and automatically until what is called voidness,
sunna, is reached. To the disciple, to the fighting ascetic, some of these images are like
strange and indifferent people whom we meet on the road and who pass by without
attracting our attention. Others are like people we meet who wish to stop us: but since we
see no point in it, we ourselves withdraw attention and pass on. Other images, however,
are like people we meet and with whom we ourselves wish to walk, in the face of all
reason. In this case we have to react and assert ourselves: the tendency of our will must
be opposed from the start.