Part 2: Easy example prelude to mysticism problem

Here is an easy example to start with. Suppose that you are a parent and need to speak to your son about a problem with his behavior. Let’s make it simple to avoid tangents about behavioral or moral issues and let’s just say he always has a messy room in your home. So you want to have him clean up and therefore initiate a conversation with him.

This would be an example of a conversation that is on the surface motivated by a need to have a conscious A to conscious B dialogue. You want him to clean up his room, so you say so, and he hears that you are telling him to clean up his room. His words in response will be his conscious B responding to your conscious A.

Suppose you have a hidden agenda, for example, you know an important guest is coming over and you want your son to clean up before the guest gets there. But you are afraid that if you tell your son about this pending guest that he might use this knowledge as leverage. Even though you have a “hidden agenda” this is still a conscious A to conscious B conversation because you are fully aware of your own conscious, albeit secret, agenda. Having a secret in a conversation, or thinking you have a secret role or secret “identity” when you have a conversation is NOT an example of unconscious A. Unconscious A means that you yourself are unaware of some component of yourself.

Now, suppose that unrealized by you, even though you love your son, you want to make him feel bad on this particular day. I’m not talking about using a “guilt trip” on him, which like hidden agenda, is an example of conscious A, since you would be doing it knowingly. Suppose that you want to wound and hurt your son, but you do not realize that you want to do this. This would be an example of your unconscious A speaking to his conscious B.

Now the action of your unconscious A may or may not be visible to B. The choice of the timing of your discussion (for example, you decide to tell him to clean his room right before he is about to go out on his first date and he’s so excited and happy) or the words and gestures you use will seem perfectly reasonable to you (since your conscious hidden agenda A mind thinks you are just trying to get him to be responsible and clean his room before your secret guest arrives). But think about this. If you really loved your son, cared about your guest, and did not want to ruin your son’s first date, might you not clean his room for him “just this once” while he is on his first date? Hmm. It is your mean unconscious A that would keep you from even thinking of this option, say nothing of doing it. This is because mean unconscious A wants to hurt your boy and ruin his first date happiness.