GETTING OUT OF THE STRAIGHT-CUT DITCH
There are powerful reasons why an understanding of the process of Cognitive Dissonance, along with its accompanying remedial practices, should be introduced in the early stages of any sound Dharma path.
As you may already know, Buddhist psychology speaks of three main groups of response-related complexes pertaining to our visceral, emotional and mental centers. Because they are subconscious, these tendencies or “identities” routinely escape our notice and can only be detected after they have exerted their influence –which is often too late, given their distorted, self-centered nature. It is therefore quite obvious that they represent a formidable obstacle to developing and cultivating not only the Right Thought, Right Speech and Right Action of the Noble Eightfold Path but also, at a more fundamental level, the very kind of everyday mindfulness espoused by Buddhadharma.
As the Dhammapada states: “Foolish, ignorant people indulge in careless lives, whereas a clever man guards his attention as his most precious possession […] A bhikkhu taking pleasure in being attentive, and recognising the danger of carelessness, makes progress like a forest fire, consuming all obstacles large or small in his way. A bhikkhu taking pleasure in being attentive, and recognising the danger of carelessness, is incapable of falling away.”
Unless they are uncovered and dissolved (or at least greatly reduced in their power), these subliminal identities thrive on inattention and actually rule our lives from the dark corners of our mind by way of their tainted and often conflicting motivations. Their most effective instruments to that end are the fraudulent cognitive solutions concocted by Cognitive Dissonance.
Such a realization is eminently relevant in a path of liberation like Buddhadharma, where a student’s advances in understanding, meditating and especially applying his or her findings to daily life are likely to arouse tenacious but sneaky opposition from the identities, and at times a veritable cacophony of siren songs meant to lure him away from the discovery and transformation which so threatens their hegemony.
Cognitive Dissonance is thus one of the most important Dharma teachings that can be offered if the identity dissonance resolutions are to be defeated. As a conceptual tool, this knowledge brings home the relevance of Dharma to our daily lives by exposing the mind tricks we are likely to play on ourselves when we run into contradictions and conflicts between our beliefs and our behavior. As a sobering instrument of introspection and understanding, this down-to-earth approach sets us off in a healthy and sensible course leading to a fuller awareness of our human condition, its potential and pitfalls, as opposed to some grand enlightenment in the distant future that is supposed to wipe out all our problems once and for all as if by magic.
As we go along reading these detailed explanations in the sheltered privacy of our own minds, every one of us who can muster sufficient honesty will probably see him- or herself having behaved with Cognitive Dissonance at some point in time and, hopefully, will recognize the imperative need to fully grasp its mechanism and thereby counteract its possible harmful influence on our correct and natural development as human beings on the path of liberation from the chains of stained samsara.
DHARMA AND COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
The first thing that we must remember about Cognitive Dissonance is that although it is cognitive in nature, it is a subconscious phenomenon and the consequence of the dissonance is a convincing cognition that resolves subliminal tension and stress.
Cognitive dissonance then, is a theoretical explanation of what appears to be to others an illogical solution to a problem where there are obvious conflicts in the belief system, attitudes and intentions.
The subliminal stress between conflicting cognitions is the root of dissonance. The biological system responds to this stress by providing a solution to the conflict which exists, therefore eliminating the dissonance.
When the dissonance exists between a potential behavior and a prevailing attitude then the attitude will subconsciously be changed by data supporting and accommodating the desired behavior. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behavior.
In the most common situation, for example, that of an addiction to smoking, if there exists an attitude which is cognitive that smoking will harm health, supported by a mass of data, the desire to smoke will overrule all the available data, and when an impasse and resulting dissonance cannot be resolved in a natural way, then a mental solution will be provided, which is generally false but sufficiently strong to overcome all available data, thereby supporting the desire.
This new attitude will have a high level of certainty and will exist as a belief that is impelling. Such a belief may be utter folly but has such strength that its power over the data is complete... The simple belief "I cannot control it" is an example of the solution of Cognitive Dissonance, as is the statement, often heard, "I know people who have smoked all their lives and lived to be over ninety".
This internal stress of dissonance can occur at any level of the cognitive process and may be between competing attitudes, beliefs, desires and a host of different Identity combinations.
There may even be a complete awareness of the behavior as being inconsistent, but the behavior persists. There may be a complete unawareness of the dissonance also and solutions always appear logical.
In the case of Meditation, for example, which here is our main topic, if there exists the clear belief that the teachings and meditations are important, but certain factors oppose those teachings and meditations with equal opposite strength, cognitive weight will be applied to the dissonant conflict, drawing one away from the teachings and meditations.
The most simple weighting may be sufficient to tilt the balance between a cognitive attitude of force and a visceral or emotional opposing force.
The consequence could be the belief with high certainty that "I haven't the time" ..."It won't work"... "I haven't the energy"... "I have important responsibilities"... and so on... up to the highest cognitive level of, "If we get rid of Identity then we will be like a vegetable"... or "Love is something that is important and I don't want to let it go." The dissonance alternatives are endless.
In fact, in our lives we can actually declare that the Subliminal Identities rule and that their most effective instrument is the fraudulent cognitive solutions of Cognitive Dissonance.
FACTORS AFFECTING DISSONANCE OUTCOMES
Two factors affect the strength of the dissonance:
1. The number of dissonant beliefs.
2. The weighting or importance given to each of the dissonant factors.
What we may consider as truth plays no part in dissonance or its reduction. The weighting of Importance is provided by the Identity impulses and there need be no logical reasons for this weighting. You can see then that the subliminal Identity complexes of Confusion, Acquisitiveness and Aversion may themselves be in conflict, providing dissonance. The simple conflict between the acquisitive impulse to own a pair of gold earrings may be in conflict with the aversion to be caught stealing. The resulting dissonance may be resolved in favor of the acquisitiveness with the simple dissonance resolution of "No one will detect me stealing".
So high is this level of dissonance resolution that one can agree with the concept of dissonance but protect oneself by believing that you never use dissonance to solve important problems... THIS IS DISSONANCE; or alternatively "everything is dissonance", which effectively takes the weight off personal conflict with respect to "dissonance resolution guilt". THIS ALSO IS DISSONANCE.
ELIMINATING DESTRUCTIVE DISSONANCE
Using logic, there are three legitimate ways one can eliminate dissonance:
(1) reduce the importance of one of the dissonant beliefs,
(2) add more consonant beliefs to one element that outweigh the other,
(3) change both the dissonant beliefs so that they are no longer inconsistent.
In other words, we must use the dissonant belief process itself to give weight to the most correct life-supporting attitude, intention or fundamental belief.
The problem is, how can we avoid falling into the unconscious Identity dissonance traps?
Well, we have one great advantage and that is that the resolution of Dissonance is a natural solution to resulting tension and stress between conflicting attitudes, intentions and beliefs... The Identity complexes cannot originate or change natural processes of the system... All they can do is derail them and change their direction to suit the Identity requirements, the craving and clinging, be they chained to a physiological debilitating process or not.
Now one of the interesting things about the resolution of dissonance that it is Identity-ruled and that adding mental or abstract incentives instead of reducing dissonance in the direction of what we may consider the correct and most natural works in the opposite direction. This is contrary to most other behavioral incentive systems, which we call reinforcement, whether it is negative or positive.
Even one's own condemnation of a produced behavior that has been generated as a consequence of dissonance solution may have the reverse effect.
Constant "I should not gamble" reflections may actually aid a dissonance-resolved behavior of gambling.
As you can see, the topic is quite complex and is perhaps one of the most important Dharma teachings that can be given if the Identity dissonance resolutions are to be defeated.
What must be remembered is that the normal day-to-day dissonance in Samsara is Identity-controlled. As a working model then, we will avoid complications and say that all socially-directed concepts (the "should" factor) are a function of the Super-ego or AVERSIVE Identity... This does not mean that all AVERSIVE Identity reactions are related to social factors and many Aversive positions as attitudes and beliefs may have been developed by experiences.
In opposition to this aversive Identity is the ACQUISITIVE Identity and the CONFUSED Identity. Similarly, there is often conflict involved between the Confused identity and the Acquisitive Identity. Thus we have three major conflict areas. Complicating matters there is a fourth Identity, related to future prediction, but let us ignore that for the moment.
Let us call these Inter-Identity Conflicts.
There are then Intra-Identity conflicts in which there may be different Super Ego attitudes and beliefs in conflict, different Ego emotions in conflict and different Id impulses in conflict. The number of conflicts then may be innumerable and impossible to either detect or consider.
But most of these conflicts are decided by "infighting", and what we are concerned with here are just those conflicts in which the Identity conflicts, either inter- or intra-, result in dissonance, that is, a situation of conflict that causes internal stress and tension that continues unceasingly.
I am reminded here of the decision of Solomon in which two mothers were fighting over the rights to a young baby. The king, after seeing no obvious solution to the squabble, said that both mothers could have the child. He said that he would cut it in two and they could each have a half... One mother agreed and the other cried and said, "No, give the child to her." Solomon then gave the child to the mother who was willing to give up the child to save its life.
Legend or not, it makes the point... There was a conflict that appeared unsolvable... The mind found extra information and manipulated it to resolve the conflict... That is correct and natural dissonance resolution.
However, if Solomon had looked at both and decided that one mother (the incorrect on the first judgment) had prettier legs and declared in her favor saying that she had sturdier legs for carrying the baby, that would be the equivalent of an incorrect dissonance resolution made by an Identity judgment.
Alright, then, if you understand in a general way what dissonance is and the fact that its resolution by Identity is not a natural and correct response, then:
1. How do we detect a Identity dissonant resolution?
2. How can we eliminate such decisions?
An important final question is, "How can we restore natural dissonance resolution?"
This can only be resolved by a full dedication to the Chan Dharma Path or other like forms of Teachings and Contemplations.