Imagine an algorithm that can deal with introspection. How would it go? What general steps or instructions one could distinguish in introspection? How to put them down so they are understandable to another person? These were the questions I answered with an engineering tool, a flowchart.

When I used it once on a workshop one person reacted with a firm enthusiasm. "I like it", she says, "I thought you're just going to do some bla-bla about looking within. I run my own business. This chart looks familiar".

It's good to nurture our logical nature when it comes to introspection. Otherwise it may seem very cloudy or plain emotional. This algorithm is definitely an example of nurturing my own logical needs. After my first draft of it I felt so good!

The process of introspection

“There is a chart and its flow.”

• Link to the flow chart
• Five steps (RAASA)
  1. Reception
  2. Acknowledgement
  3. Awareness
  4. Surrender
  5. Action
• Steps in detail
  1. Reception
     • Input: thought, feeling, or an external stimuli
     • It does not provoke your reaction
     • You are indifferent to it
  2. Acknowledgement
     • You admit the stimuli has something to do with you
     • You may react to it in a habitual way
     • Input can be too strong and provoke your immediate denial
     • You can choose to learn how to take things personally in a beneficial way
       • Not to depersonalise yourself or others
  3. Awareness (is the keyword)
     • It requires initial effort (to prevent immediate reaction)
     • Encourages an attitude: “Let’s see if I can benefit from another perspective.”
     • Brain is like a muscle to be developed
     • Giving a possibility for another point of view
       • It does not encourage blind agreement
       • Situations may just not be inherently as we see them
       • It is not a gate to avoid facts
         • If a pot is broken, no narrative can deny it
       • Allows another point of view to be conceived in one's mind
       • Aims for the truth about the subject of inquiry
     • Awareness step is possibly the most frustrating part of introspection
  4. Surrender
     • Probably the most controversial step of all five so it should be seen for what it is
     • The object of surrender if of your own choice
     • You choose that object to overcome what is not beneficial for you
     • It serves to admit a deep desire for change
     • Types of objects of surrender
       1. A substance
       2. Quality or an emotion
       3. Activity
       4. An idea
       5. Another person
     • Examples for each these types
       1. Chocolate, vegetables, water, teddy bear, stone
       2. Warmth, compassion, joy, fear, discernment
       3. Gardening, singing, cuddling, working, training
       4. Philosophy, better self, goal, happiness, an archetype
       5. Family member, teacher, beloved, friend, divinity
     • Make a wise choice when picking an object of surrender
       • Aim at the long-term satisfaction
  5. Action
     • The final step in the process
     • Choose the right writing technique
     • Commit yourself to it and ignite your mood of devotion
     • Observe how the change of approach is taking place
     • Now bring that change through your behaviour