Karma = Hypnosis Hypnosis = Karma

We self hypnotise: we are hypnotised by an image of ourselves, which creates a programme to which we adhere.

A hypnotic state is believing something to be real when it’s not. It permits a modification of behaviour which is based on the illusory state of self interest. A self which has been conjured up, which we believe to be real and solid.

There are two aspects to this: one is our own hypnotic state and the other is that of those around us. Both of these maintain the illusion. The result is karma, which is an imprint in the mind, which modifies our behaviour (a programme). We react because of these karmic imprints, and so we live within a loop, a vicious cycle of existence. In Sanskrit, this is called Samsara. In the video, the illusionist Derren Brown explains how it is easier to hypnotise those who are quick to react, defending and re-enacting their constant self-programming. It is more difficult to hypnotise those who can step back – and meditation is about stepping back! At 1.15 Derren talks about those who are more susceptible…

If we are obsessed in any way, we are trapped in an inner prison. There are those who exploit this in order to to distract us from experiencing reality: they may be corporations or your family and neighbours, and it may be done consciously or unconsciously. We can note how quickly some become angry when we talk outside their programming, to the extent that they may even crucify or poison those whom they perceive as not playing “the right game” (Christ, Socrates, Milarepa…).

Obsessed: preoccupy or fill the mind of (someone) continually and to a troubling extent be constantly talking or worrying about something. ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘haunt, possess’, referring to an evil spirit).

Hypnosis: the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction. Its use in therapy, typically to recover suppressed memories or to allow modification of behaviour. A hypnotic state. ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from Greek hupnos ‘sleep’.