Podcast | Towards Cognitive Dissonance Resolution

Today I held a 15 minute event concurrently on Insight Timer Live and the Wisdom app called “Towards Cognitive Dissonance Resolution” with the description:

One way to address cognitive dissonance is to simultaneously hold unpleasant, confusing, chaotic oppositions equanimously in awareness with kind intent to transmute into calmness and clarity for the liberation of all

Often using the pronoun “we” throughout to highlight community commonalities, I mentioned the similarities of “cognitive dissonance” and “paradox.” I then wondered if the definition of either of these words accurately portray the stuff of this semi-meditative practice involving simultaneously holding in awareness similar yet significantly different notions.

We start with the more emotionally neutral theme of transportation: planes, trains and automobiles, then get into the more spiritual spectrum:

• flow — stillness
• idealism — realism
• humility — empowerment

I pause to drop in instructions to notice the amount of identification with each of the concept pairs as well as to notice the degree of clinging (to one over another); continuing:

• purity, chastity — passion, procreation
• boundaries — boundlessness

I pause again to speak on how I came about this practice and on coming across a recent teaching: what may seem like duality and polarity are actually “one,” but “not one and the same” — they’re at different locations on the same spectrum. Continuing again:

• safety — being free
• judging — discernment
• conventional reality — non-dualism/ultimate reality
• minimalism — abundance
• vulnerability — resilience
• helping others — helping oneself, self-care
• agency, will, action, doing — surrender, letting go, being
• [not mentioned in podcast although important: sovereignty — interconnectivity]

Then some singular concepts to help gel this practice before jumping into the challenge:

• unity
• honor
• dignity
• worthiness
• wholeness

And the finale:

• vaccination — no vaccination
• political left — political right