How Meditation Can Make You Immune To Manipulation

This explores one of the lesser-known side effects of a strong meditation practice — developing an awareness that makes you resistant to manipulation. We’ll look at three key angles of how meditation protects you from manipulation: on a personal level, in your interactions with others, and within larger collective social systems.

Transcript

Hey,

This is Ish,

And in today's talk,

I'll be going over how meditation helps you become more immune to manipulation.

And I'll be covering this in three different angles.

The first one is going over the individual changes that you may observe through meditation practice,

And how this actually helps you become more centered within and less pulled by other people trying to manipulate you.

Then I will go over how meditation affects your interactions with other people,

And then also your relationship with the world at large.

So on an individual level,

One thing that you can practically observe in all contemplative traditions,

Is that meditation is aimed at reducing your worldly desires,

And you become more contented from within.

There is also a reduction in fear as well.

Now when we look into the reduction of desires,

This is talked about in all major contemplative traditions,

Whether it be Taoism,

Yoga,

Buddhism,

Or even the more theological religions.

And when we practice meditation,

We can observe that we simply need less from the world,

And our criteria for being happy actually reduces,

And we can be happy with a lot less.

Now this is in direct contrast with the agendas that people may try to push onto you,

If they're trying to manipulate you,

Or trying to control you.

We can really see this in a lot of advertising and sales cultures,

And having worked different sales jobs before.

One of the things that are often times taught in the trainings,

Is that you can learn to play off a person's need,

And that is through gain or through loss.

And in sales terms,

This is called value selling,

So you can pitch a certain product or idea,

And sell it in a way that benefits a person.

Or on the other hand,

We can mention how they are currently hurting,

So this is called a pain point,

And how a particular product or service will help them,

And help them get out of pain.

So now what happens if you are completely okay with or without a certain product or service,

Because you're contented from within.

So if you don't have much fear or much desires to gain something,

Or to lose something,

And you're equanimous from within,

Which is taught in a lot of these contemplative traditions,

Well now you are less swayed or pulled by the agendas of other people.

And that leads me to my next point,

And that is,

As your mind becomes more concentrated,

And there's less clutter,

And you learn to not be pulled around by your thoughts as much,

Your capacity to clearly see the hidden agendas in other people,

And their inner attentions become more pronounced.

And this leads me to the next category,

Which is how your interactions with other people change,

And how you can actually spot other people trying to manipulate you.

So as you learn to concentrate and unify the mind through your meditation practice,

One thing you'll notice,

As I mentioned,

Is that you're able to see certain nuances in your interactions with other people,

Whether it be micro-expressions,

Body language,

Or the incongruencies in their expressions and what they're actually trying to convey.

So you can actually detect these things.

And as I mentioned,

These subtle cues were actually always there,

But the thing is that you never noticed them prior to a very strong meditation practice.

Because for a lot of people that don't meditate,

Their thoughts may be completely pulling their attention away,

Or they may be distracted.

And especially in today's modern times,

Where people's attention spans are a lot shorter due to social media and multitasking,

They are unable to be fully present with another person.

But as you're really practically training this presence,

You're actually able to pick up on people's honest signals and how they are trying to be deceptive.

And quite literally,

The practice of vipassana in Buddhism means to see clearly.

And you can really clearly see how people may be trying to push their reality.

And as your capacity of awareness and discernment starts to increase through your practice,

You can clearly see the hidden intentions behind others and see whether their intentions are good for you or whether they're harmful,

Or they're trying to control or manipulate you.

Because you can clearly see the fruits or karma of whatever actions that the person is presenting and kind of and observing this over time.

So you can observe a person's behavior over time to see what fruits yield from their actions.

And you can see whether their integrity and whether their actions are bringing other people joy or happiness or peace,

Or that it's rooted from a place of deception and manipulation.

So you see the bigger picture behind this.

And now that leads me to the next category,

Which is,

You become more immune to manipulation from collective groups and the world at large.

So this is a quite big ride and a kind of a big deal.

So we've discussed how with meditation,

You can spot the manipulation attempts from other people,

Right from one on one interactions,

Or maybe a few people.

But we also understand that,

Well,

People form larger groups.

And these larger groups,

With people following the same kind of belief systems,

And they're,

You know,

Like,

Like minded people hang around each other,

This forms a bigger collective energy.

And we can see this in very large workplaces,

In religions and cultures,

Where this accumulation of,

Let's say,

This like minded energy amasses.

Now,

Obviously,

Some of these bigger groups have well intentions,

But some of them can also be harmful.

So regardless of these tendencies,

The very large group or society or culture can have a very strong influence on you.

And what is sad is that most people don't really question this,

They just take whatever is accepted,

Because they believe in the authority of a bigger group.

Because obviously,

If everyone else in a certain group is believing a certain ideal,

Then it makes sense that you should also follow this,

They don't question it.

But one of the byproducts of meditation is you become more discerning.

And one side effect,

If you will,

Is that you both at the same time relate less with,

Let's just say the conventional world and the way it goes.

But at the same time,

You are also become more part of it as well,

Which is a weird paradox to hold.

So on the one hand,

Your interest in the latest fads and trends and,

You know,

The various things in the world that a lot of people try to stay up to date on,

Simply don't have as much of a pull,

Because you realize that,

You know,

These things come up and down,

And you don't rest your happiness on these changing conditions.

And to some,

You actually may feel or seem more aloof.

So you seem like you're kind of just detached a little bit.

But at the same time,

You're not trying to be like that,

You want to blend in and be with other people.

So this is a weird balance where you are,

On one hand,

You're common with everyone,

But at the same time,

You're also a bit detached.

And you also become more discerning,

Where you have this observing eye,

Where you can observe different forces at play and what the different energies of a certain group or signatures of a certain group is.

So you're able to also then decide for yourself whether you want to join a certain group,

And take on some of the beliefs that that they pose on you,

At the same time,

Knowing that you're also separate from all these things.

And meditating and being by yourself in isolation can also help bring this sort of stability and inner peace,

Where you can also not be pulled by what other people and different groups around you are projecting.

Because at the end of the day,

Reality is what it is.

But as human beings,

We like to impose our own viewpoint or perspective on the world and to people all around us.

And by spending time in isolation and reflection and contemplation,

You become less pulled by the outside forces,

And you become happy from within,

And you feel contented.

And this has some implications on your life,

Where you are less pulled by the manipulation effects and the people trying to push their agendas on you on an individual basis,

And also from bigger groups that are also pushing their agenda on you.

Like a lotus that grows out of the mud,

You slowly detach from the desires of the world,

And you become completely solid within your own reality.

And you are less pulled and you're equanimous with life itself.

And that's a really powerful place and peaceful place to be.

Thank you.

Reviews

Really helpful advice on the power of meditation. I’ve felt less entangled in these various aspects of my life which your talk has helped explain succinctly. 🙏🏽

Thank you!🙏🏻