You’re on Autopilot!

I’m not a health professional. This is for entertainment and information.

Most of the time your body is going through life without you actually having real experiences. Have you ever driven a long way, got out of the car when you arrived, and realized that you have very little recollection of driving? How about eating while watching TV or while working? Did you even taste the food? Probably not. Have you or someone you know ever drank until they blacked out, but still were on their feet, going about their evening? These are all easy to notice examples, but we are actually running on learned and ingrained behavior almost all the time.

Let me provide one more example of intentional programming people do. Martial arts. I trained in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, and Jui Jitsu for a while in hopes of becoming a MMA fighter. My instructors would drill certain combinations, katas, and movements into the class night after night. One time I had private instruction that consisted of an hour of jabbing (quick punches with your lead hand). Why master a few basics? Why not learn all sorts of elaborate moves? More is better, right?

Well, when you are sparring, in a match, or defending yourself, the last thing you want to do is to get your thinking mind involved. Every time I set out to do a certain move, I got my ass kicked. What a seasoned martial artist learns to do is to enter the space and relax. To allow their thinking mind to turn off and to let their body react through instinct. Somewhere deep within (we’ll get to that part soon) is an automatic reaction, and it is faster, and often better chosen, than what the thinking mind could hope for.

I know what you’re thinking, “Click bait! You lure me in by telling me I’m sleep walking, then tell me it’s better that way. Next…”

Well, before you return to browsing funny cat videos, let me just say that yes, it’s usually best to be on autopilot, but what’s even better is to take over from time to time. There are two reasons. First, it’s important to form memories and actually enjoy your existence sometimes. Second, the autopilot can often use some improvement. Think about fighting with instinct before you’ve trained in martial arts. Those timid slaps won’t get you very far.

Okay, so autopilot is good, usually; here’s why. Once you’ve learned to drive, you can do it on autopilot so that you can listen to music, a podcast, or audiobook at the same time. Otherwise, you’d only be distracted by the noise and your driving would suffer. Also, some stuff we do is boring. It’s better to use the mind space planning the fun thing afterward.

Now the flipside. Autopilot is not living a fulfilled and engaged life. It’s just going through the motions. When we were hunter-gatherers, we would occasionally encounter something creepy out in the wild, get a jolt of adrenaline, act out of instinct, hopefully survive, and then spend time afterward thinking about what to do different to avoid aforementioned creepy thing. It was a built-in correction system. Now, for most of us, thankfully, there’s not a lot of danger. Or novelty. Safe is boring, ask any adrenaline junkie.

Luckily practitioners of Raja Yoga and people like Robert Anton Wilson, author of Prometheus Rising, a book that dumped me into this rabbit hole, have formulated ways for us modern people to jump out of the loop from time to time to get a breath of fresh air and to upgrade our autopilots.

You want to be the best you right? If not, resume funny cat videos now.

Hopefully I didn’t lose too many of you. I know not everyone is the self-improvement type. In fact, Wilson suggests that half of the human population aren’t even utilizing all the autopilots modern humans have access to. If they aren’t even dialed up on their autopiloting, why would they want to take control sometimes?

For me, the answer for why to self-improve is simple. The world isn’t ideal yet. Humans live in conflict with one another and in a way that damages many other living species on our planet. But I’m not a downer about it. I like David Grinspoon’s view expressed in Earth in Human Hands. Our species, with its unique adaptability and overabundance of tools has stumbled into the role of planetary stewardship. We are beginning to realize we’ve made a mess and learning to fix it will make our society and the planet healthier and safer than it’s ever been. We don’t live in isolation, despite how the pandemic and overuse of social media can make us sometimes feel. We are an interconnected part of all life on this planet, and I’ve experienced my greatest joys by contributing to the well being of living networks. True happiness comes from uplifting everything around you, and it starts by thinking about how you can help.

Now if you’re still along for the ride after my tree hugging speech, let’s dig in! There are four parts of your mind that you can set to autopilot. There’s one for each of C.G. Jung’s psychological types, a theory by a man whose studies and methods were steeped in esoteric thought. Let’s do a deep dive into each.

Sensory Self

The sensory self is the awareness level we share with everything containing an autonomic nervous system. If a doctor declares that you are medically conscious, then this part of your mind is active and ready to take over on autopilot. This is the part of us that finds food, water, and shelter. It’s also the part of us that chooses to fight, flee, or freeze. In fact, hunger signals or danger signals are the triggers for this autopilot. You could be going about a very aware experience of life, hear a rumble in your tummy, then look up from an empty sleeve of Oreos. Congratulations! If you can recall something similar, like a cigarette craving, running from a schoolyard bully, chewing pencils, or the bottom of a new pint of ice cream, then you’ve encountered one part of you that gets to drive your meat suit from time to time.

It can also mean you’ve got its settings wrong. Allow me to stop pointing fingers out and share my personal experience here. When I began my deep dive into spirituality, mysticism, meditation, and magic I chose to abstain from alcohol. I went nine months without, then due to some Visionary treks to an inner library, I awakened a need to learn a life skill. Moderation. Eeek! My Achilles heel… I have the binary mode of abstaining from beer or drinking all of them, but enjoying a moderate amount escapes me. During my months without, I leaned hard into Pranayama to get my buzz and also gained twenty pounds.

Had I really overcome anything? Drinking, sure, but not the root problem. Gluttony. The absence of moderation. When I’m actually aware, I can resist overdoing things, often by abstaining altogether. But this knowledge I’ve awakened is the knowledge of self and moderation. It’s something I’m still developing. In fact, this article is my attempt to master these concepts in order to put them into practice. More on that after we’ve met all the autopilots.

In esoteric terms, the sensory self is our physical incarnation, the body and awareness of it. It’s the direction of North, mother earth, and our ancestors. It can be represented by the bull. Its classical element is earth. Its tool is the coin or shield

Raja Yoga developed a powerful technology to override this autopilot. Asana means pose and it is literally holding still. I prefer dragon asana on a couple yoga blocks (sitting on your heels, knees in front of you, toes upside down behind you, with back straight and hands on thighs). Just sit there. Sounds easy right? Only if you’ve never committed to the practice!

I highly recommend Raja Yoga. I practiced it daily for three months and intend to resume the practice one day.

For those who aren’t interested or won’t make the space in their life for it, I’ve also struck upon a viable alternative to these pesky autopilots, so stay tuned!

Emotional Self

We share this level of awareness with all vertebrates. That’s why your dog picks up on your mood, they read it on your face. That’s why we find cats so funny! This is the part of us that responds to charisma. Why in the world are so many people duped by this or that politician, guru, “thought leader”, celebrity, or whomever? It’s because we identify with their appeal to our emotions. They bring out our courage, or prey on our fears.

Wilson suggests that body builders and Alpha types have their personalities centered in their Emotional Selves.

In esoteric terms, all your psychic abilities and intuition come from this part of yourself. It represents the classical element water and the West. It is represented by the angel. Its tool is the vessel or cup.

Raja Yoga’s tool for halting this autopilot is Pranayama; breathwork. Their intense method of breathing cancels your ability to have emotions. It’s really helped me out of an upset or two!

Thinking Self

I used to think I was very clever for having an inner monologue ALWAYS running through my mind. I could even carry a thought or two and a simple action at the same time. That inner monologue is your third autopilot, and if you’ve met them, Wilson proclaims that you were operating at a level higher than half of humanity. I hope for everyone’s sake that he was wrong, but sometimes when I go through life, I wonder if he’s right.

As far as we are aware, this autopilot is unique to our species and housed in the left brain. This is the part of us that needs to separate, classify, and categorize the world. This is the area where scientific inquiry resides.

Possibly in support of Wilson’s assertion that most of us aren’t actually thinkers, Dr. Steven Novella, a Yale Neurologist, in his Great Course (available on Audible), called Your Deceptive Mind, asserts that while we are capable, most of us aren’t thinking, most of the time. That point, coming from a guy who repeatedly punches holes in what he describes as “magical thinking” really resonated with the idea I’m sharing in this article. I felt that I had found agreement in this autopilot notion from someone who practiced thought (very well, I might add) from the other side of the coin. He said that even professionals practicing their trade can slip into autopilot when their full faculties are needed most. He advises thinkers to trigger a break in their autopilot by preparing a checklist to review prior to performing routine but high risk activities.

He also asserts that inquiry can help us avoid acting on false assumptions. We can ask ourselves questions like, “Can I research what is already known?” and “Can I see past bias, or am I rationalizing?”

For anyone embarking on a magical, spiritual, or mystical path, his course can be a great way to keep yourself grounded and learn to cut through the nonsense and window dressing in order to focus your valuable time on things that will truly uplift you and bring you closer to your goal. Then, in tandem with your scientific analytical ability, don’t forget to vet new potential practices and teachers with divination! See things from both sides of the coin, like Dr. Novella suggests (though I doubt he endorses divination).

Esoteric thought sees the thinker as religion by the book (yes, all of them). It is the classical element of air. It is the eagle. Its tool is the sword.

Raja Yoga’s tool for silencing this autopilot is called Dharana, single point of focus. Some examples are to stare at a candle flame, count breaths, look at a symbol, or feel a specific part of your body. Wilson mentions that mantra is another useful tool.

Passionate Self

This is also an autopilot that is exclusive to our species (as far as we know). The passionate self is the mature member of society. It is housed in the neocortex and considered to be the parent stage of human existence. This is that part of us that has an awareness of time.

In Western culture this concept is maybe best represented by trade schools, an advanced degree, or completing an internship. Secret societies have initiation ceremonies. Indigenous cultures really understood this level of human awareness and developed Rites of Passage to give their members the best autopilot possible.

Humans have made all the advances (and catastrophic blunders) that we have because of our ability to specialize an individual’s role in group work. That’s why our culture stresses the importance of doing what you love and striving to reach the top of your field. That’s why capitalism rewards innovation so heavily.

In esoteric terms, the passionate self is creative force. Fire is its classical element. It is the lion. Its tool is the wand.

Raja Yoga’s tool for halting this autopilot is called Yama. It pertains to celibacy and social isolation. I’m a married guy with a family, so I prefer to explore other methods of striving toward Yama. I’ve had great personal satisfaction in truncating social media and removing certain apps from my phone, for example. Avoiding people that bring drama and problems into your life can lean into Yama. As I hope I’ve made clear, I’m no Raja Yoga expert, and certainly not anyone’s guru, so take this as one dude’s opinion, please. If you disagree with it, great! I’ve hopefully knocked you off autopilot to mentally formulate why I’m wrong.

What Can We Do About the Autopilots?

Destruction isn’t a good option. Maybe it’s not even possible. If someone couldn’t relegate certain tasks to their autopilots or react with instinct, they would be next to useless in any crisis or with the slightest distraction. You could ignore the autopilots, but those folks probably didn’t make it past this article’s introduction. We can rebuild them, we can make them stronger! And we can make them a bit easier to power down from time to time.

Wilson dedicates a few chapters of Prometheus Rising to rewriting these guys (he refers to it as imprinting circuits, but I like to personify). Ever known anyone before and after they enlisted in the military and trained at boot camp? They have had a few of their autopilots reprogrammed! Same for folks that have gotten involved in cults (or some religions). Let’s not forget that Raja Yoga is great for deactivating them. So there are plenty of proven approaches that require a serious dedication and immediate lifestyle shift.

Ramsey Dukes, one of the inspirations behind the Chaos Magick current, wrote a book on the subject that is not only a lighthearted and fun read, but has been instrumental in my attempts to identify and negotiate what the hell is wrong with me (the moderation thing, remember?). Uncle Ramsey’s Little Book of Demons has taught me to identify and enter into a dialogue with my personal problem (he’s got your personal problem figured out, too!) Dukes asserts that since the most dynamic and complex things people interact with are other people, and since our way of life is designed to have us interacting with other people for maximum benefit, our brains do their best problem solving when we are solving people problems. Therefore, if you want to give your best mental energy to something, personify it! I’ll will be putting his idea to practice just as soon as this article is published.

One other way to fine tune your autopilots is to perform Franz Bardon’s Black Mirror/ White Mirror exercise in Initiation into Hermetics. It trains you to identify the good and bad behaviors that can come through each of the four esoteric directions (our four autopilots). Inspired by this exercise, which I’ve done in its original form, I wrote a guided meditation for my pals on the Faith Blind Council Discord Server that takes place in our shared astral space, the Green Mushroom Project. Don’t be intimidated by terms like shared astral space. Other paradigms refer to this as Imaginal or Visionary realm. Luxa Strata recorded a great episode of the Lux Occult Podcast to give listeners a tour of the space, which you access from a meditative state. She also had a great conversation with Aidan Wachter about what Astral Projection is that could help familiarize anyone new to the idea. If you want to give that a try, I recommend doing the introduction to the Green Mushroom once or twice while listening to the recording, then jotting a list of key points, and doing it without the recording, then doing my guided meditation. You can also read it in .pdf form here if voice actors and cool meditation music aren’t your thing.

Update May 11 2022

I’ve been tinkering around and developed a way to rewrite your autopilots to fix emotional triggers and stuff. In my opinion, it’s the fastest and most convenient approach.

Get There, then Dive Deeper

My motivation for sharing this is Strength Through Service. If we are figuring out ways to be optimal people, we will be better contributors to our community and better stewards of the natural world. Take this article for example, I’m figuring out ways to improve how I coexist in this world, which makes the planet better off, straightaway, and then sharing my progress here, in hopes that others do the same. Many esoteric focuses are toward self-improvement, which is an awesome cause, but I’d like to challenge the idea by stating that someone has more personal growth when they are uplifting others than when looking within. I know my career developed more from the need to support my wife and sons than it would have if I had stayed a bachelor.

So, we’ve talked about making yourself ideal with your four autopilots, but guess what? There are four experiential states that exist beyond the sensory, emotional, thinking, and passionate self as well! These are places we are aware of from spiritual or chemically induced experiences. In fact, the point of the four limbs of Raja Yoga we’ve discussed are to clear the path for you to experience the other four limbs. Wilson suggests that humanity will eventually evolve into a consciousness that regularly has those experiences, but only after we’ve fixed our autopilots!