You Are Not Book.indb - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

The structural differential diagram / 49
God, which is already at Inference-1) that being “good” or
“forgiving” is “spiritual,” could be followed by Inference-2
that GOD (consciousness-SUBSTANCE) likes forgiving
people and to enter THE SUBSTANCE (now inferred to be
some “heaven”), which has no-I, and is described in Sanskrit
as Neti-Neti (Not this–Not this) or (Not this–Not that), and
hence cannot have preferences, ideas, wants, etc. This anthropomorphic
reasoning explains the Zen Patriarch saying, “The
Great Way is easy, except for those who have preferences.”
“The Structural Differential (page 41) shows three and
a third tags connected to the object level disk, with an
arrow leading from the last tag (broken off to indicate
that the tags could go on and on) back up to the process
level parabola. The arrow leading back to the process
level parabola indicates that whatever a person’s highest
level abstractions (“as if” formulations) are at a given
date, a person projects these onto reality and the person
acts as if reality conforms to those formulations. (2)
Sometimes, this takes the form of people noticing and
accepting aspects of reality which support their beliefs
and ignoring or denying aspects of reality, which contradict
their beliefs. (Weiss et al., Education for Adaptation
and Survival, pp. 50, 78, 65)” (Sawin)
This is where THE SUBSTANCE understanding can come
to bear, if THE SUBSTANCE is taken in at an earlier level or
lower level of abstraction.
For example, let us imagine a “spiritual” student who
infers that THE SUBSTANCE is a God who is wrathful if
you’re angry and loving if you’re good. Now, if, somehow
an “enlightened” “ONE SUBSTANCE” understanding could
creep in at the I AM level or at an earlier level, suddenly the
student realizes that these beliefs about God are nonsense,
just “spiritual” concepts that have nothing to do with any-