The following observations are the result of further thinking about what we learned in the UCCM Spiritual Self-Knowledge Training. There, prejudices were defined as a necessary but avoidable part of mental activity. After identifying an unconscious prejudice, I re-examined the prejudice, to see if is it a “mistake” and to understand how does it form and why? 

Using the observe-understand-decide-act procedure as an analogy, I described prejudices as follows: a prejudice is a program in the mind, where the mind decides-and-acts not by observing/understanding the current (present moment) situation, but by using its own information stream (database) and expecting and imagining a result. This expectation can be conscious or unconscious. An example of conscious one: my phone rings, I think person X is calling me, but actually person Y was. Non-conscious example: I wash my face and blinking reach for the wipes in the dispenser, and there is none in it... while the wipes (absence or not) were not even in my mind. I have observed countless similar cases. 

Prejudice can arise when the mind judges a situation as having been encountered it before and has saved information about it. It creates a database from the stored information, which it loads in such a way that when the event ends, it saves its conclusions. The next time at a similar event (since the saved information is that there are always wipes) it will pull them out and acts accordingly, saving energy with it. An "error" can occur if the event is somewhat different from the saved event and has a "negative" consequence. It can be positive too, although it is not experienced as a mistake, but still it is also a prejudice. 

Why does the mind act in a similar way as before?

1. Because there are several events going on around us, within us at any given moment so, we cannot deal with all of them at once. If we still do need to act, the mind will pull up the most similar stored information and skips the new observation/understanding steps and decides/acts accordingly. Another example: we run into a closed door that was always open before (the prejudice was not conscious; the procedure ran without detection). We were in a hurry and did not observe if we could go out the door. We do not used to thought about whether it is open, since we always walk in and out of it and it used to be open. 

2. Because, an emotion has an effect on us, consequently the observation/understanding is omitted and the mind automatically reaches into the database (this can work the other way around, when an emotion starts from the prejudice and initiates a chain-process...) 

3. Because of ego: I know it well, I no longer need to observe; (we neglect observation and use our database). If the mind examined the information ("objectively") and acted on it, it would be a prejudice-free process. In higher consciousness we can be (except for basic functions) prejudice-free, but since the system can operate unconsciously, there will always be prejudice, at least until the mind is present.

In many cases, there is no time for database updates, if we went very deep into it, we would do nothing but update, so we have to entrust/leave it to the mind to do the basic tasks. If we build in the need to always take information from the moment (observation, understanding...) and not from a database, we would make little or very slow progress. 

In many cases, there is no enough time for database updates, if we went very deep into it, we would do nothing else but update, so we have to entrust/leave it to the mind to do the basic tasks. If we build the need into the mind to take information always from the moment (observation, understanding...) and not from a database, we would make little or very slow progress.

The solution is to update the dominant (which we are dealing with) prejudice information packages and it is okay if some updates are missed and the prejudice runs, as long as we don't do any harm with them and we make them aware at some point... Awareness is the deletion of the quick access connection between the event and the database, and then we manage to stay in the present.

Is there air when you breathe in?

Zoltan Adorjan
UCCM master
Miercurea Ciuc, Romania, 2021