7.5 ‘I am unconvinced that this book is anything more than words; how do I know if it is genuine or not?’

The answer to this question will be developed by use of a simple analogy. A child comes up to you and holds out a bag of sweets. The child asks you a simple question: how do you like the taste of the sweets?

The child, in this analogy, is this Implicate Technology teaching of the clear setting face to face with reality. The sweets offered are the fruits of meditation. The real question is: are these fruits genuine and attainable by you?

You could look at the wrapping on the sweets to see if the flavour is similar to something you have tried before. Equally, you could compare this book for similarities with any other books you may have read on meditation. In both cases, the response is intellectual only and fails to deal with the issue: how do you like the taste of the sweets?

You might be suspicious that the child is somehow trying to trick you, for a joke perhaps, and that the sweets are very bitter. You might be suspicious that this book is a hoax, and that the Implicate Technology Centre is trying to ensnare you in some elaborate trick. In each case you might be right- life can be full of nasty surprises. But how are you going to know for sure, and what might you miss if the offer is genuine? You could ask the child if the sweets taste nice, just as you could find someone who has practised this or other meditation techniques and ask such a person about his or her own experience. How would that help you decide if you like the taste of the sweets?

You could take a principled stance and protest that sweets are bad for the teeth. You could stand on whatever principles you judge are relevant and say that meditation is not the sort of thing you believe in or approve of. You are only being asked to taste a sweet; you are only being asked, as a minimum commitment over a limited number of days, to sit down, look at the bridge of your nose and count your breathing. What are you afraid of?

You could react with a greater or lesser degree of emotional or intellectual aversion to either simple offer. If you are honest, such a response should make you question yourself. Why such a reaction to a very simple offer, with no strings attached?

There is, of course, only one way to find out if you like the taste of the sweets. There is only one way to find out if the fruits of meditation are genuine and attainable by you. Try it for yourself and observe what happens.