Hypnosis

Hypnosis

Question: Is there any benefit to be gained from using methods like self-hypnosis as an aid to meditation?
Answer: None at all. In self-hypnosis some elements of the personality are put to sleep, so to say. But they are not changed. Suppose there is a family whose house needs painting but we cannot agree on what colour it should be painted. We all feel strongly about it, so it does not get painted at all. Now I think, “I should like the house painted green, but they will not agree.” I give my relatives a drug which sends them to sleep, and while they are snoring I paint the house green. I have, in a sense, hypnotized them, and got my idea through.
But when they wake up …