A Close Call Beyond Instinct

Cultivate this ability to observe your thoughts and emotions without being consumed by them.

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Take this reflection into the silence, and I'll see you next time.

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Transcript

Deep beneath the Caribbean waters, inside the nuclear-armed submarine B-59, two Soviet officers had reached their breaking point. The captain and political officer, convinced World War III had begun, voted to launch their nuclear torpedo. Hours of being pounded by depth charges from U.S. Navy destroyers had pushed them to the edge of reason.

But Vasili Arkhipov, the third officer whose consent was required by Soviet protocol, stood firm. Even as the submarine rocked with each explosion, even as his instincts screamed for retaliation, he remained the voice of reason during one of the tensest moments of the Cold War. What his colleagues didn't know - what none of them knew - was that the "attacks" were merely practice depth charges, warning signals from the American ships tracking them.

Arkhipov, one man, prevented a nuclear war. He managed to override his brain's fight-or-flight response in a situation literally designed to trigger it. In the hot, CO2-laden submarine, with alarms blaring and depth charges exploding around them, every cell in his body must have been screaming for immediate action. But he chose conscious control over instinctive reaction.

This is precisely what the ancient Yogis taught about the Instinctive Mind. The primitive, reactionary part of our consciousness that houses basic survival drives, raw emotions, and automatic functions. Like a vigilant animal operating beneath our rational awareness. These survival instincts - fear, aggression, self-preservation - serve crucial evolutionary purposes, but they don't always serve our higher interests in the modern world. Like Arkhipov, we must learn to recognize when our Instinctive Mind is driving our decisions and choose whether to follow or override those impulses.

Not suppress. Not hide. Not avoid. These instincts are vital parts of your human experience. Rather, develop the awareness to recognize them and the wisdom to know when to let them guide you and when to guide them. Cultivate this ability to observe your thoughts and emotions without being consumed by them. Like Arkhipov in that sweltering submarine, you can become the master of your Instinctive Mind. And in doing so, change the course of your own history.