Taming the Debater The Debater has an Achilles Heel. There is one thing that the Debater absolutely needs in order to use IT’s skill of debating, in order to take control over us. It is TIME. No matter how quick, slick, and convincing the Debater may be, no matter how suggestible and vulnerable we are, TIME, at least a short period of time, is necessary for the debate to occur. It only takes a moment for us to be sucked in ever and ever again into the logical and seemingly reasonable net of arguments. Here is the way out. Do not give the Debater time! With no time IT has no power. I have developed the following simple, quick, yet extremely effective technique. When used consistently, this combination of awareness, will, and imagination can subdue the Debater. STEP 1: Give IT a name. Preferably, the name should be no more than one syllable. STEP 2: Close your eyes, say the name out loud and see if any image comes to your mind. You might see the face of your Debater. Some of my students find that once IT appears in a certain form, IT always appears the same way. Others find that the Debater appears each time in a different form. And yet another group reports seeing no image at all. STEP 3: Any time you find yourself being critical or negative in the present, regretful or guilt-ridden about the past, fearful of or in the fantasy world about the future, recognize the experience as being the voice of the Debater. STEP 4: At that very moment, say in your mind, "Oh, it's you, (name of the Debater)." STEP 5*: See the face of IT (if you can). Then see yourself pulling the string (like the ones on old-fashioned toilets) and flushing the Debater with an avalanche of water down into the Earth. STEP 6: Go right back to whatever you are doing in the present moment. *Some students find it possible to omit this step and go right to Step 6. The whole process must take no more then five seconds. Two seconds is the best. No talk. That is crucial. Some of my students who were habitual "self-underminers" found themselves in the beginning doing the technique four to five hundred times a day! That’s not too bad if the rest of the time you can live in peace and balance. After all, five hundred times at five seconds per time is less than 42 minutes. Is it such a big price to pay? Here I want to repeat something I said in the beginning of this essay; but it is an essential element of this work. Please, do not trust me, trust your experience. The only way you will know if this technique works is if you try it out. Test it for one week only, but with an absolute commitment. Even if you get tired after a few hours or days, stay with the technique. If you stay with it you might find that with time not only will the Debater bother you less and less, but you will also be able to become aware of IT’s presence and IT’s intentions more and more quickly. And one day, just as you find yourself about to grant attention to the voice of the Debater, you will know at once who is bidding for your life, and you will smile. And, as you do, the Debater will disappear into thin air.