But for initial sessions, intellectual reactions can become traps. The Tibetan Manual never tires of warning about the dangers of rationalization. Control of your consciousness is like flight instruction. The last stage of the session is the best time to examine concepts. The objective of this particular manual is to free you from your verbal mind for as long as possible.
Religious expectations invite the same advice as intellectual set.
For the initial sessions, the attitude and behavior of the guide are critical factors. He possesses enormous power to shape the experience. With the cognitive mind suspended, the subject is in a heightened state of suggestibility. The guide can move consciousness with the slightest gesture or reaction. The key issue here is the guide's ability to turn off his own ego and social games-in particular, to muffle his own power needs and fears.