Those who are tasked with nourishing another, be it from parent to child, or boss to subordinate, must always remember the fundamental needs of human nourishment. Mental manipulation occurs when a parent or caretaker exclaims "I pay for the roof over your head and the food you eat, and thus you must respect me!" This is a common root of suffering in a family dynamic where the often missing ingredient - love - is mistaken with the provision of resources and objects. Objects can never fill the void of love.

This episode covers cause and effect and its influence on our minds. Each action is a cause whose effects play out in complex ways - both immediately and in the future. We say things like "I'm like this because of my parents" or "I do this because of an experience I had one time." Essentially these statements admit our personal investigation for the causes of our character - the effect being our present character. Effects mix to produce exponentially many outcomes and characters. Given that, we must focus on keeping our actions peaceful lest we wish to disturb our own and the minds of others.

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We begin in the "Diary" episodes to cover selected entries from Anthony's personal journal which he began about 8 years prior to this recording. The purpose is to investigate behavioral evolution over time, and more importantly to dissect the pain that fuels it. In this episode we hear about the initial efforts at deliberately designing a character beyond the negative tendencies implicitly absorbed during a family's lifetime. It closes with a story where, at Christmas time, Anthony struggled to perform the simple task of purchasing chocolates at a Lindt store - out of fear and mental incapability.