I notice commonly on the TV, the interviewer on the door step says: what is your reaction? The interviewer does not say: what is your response?
Of course it might be that TV interviewers generally are only interested in reactions but it might also be that they themselves react rather than respond.
Reactions can be:
- physical - instinctive aversion to a particular food item - emotional - instinctive like/dislike of someone - mental
They can really only be truly observed by one's own self...it is not difficult to have a mental reaction that is instantly censored and replaced with another, "more acceptable" one.
In Aghora Tantra the aspirant is expected to be able to overcome his/her instinctive reactions, thus the practices connected with the tasting of feces , rotted flesh, etc. in order to invoke and then overcome the reactions of aversion and disgust. This results in equilibrium of mind, since afterwards one is much less troubled by "the outside world", and it is thus easier to see the Cosmos as "one" this way.
