Yes, ... But...

From Cassiopedia

These words are a telltale sign of self-justification and rationalization. When used in discussion there is nothing wrong with these words. When applied to self, repeated use of 'yes, but' will create a self-tranquillizing mechanism which is esoterically harmful. Lying to self dulls one's ability to discern truth, which is the very thing esoteric work seeks to develop.

Simple examples of 'yes, but' are 'Yes, I was used and then abandoned but I was in love.' 'Yes, I sinned but does one not need to know sin for better to avoid it?'

The possible variations of 'yes, but' are endless. What these have in common is diffusing a shock by attaching some agreeable or seemingly reasonable explanation to something that would normally shock one.

A more fruitful way of describing these situations would be to say 'I preferred basking in the subjective feeling of being in love to acting on the objective fact of being taken advantage of.' Or 'I put my conscience to sleep with the pretext of gaining knowledge when in fact I was interested in indulging in whatever for my subjective pleasure.' At least these formulations acknowledge that the 'predator' or self-serving or subjective part of self was the one running the show. In real situations however, lies to self can be much more complex.

See Self Calming, Thought Loop, Thinking, Emotional, Lies and Lying