On Monday Aiyar Das/Lee recollected:
"Take everything you know, put it in the palm of your hand and let the winds of time blow it away. Then come in fresh." -Donato
It's actually quite a useful exercise, in my opinion. The concepts and memories that the mind and brain use to function in this world need to be seen for what they truly are; symbols, not reality. This teaching speaks to that need I think.
Of course, like anything else, it can be (and was) misused. Patricia used it to make you chuck your common sense, your moral sense and just about any other sense (or cents) that were standing in the way of your acceptance of her as lord and master. But that's a statement about her character and ethics, not the teaching.