Our minds are in control.
Instead of the mind being the tool, we are the tool.
The vast majority of the population is unaware that they are slaves to their own minds and emotions.....which is why there is so much suffering, addiction, dishonesty and etcetera in this world. In fact, it is the soul cause of all humanity's greatest woes.
We can never have a true sense fulfillment in our lives as long as our minds are either constantly in the past or in the future.
Only when we are able to separate ourselves from our minds constant analyzing and judging of everything can we grasp truth.
...Is this the truth?
And is the path to "enlightenment" learning how to observe and separate yourself from your mind and emotions?
To live in the moment?
Is there any connection in this to the meaning of life?
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Re: Are we enslaved to our own minds?
Do you think its possible though, for us to completely understand truth in this lifetime? I mean..is the human mind really capable of being able to grasp such a concept in its entirety?
I don't think so. In the immortal words of Jack Nicholson, we as human beings with our limited understanding and intellectual abilities can't completely "handle the truth." At best, I think the only thing we are capable of doing in this lifetime is accepting or rejecting the outcomes which it leads us to.
Yea I agree... I don't think the human mind is capable of understanding a concept such as truth in its entirety, and thats sort of the point....
..Maybe truth is something we can't comprehend, so claiming that we know the truth is just an illusion of our minds....
You could say the unchecked mind is what rejects outcomes.....Rejecting outcomes that have already come to pass is a stress factor that does us no good right? Another way the unchecked mind screwd with us...
for purposes of this thread lets say, yes, there "is" a "mind"
Even though may not understand what it is.
but of course that brings in other questions...
whats the difference between consciousness and the mind?
or do you even distinguish between the two?
I mean.... do you believe everything that pops into your head? do you react? if so how? and how you interpret the emotions and sensations you feel?
It's kind of funny because now that I think about it....
trying to answer all these questions...that is, trying to free yourself from your mind by only using your mind...
So...
I guess that means some of my past questions are pointless..
(EDIT)
Last edited by goatstradamus on Jun 29th, 2006 at 10:38 PM
You sound quite Buddhist, are you? You are talking about the 4 noble truths in Buddhism:
1. Dukkha - Suffering is universal
2. Samudaya - The cause of suffering is attachment
3. Nirodha - Cessation of suffering is possible
4. Magga - The way of ending suffering - detachment
No, the world is a projection of your mind. Things are empty and there is no entity for anything. For example, if you take a table, what is it that makes the table? When does it ceases to be a table? When you remove the top, or the legs? You see, there is no such thing as a table in itself, but only an appearance of a table, a temporal form, but no fixed entity we call a table.
Last edited by Wonderer on Jun 30th, 2006 at 12:44 PM
Yes, I realize the similarities...but I do not identify myself as a Buddhist. I agree with this idea though..but not neccesarily "Dukkha"
I am just trying to focus a discussion on whether or not people believe the idea is true, without any context in a religion. After all, this idea is certainly not limited to the religion(or philosophy) of Buddhism...
The thread may be hard to understand though if one cannot grasp the concept that you are not your mind...after all the mind wants to understand why you are not your mind.. which, I guess brings in things like religion and so forth, you know, projections of your mind.
Last edited by goatstradamus on Jun 30th, 2006 at 07:56 PM
Though worded differently with each school of thought, all meditative disciplines talk about being "enslaved" to one's mind, about being identified with thought and ego.
It even pervades pop culture: we've all seen the often, comedically portrayed predicament of a person caught between his angel-self on one shoulder and his devil-self on the other. Anyone familiar with the ol' Lays potato chip commercial: "'Betcha can't eat just one."? Same thing.
Even w/o any of the above however, all one needs to do is observe their inner dialogue for any period of time; the effect is even more dramatic when one tries to stop it.
Buddhism offers one codified way of understanding this universal human dilemma. Transpersonal psychology offers a more religiously neutral or scientific POV. All these perspectives have their common thread elucidated in what Huxley called the Perennial Philosophy. http://members.tripod.com/~parvati/perennial.html
Whether you buy into it or not, it's fascinating stuff, the whole idea that, essentially, the Way to God/Infinity/Enlightenment is through Attention.
"An earnest student comes to a master and asks for the highest and most secret teaching on the dharma" [divine law; teachings of the Buddha]. "With one deft move the master picks up a brush, dips it in some ink and writes the word ‘Attention.’ Dissatisfied by this answer, the student presses for another, deeper teaching. The master takes up the brush again and writes ‘Attention. Attention.’ The student is highly unimpressed. ‘If you are a master, you should be able to give me more than that,’ he says. So the master sighs, and then he writes ‘Attention. Attention. Attention'."
May the Force be with you.
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True... we are always judging and analyzing things so we can feel entirely safe of our decisions, or always thinking in the past or future planning things, instead of living it. I mean... we plan too much, and judge to much what is right or wrong, safe or unsafe, etc... but we rarely we just "live in the moment" like you said.
It even hard to define what does to "live in the moment" means. We would try to search for a method showing us how to do that, or to understand logically what it means, but that just something you do.
Sometimes I think we like to lose so much time trying to explain things because we feel it is the better we will get. Like maturbation when you can´t get laid.
Mind as response of actions you see happening day by day. Even by leaving a mark in history...when others get to know you, it will still be your own illusion. In this life you are a different person regardless of what you do or accomplish.
By all means, the concept of suffering and attachment to things is universal and not exclusively tied to Buddhism. Moreover, Buddha was not the first Buddhist, because he was no Buddhist.
Whenever one attempts to observe the inner mind, the trick is not to try and stop ones thoughts, whether good or bad, even better not to engage in the process at all. The point is to relax in ones thoughts and feelings whether good or bad, because nothing is inherently good or bad. Self acceptance is the answer.
From a philosophical perspective, there is no religion, science or philosophy that will ever be truly able to redeem the suffering human being, there shouldn't be such a quest towards redemption in anyway. For as long as we will crave such redemption and intellectualise the quest, as long will we be ridiculed in the act of an all too serious business. The mind must first be rid of its thinking and intellect should be dancing to the wims of instinct.
I think it's actually impossible to be enslaved to ones own mind, because one is his own mind. Now some people are enslaved by habit, or instinct. The mind has power to overcome these chains however. Once you control yourself, you become your own master.
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Jun 29th, 2006 07:39 PM
