Korpo

Don't let the thinking mind run the show

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Probably the most dangerous aspect of human nature is the thinking mind. It's dangerous by being the one aspect that is most likely to eclipse the guidance of the soul, leading man down inappropriate paths in full conviction of holding the truth.

This danger is magnified by a culture that has made the thinking mind its golden calf, its replacement god to worship and defer to. Being smart has a high cultural value, and intellectual bullying - aggressively seeking mental dominion over others - is the least frowned upon form of bullying. Outsmarting someone is not necessarily frowned upon, even if it means taking advantage. It's also present in our attitude towards science, which in many cases is worshipped and seen as the purveyor of ultimate truth, no matter how inconsistent its messages or how fraught with error its processes.

The thinking mind and the mental body - two names for practically the same. The mental body is described as being the body of concrete thought, of applied thought. It is said to be dominated by likes and dislikes, by black-and-white-thinking, true-or-untrue answers. And when you begin to dig deeper it is also often talked about in the world's spiritual traditions.

When you look at untraining craving and aversion in Buddhism, as taught for example in the Vipassana tradition, you find a program to rein in the thinking mind. For it is the body of likes and dislikes. Even concentration is defined as the ability to direct thought (first jhana) or transcending thought altogether (second jhana). Whenever somebody posits a self or false self or idea of self or ego to overcome - in my opinion you should look no further than the thinking mind when looking for that one.

The irony is that the thinking mind, the mental body, is a fundamental part of our nature. It puts things in order, processes the concrete, implements the plans, makes interaction with the physical world possible. It can be the interpreter of higher experience and serve a higher purpose. Overcoming it can neither mean destroying it or getting rid of it. It has its own valuable contribution to give. Without it I could not render this into words.

Ironically some of the people most enthralled in the clutches of the thinking mind might be people out to destroy, subjugate and overcome it. They have taken on an extreme view, an idea about the truth, and are carrying it out tenaciously. And this is precisely the nature of the mental body as well - ideas about the truth replace a more direct experience about the truth. Ideas about the truth often suppress any feeling or intuition which could lead one closer to truth.

I find it a very powerful message when a Tibetan lama writes a book "Turning the Mind into an Ally". It allows for both - seeing how the mental body can be part of the problem and how it can become part of the solution when it comes to spiritual liberation. What needs to be broken is the dominance of the mental body over our lives to let the higher self shine through. But it cannot be broken by force.

True concentration is relaxed. Concentration is the state of the mind where the mind voluntarily rests on the object of concentration. It arises out of dropping the resistance to being concentrated, is the true nature of our minds when we untrain those unhelpful reactions. Forcing the mind is never relaxed. It's also much harder to maintain and sapping one's energy.

The mental body is an elemental. It can be trained and calmed. Its resistance can be lessened. Any elemental can be turned into an ally if you respect and satisfy its needs and are mindful of its weaknesses.

In this sense I'm not saying that you should turn against your mental body. This little self is part of your larger self. It has a role to play. It is needed. It has a purpose. Just don't let it run the show.

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Updated 10th March 2012 at 07:07 PM by Korpo

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  1. thedevil's Avatar
    I would argue that the mind is the self and to reduce the mind would be the equivalenet of reducing the self which doesn't seem to be a good thing. No one likes a bully I wont dispute that but generally I would have to say if there wasn't mental bullying it seems like it would be physical as in the case of children who can't quite fully think for themselves. They grow up get smarter & stronger and now defend themselves but being naive is one thing and ignorance is quite another. I personally only want to increase my mindfulness/awareness/sentience/thinking ability/etc... which also includes awareness of my soul as soul is definitely a part of self ( that I understand to be the vehicle of the mind)
  2. Korpo's Avatar
    if there wasn't mental bullying it seems like it would be physical as in the case of children who can't quite fully think for themselves
    Children react extremely well to positive example. They also learn very well from bullying - but mostly to become bullies. The alternative to one kind of bullying is not another. Bullying comes into play when you cannot convince or inspire another person to see your point.

    They grow up get smarter & stronger and now defend themselves but being naive is one thing and ignorance is quite another
    I never proposed to be ignorant or naive.

    I put a lot of emphasis on which part of the mind I addressed. It is not to be confused with the soul. The soul itself is higher than the thinking mind.
  3. thedevil's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Korpo

    I put a lot of emphasis on which part of the mind I addressed. It is not to be confused with the soul. The soul itself is higher than the thinking mind.
    What is the soul then in your opinion? I believe its like this:

    The mind is the self and is equivalent to spirit. It is roughly the equivalent of your (abstract) thoughts and feelings and is best thought of as pure energy.

    The soul is the physical part of the self that represents the body (including the brain as thoughts are not your brain and I for one have never seen/experienced "my brain" so I cannot be entirely sure it exists)


    That seems fairly straight forwards and logical which is why I think that...

    Now can you explain logically why you think the soul is higher than the mind ad what exactly the soul is? Or would you agree that I am correct?
  4. Korpo's Avatar
    The soul is the actual spirit, higher in vibration than the thinking mind. The body is of the lowest vibration, a consciousness of its own, and not identical to the soul.

    In the theosophic model, the layering of vibration is as follows: physical, etheric, astral, mental, causal, meaning - the physical body of matter, the etheric body being its energetic aspects, the astral being the ability to feel sensation and emotion, the mental being the ability to think and reason according to dualist concepts, and finally the causal or soul, the reincarnating self.

    In terms of Buddhist thought the mental body is the thinking mind, which is considered one of the six senses. The soul is not necessarily present in most Buddhist thought, but exposes characteristics of the observing awareness. This awareness is present even when thought is not. Without awareness there can be no thought, but without thought there can be awareness (compare for example the second jhana, where all thought ceases).

    Since I can experience without thought, thought is not the self. The thinking mind can be observed, and thus there must be an instance outside of (or encompassing) it that observes. As one can experience from this vantage point the thinking mind without being of the thinking mind, the thinking mind itself can not ultimately constitute a self.

    What ultimately constitutes a self is an interesting question, and the foundation of most meditation traditions. I cannot answer that. But the idea that the thinking mind does not constitute a self seems to pervade Eastern traditions.

    That which is logical is not necessarily true. Logic can follow anything from compromised assumptions. Logic can only tell us if a given statement is true within a given set of assumptions. It cannot tell us if these assumptions are true. All logic depends on axioms as its base assumptions. In this sense logic can only extrapolate from given "truths" but not tell us the accuracy or value of these truths.
  5. thedevil's Avatar
    I think its obvious that neither one of us is convinced by the other so I will leave it at that
  6. Korpo's Avatar
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