Questioning the changing mind

Things are not as they seem. “The reality that can be described is not the real reality.” Our world views constrain us. Sages suggest that we let them go. 

How is it possible for abstract thoughts and feelings (mind stuff) to make changes in the world of matter - and vice versa. 

snake or rope?

What is happening when you jump back terrified by a snake that turns out to be a piece of rope? What was happening when the artist came home drunk and was terrified by the picture of a tiger he painted on the wall before going out? 

 “All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage … If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.” (The Dhammapada)

What is the link between our changing mind and our changing brain? The following replies to the journalist’s six questions point in an interesting direction

Who is changing their mind? Everybody is changing their mind all the time. There are inputs from the sense organs which are continuously compared with memories so as to figure out, from thought moment to thought moment, what actions to take. The filters on the rating process are rooted in nature, nurture and serendipity.

Why should someone change their mind? There is no option. The monkey mind is continuously scanning the external and internal environments with a view to avoiding the undesirable and embracing the desirable.

Brain modules

What is involved in changing minds? In the brain there are many interacting modules whose purpose is to figure appropriate automatic reactions and mindful responses to changes in the internal and external environments. 

When do minds change? A mind is in a constant state of flux even when asleep. The up-front conscious ‘I’ can experience thoughts and feelings which are ‘felt’ to last for seconds through days to lifetimes. But such impressions on the conscious mind are but fleeting shadows linked to the illusion of an abiding ‘self’.

Where do minds change? A ‘mind’ is associated with a brain. Psychological states have neurological correlates. There is no mind change without brain change. But the brain is part of a body that has other parts associated with the stimulus/ response process. For example there is the poetic notion of a change of heart. “The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing about.” (Blaise Pascal)

How do minds change? A change of mind correlates with a changing pattern of interacting modules in the brain. Recent brain scanning research has shown that, in some cases, decisions to act are made unconsciously up to a second before the conscious ‘I’ gets to know of it. The conscious mind has an unconscious mind of its own!