Thoughts, feelings and moods.

Everybody has thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM) popping into and out of their attention centre.

Individuals have their own pattern of TFM and these are initially shaped by their nature and by their nurture in their family and natal community. This shaping ensures that the individual is able to fit in to the subculture.

As the individual matures he may seek out the stimulation that comes from being part of a crowd – at a sports event, in a theatre, or at a political rally etc

Most homes in Scotland invite the media in by the front door and by the airwaves - newspapers and magazines, radio and television; and also via social networks on the internet. In many cases the media sets the agenda for the day’s communication topics and it links to ongoing politics and economics, entertainment and education, and consumerist fads and fashions.

Thoughts

A given individual will have a personality set partly by their genes and partly by their class in their culture. The personality will influence the individual’s types of thoughts about tasks and tools related to meeting their hierarchy of needs that range from basic through social to existential.

Feelings

There are three types of feeling – for, neutral and against. They are hard wired and linked to the fight or flight response. Feelings are for example for food and sex and against snakes and lions. In Buddhism the three feelings (or sensations) are called the vedana and they occur when our internal sense organs come into contact with external sense objects and with associated consciousness. The human mindbrain has a vast archive of memories based on earlier experiences. This means that reactions and responses to tasty rabbits and hungry lions can be faster than otherwise.

Moods

There are three categories of mood – positive, neutral and negative. Someone in a positive mood would be bright, happy, elated and optimistic. Someone in a negative mood would be dim, sad, depressed and pessimistic. A mood is a general ambience and less specific than a feeling. Moods also tend to be longer lasting than fleeting feelings.

And then there is the enlightenment option. ‘You’ can override the churning autopilot. By thinking this way rather than that way the mindbrain can be changed. That way, the old way, the dark way binds you to a parochial and monocultural world view that breeds hatred, zealotry and war. This way, the new way, the light way liberates you to a cosmopolitan and multicultural world view that breeds tolerance, cooperation and consilience.

This new way calls for attention being paid to ‘your’ thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM). Be a witness to the ongoing churn. Be aware of and awake to what is going on in the mindbrain. Know that the present pattern of TFM is impermanent. It arrives in the attention centre, hangs around for a while, and then is displaced by a new pattern of TFM.

It is never too late to change your mind. Where there is a will there is a way. It is said that what fires together wires together. There is neural plasticity. The human mindbrain is like a dog, horse or elephant, or like an athlete, musician or poet. Time spent training results in Olympian levels of performance. You have what is takes to be different. What stops you? Who are ‘you’?