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| Joseph Campbell |
You bring the meaning to it."
Joseph Campbell
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Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Of head and heart
A non intellectual has gut feelings and speaks and listens from the heart; she also pays attention to her feelings and intuitions more than to the facts; she prefers a warm and fuzzy exchange that is subjective and leads on to creativity; she tends to react quickly and automatically to thoughts, feelings and moods that emerge from the unconscious and, in the process, she might get emotional and shed tears.
Even a hard nosed intellectual is likely to be affected by emotions and intuitions; the difference is that he wants to know why. He prefers cool headed exchanges where he takes time to respond objectively and thoughtfully to stuff emerging from the unconscious. He acts as a non-judgemental witness to what goes on in his head and he is thus better able to remain unattached from conditioned biases and points of view.
Comments?
Monday, 9 February 2015
Mara is the unconscious
Language and the human brain are such that new things and events are explained with reference to things and events that we already know eg “My love is like a red red rose”.
Most people are familiar with the notions of I, me and mine ie with the ego illusion. A person can cut off their toe nails and still be wholey me. They can cut off their legs and arms and torso and still be me. They can break open the skull and the brain will still be me – although there are problems in that the mind has a mind of its own. There is an unconscious energy that causes me to chase after some things, avoid some things, and be neutral about other things.
This unconscious energy has intentions. Some are good while others are bad. So what are these uncontrollable intentions like? They are like people in your social group. Some are goodness personified while some are badness personified.
These actual people are like the voices in my head - and they can be given names. Different cultures use different names - for example, Zoroastrianism has Asha v Druj; Christianity has God v Satan and Buddhism has Buddha v Mara. Note in passing that these three examples are dualistic and thought is given to destroying the bad and leaving the good in charge. Taoism is different in that it recognises yin and yang as forces that contain the seeds of each other and flow into each other in a continuing dance.
BUT – either way, unknown things and events (eg the bipolar, intentioned unconscious) are explained with reference to things and events that we already know (eg good and bad personality types in the social group).
Viewing things in this way adds a 21st century dimension to making sense of ancient myths.
Thus, for example, there is the famous occasion in Buddhism where the Buddha sat under a tree and vowed not to get up until he was enlightened. Mara was keen to prevent this happening and attacked the Buddha with vast armies of worldly delights and despairs. But the Buddha remained peaceful and in the end, Mara retreated ( Note: but he was not gone forever – there are many other stories about Buddha meeting with Mara).
The 21st century telling of this story would go like this: Earnest Everyman took time out to just sit quietly and peacefully. But all kinds of thoughts, feelings and moods emerged from his unconscious, entered his attention centre and, initiated reactions and responses. So he was on autopilot most of the time. However, with practice, he creates a non-judgemental witness to what passes through mind. He is therefore able to remain unattached to, and therefore free to choose from, the compulsive mind stuff from the unconscious. He escapes from mindless captivity and finds freedom and liberation.
To change metaphors, he is gone, gone, gone to the other shore where this shore is autopilot and the other shore is the unattached witness. The raft used to cross the river is mindfulness.
By bearing non judgemental witness to my positive, neutral and negative thoughts, feelings and moods the autopilot (aka Mara and the unconscious) can be let go.
Pointers to the Heart Sutra
The North of Scotland Sanghas 2015 Retreat focused on Thich
Nhat Hahn’s commentaries on the Heart Sutra.
It is a counterintuitive text which I have approached
several times over the last ten years or so. Below is a chronological list of links
to five short articles. Note that there is a comments box at the bottom of all
but the first page.
http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/heart.htm 2002. My attempt at a plain language version
http://naesaebad.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-emptiness-of-form.html
2006 a tabular approach to the five skandas
Three more recent improv rants broadly on topic
The Emptiness of Form
Thich Nhat Hahn often refers to the Heart Sutra which notes that ‘things’ are ‘empty’ and that emptiness is a thing. Things are empty of what? – of independent and abiding substance. Our common sense notions of reality result from the five skandas - but these also are empty. My present understanding of what this might mean is outlined below.
The ‘thing as it is in itself’ cannot be known via the sense organs.
The sense organs are limited by (a) the range of stimuli to which they can physically respond and (b) the manner in which they have been conditioned (by culture and language) to ‘identify’ sensory objects.
The brain has the task of interpreting the nervous impulses coming from the sense organs. We still know very little about how this process works but there are innate elements (nature) which can be hugely influenced by conditioning (nurture). The degree of correspondence to the ‘thing as it is in itself’ is limited to (a) what the senses are able and trained to sense of its physical attributes and (b) what the brain chooses to add by way of non physical attributes.
Feelings related to a ‘form’ are conditioned at three often interacting levels – (a) innately (hard wired), (b) culturally and (c) as a result of individual experience. The feelings can be pleasurable, neutral or painful.
Perceptions, while still subconscious, are an output from the process of linking forms and feelings. They feed into the intentional process.
Intentions are what drive actions. They can be based on craving (the pleasurable) , ignoring (the neutral) or rejecting (the painful). Intentions are the root of all suffering (through not getting what you want, or getting what you do not want).
Consciousness happens when an intention manages to occupy your attention centre. Few people can control this process. There is an ongoing waterfall of thoughts and feelings which come out of nowhere and then return. While present in consciousness they give a strong impression of being ‘real’ ie of having an independent and abiding nature. The process is particularly evident during the early stages of meditation.
When thus viewed it is obvious that the contents of consciousness have a very weak relationship to ‘things as they are in themselves’. No wonder that Taoism reckons that ‘the reality which can be described is not the real reality!’
SO – is ‘reality’ knowable? According to the meditation masters the answer is yes. But the way of knowing involves turning the mind around and short circuiting the process as outlined above. Beyond the ordinary (and scientific) way of ‘understanding’ common sense phenomena there is the extra-ordinary (and mystical) way in ‘intuiting’ an uncommon sense of the numinous. Beyond the narrow limits of common sense lies appreciation of Interbeing in the Oneness which is everything. Words cannot do it justice. But it can be experienced. Be still and know.
Monday, 2 February 2015
Rising above thought
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| eckhart tolle |
“Your mind is an instrument, a tool. It is there to be used
for a specific task, and when the task is completed, you lay it down.
As it is,
I would say about 80 to 90 percent of most people’s thinking is not only
repetitive and useless, but because of its dysfunctional and often negative
nature, much of it is also harmful. Observe your mind and you will find this to
be true. It causes a serious leakage of vital energy…
The predominance of mind is no more than a stage in the
evolution of consciousness. We need to go on to the next stage now as a matter
of urgency; otherwise, we will be destroyed by the mind, which has grown into a
monster ...
Thinking and
consciousness are not synonymous. Thinking is only a small aspect of
consciousness. Thought cannot exist without consciousness, but consciousness
does not need thought.”
Eckhart Tolle
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