When I make time to
sit 'I' soon realise the presence of the hyperactive monkey mind
and the zombie on autopilot. These give the impression that the mind
has a mind of its own and that 'I' am not in control of my thoughts,
feelings and moods.
Three questions arise:
(a) who or what is in control of what occupies attention?
(b) can the process be
controlled?; and (c) who would control it and for what purpose?
The contents of a
particular mindbrain will have been sourced from nature, nurture and
serendipity. Millions of years of evolution have resulted in a
mindbrain that is genetically hardwired to suit us for a life of
foraging in groups of 100 in the African savanna. We are born with a
multitude of inbuilt instincts, reflexes, intuitions, biases etc.
But the hard wiring
needs fine tuning to make it relevant to particular physical and
cultural environments. For example, we are hard wired to learn a
language but the particular language depends on our cultural
nurturing. The process of nurturing is a complex source of
contention. It can be thought of as brainwashing, programming,
indoctrination, enculturation, training, education, or enlightenment.
Sources of enculturation vary with age and include parents, siblings,
extended family members, friends, communities, teachers, co-workers,
bosses, the media (and now social networks) and political and
religious leaders.
Serendipity (chance)
plays a major role in the details of which sources of nurturing are
most pertinent in shaping the minds of individuals. For example, you
cannot choose your parents and they may not be fully functional. An
individual will be shaped by their culture in general and by their
various subcultures in particular.
For example I have been
got at by the Presbyterian work ethic and by the belief that
'progress' is possible. This has led me to believe that there are
better ways to be human and that these can be achieved by changing
minds – my own mind and the minds of others.
When I make time to
sit the evanescence of most thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM) is
obvious as is their slight and questionable relevance to the TFM that
went immediately before. I am thus inclined to suppose a process of
unconscious churn. There are two types of input – (a) a continuous
stream of signals from the sense organs and (b) a stream of items
from memory. These are churned to enable the creation of stories and
judgements about the nature of the signals from the sensory organs.
Some of these stories are fed to the self-conscious almost as an
after thought.
Evolution does not have
a hierarchy to plan in advance. Instead it churns and footers so as
to link the present to the past and the possible future. The
functions of specialist nodules are integrated to quickly generate
stories which form the basis of reactions and responses to immediate
stimuli. Note that what matters is effectiveness rather than truth.
Humanity came a long way while believing that the world is flat;
heavier than air machines could not fly; and a woman's place is in
the kitchen with a baby strapped to her back.
When I make time to
sit I learn to expect the unexpected because the only certainty
is doubt, and the only constant thing is change – remaining
uncertain is therefore a good thing as it (a)
prevents us from living
like zombies on autopilot and (b) it ensures that the monkey mind
remains unrestrained, unpredictable and thus well able to adapt to
changes in the physical and social environment.
I can now answer the
three questions that were asked earlier:
(a) who or what is
in control of what occupies attention?
An integrated network
of specialist nodules in the brain generates stories which shape
reactions and responses to external stimuli.
(b) can the process
be controlled?
The process is
presently controlled by the unconscious. A small dose of its TFM are
shared with the self conscious whose cogitations are fed back to the
unconscious churn. This can create the illusion of a self-conscious
ego with a free will being rational and in charge. However, the
experiments of social psychologists demonstrate that it is not so.
(c) who would
control it and for what purpose?
The unconscious mind
manages a mind boggling number of tasks with their stories. A very
small number of these are shared with the self-conscious. But there
is neural plasticity. By taking thought an individual can change
their brain. We can all tame it and train it and thus realise the
potential for peace that rests within us all.
'By taking thought'
rooted in mindfulness individuals can be more at peace with
themselves and thus with their environment. A mind that is tamed and
trained can be a force for 'good' in the world. But this is not
inevitable. Mindfulness training is now a key part of military
training in the US.
It helps in the
creation of peace-able killers who do not suffer from PTSD.
When I make time to
sit I have some experience of a changing mind – it is powerful
stuff. The monkey mind is less restless and the zombie runs on an
upgraded program. I will finish with a quote from Thich Nhat Hahn:
dont just do something,
sit there
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