I spent many years reading, writing, sitting, and being
mindful. This was sometimes in a group of like-minded souls, but mainly on retreat
by myself. The outcome can be summed up briefly as “the cure for the blues is
to change your mind as you move along the never-ending highway.”
The highway is
your route through life and it is never-ending
because it has no beginnings or ends because the only certainty is doubt and
the only constant thing is change. Nothing comes from nothing. The only prime
factor is the big bang which is the ancestor of all that came after.
The unconscious is constantly churning out interpretations
of recent sensory inputs which means that you change your mind on an ongoing basis. I might like it if outputs
were in a static photo album but what I get is more like a dynamic youtube auto
play collection where there is an ongoing stream of almost coherent audio/visual
materials with adverts in the mix.
SO – “reality” is what is in your mindbrain (in the
attention centre?) on a particular thought moment and these race past following
a logic that is rarely shared with the conscious part of the mindbrain. Thus I
can appreciate the Taoist view that “The reality that can be described is not
the real reality”. I can also sympathise with those who feel that the mind has
a mind of its own: and that the unknown part – the unconscious – accounts for at
least 99% of mental activity.
SO – it is not that YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND but rather that THE
UNCONSCIOUS CHANGES BY REACTING TO THE STIMULI IT RECEIVES.
BUT – either way – a cure
for the blues can be achieved by the fact of mind change in a particular way.
The mindbrain exists to create mental models of life, the
universe and everything. When working well these models evoke a sense of well-being
and peace of mind through ensuring the supply of Maslow’s pyramid of six needs:
Physiological needs (food clothing and shelter), Safety needs, Social belonging,
Esteem, Self-actualisation, Self-transcendence. Note that the lower needs have
to be met before the higher ones become operative.
Most cultures, even modern ones, have a creation myth which relies
heavily on magic thinking (eg Jesus Christ turns water into wine). There is now
a wide range of scientific disciplines approaching the topic. These include: anthropological,
archaeological, mythological, historical, theological, psychological and
neurological,
Feelings of melancholy, sadness, or depression arise when
the myths and magic no longer cast their spell – you suffer from cognitive dissonance.
The thesaurus captures the feelings and moods: · unhappiness · melancholy ·
misery · sorrow · gloominess · gloom · dejection · downheartedness ·
despondency · dispiritedness · low spirits · heavy-heartedness · glumness ·
moroseness · dismalness · despair · the doldrums · the dumps. The first of the Buddha’s four noble truths is
that “In life there is suffering.Yes.
SO - we should not expect things to stand still – especially
thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM)
The “blues” take over when things do not go according to
plan
SO- don’t make plans:
we had best be like evolution and go with the flow as it moves along the never-ending
highway.