EVASION! How to blank out what you don't want to know

by Terry 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Terry

  Probably this one.
  

  
  
  I'm new to meditation - and not very good at it. My mind runs like a racehorse and is way too analytical I'm told. It is important for me to slow down the flow of thoughts occasionally in whatever way I can.
  

  
  
  Somehow I don't think that is what you are getting at. Maybe more like - "selective thinking"?

  
  

  
  
  When we do purposeful things we most focus on what it takes to achieve our purpose. Concentration is vital, of course. But, if we have no purpose other than to empty our pockets and do laundry metaphorically in our mind---I'd say we are turning purpose inside out and gearing down. This is neither good nor bad.
  

  
  
  Having an analytical mind is an asset. Having an empty mind, on the other hand, would seem less special! Having a quick grasp is the stuff of genius. Having your mind slow to a crawl is....well....the stuff of turtles.
  

  
  
  I like the idea of "selective thinking" because it narrows your purpose to specificity.
  

  
  
  Think of a chess game. You can't just make plausible moves. You have to have a complete grasp of the board and narrow your plan to that which is strategically sound (in face of the opposition).
  

  
  
  It does little good to have a plan in your life if it won't compete with what reality throws at you daily! Being alert to BIG PICTURE requires skill and vision. Practicing for THAT seems more useful than developing a reflex that puts you in a grinning trance of "one-ness with the squirrels and geese". But, I jest.
  

  
  
  T.
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  THE GLADIATOR

  Terry there is no need to be afraid of me - I only bash Christians and lions. The only thing I would say, is that the thinking mind, that thinks through words, is only one part of the mind. The rest of the mind can be explored in the absence of word driven thought.

  I know this is all a bit deep for a gladiator but I have a day job too.

  Your comments on this thread are very interesting and you make some very good points. I always enjoy reading your unswervingly focused denunciation of all that is unproven.
• 

  Terry

  
  
  
  Terry there is no need to be afraid of me - I only bash Christians and lions. The only thing I would say, is that the thinking mind, that thinks through words, is only one part of the mind. The rest of the mind can be explored in the absence of word driven thought.
  

  
  
  I know this is all a bit deep for a gladiator but I have a day job too.
  

  
  
  Your comments on this thread are very interesting and you make some very good points. I always enjoy reading your unswervingly focused denunciation of all that is unproven.

  
  

  
  
  Thanks.
  

  
  
  The hidden (is it?) presumption in your statement is:
  

  
  
  "..the thinking mind, that thinks through words, is only one part of the mind."
  

  
  
  Hmmm...
  

  
  
  Since you said "mind" instead of "brain" I have to take issue with that.
  

  
  
  I think it is the verbal part (vocabulary) which is the very essence of the lexicon of thought itself.
  

  
  
  It gives thought purchase when scaling the cliff of "meaning".
  

  
  
  Without a vocabulary our mind is relegated to forming ...."impressionistic" representations of our world without specificity or precision (afforded by words and definitions) which free floating inferences from interfering with conclusions and predictions.
  

  
  
  Meaning what?
  

  
  
  The animal is left and the "human" wanes.
  

  
  
  Care to reinforce your assertion in some instantiations? Just so I can come around to your view more easily? I'm willing to be wrong.
  

  
  
  T.
  

  
  
  
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  Terry I appreciate your love of words and the skill with which you use them. As you know, just because something is explained with words does not mean it is truthful or without illusion. The word driven mind is capable of great deception.

  The thinking mind decides on our values which once accepted into our mental data base, produces emotions dependent on whether external events either support of threaten our values. You wrote a very good piece on this recently. Many people have been fed the wrong information and formed the wrong values and are then driven by emotions that are harmful to them.

  The mind also contains an inbuilt value system that is largely inherited at birth. Carl Jung called these inbuilt values or needs archetypes. But then he was a mystic so I expect you have ruled him out?

  By getting the thinking mind to rest it becomes possible to become aware of a deeper level of understanding that can, at times, make us aware that the values we have adopted are working against us and need to be changed to created harmony within ourselves. The thinking mind can easily be tricked and lead us away from our true needs.

  I said that

  "..the thinking mind, that thinks through words, is only one part of the mind." It is also a very small part of the whole mind. To believe it is the only functioning and useful part is to deny ourselves access to a vast and deep reservoir of guidance. This not some mystical belief in bogus guides of magical powers but a journey into ourselves. A good hypnotherapist would introduce you to the part of your mind which is obscured by the activities of the thinking mind.
  

  It is not a matter of coming around to my view or being willing to be wrong. It is about allowing your reasoning mind to accept that being a part of something bigger is not a threat to your identity but a doorway to greater understanding.

  By the way you may not believe I am really a gladiator but please allow me my to keep my illusion, it makes me feel invincible. I used to be a lion but changed to the winning side!
• 

  Terry

  The mind also contains an inbuilt value system that is largely inherited at birth. Carl Jung called these inbuilt values or needs archetypes. But then he was a mystic so I expect you have ruled him out?

  What we inherit is not built-in values. Values are ad hoc. We inherit the capacity to form values. This is a distinction with a difference.

  Life is survival prone when it is successful.

  99.99% of all species that have appeared on Earth are extinct!

  Humans have survived in place of other life forms which didn't. It is the capacity to abstract inferences and concepts and then attach a vocabulary which has kept him on top. Humans can transmit the entire lexicon of their acquired knowledge specifically by means of vocabulary (which includes math).

  Meaning what?

  Human beings don't have to inherit genius or a superior physical body the way animals do to survive. Humans can transmit data outside the individual's personal experience to equip them for survival. Man can learn by reading words, engaging in conversation/ debate/ instruction. Animals must actually experience new situations and adapt to go beyond genetic programming. And what the individual animal learns cannot be passed on to future generation. (Despite what LaMarck believed.) .

  Man RELIES on his ability to abstract information from reality around him. The UNdoing of man has been his error in confusing imaginary information with actual data! Superstition is the bedrock of man's error. The mechanism of superstition is the way it is transmitted from person to person. The virus of superstition is mysticism.

  Not to sound like a broken record but here it is in a nutshell:

  Man must grasp how reality works to survive. Man must learn real facts about the universe. When man replaces trust in his own rational judgement with faith in the mysterious knowledge of some authority figure he falls prey to the error of a hijacked mind.

  It happened to us when we were Jehovah's Witnesses!

  We took an imaginary world view as the ACTUAL facts about life and tried making our life work using those fallacious misrepresentations.

  The source of our phoney facts was a supernatural source represented by mystics who gained their mysterious power through some sort of invisible connection to deity. (The annointed "just know" they have God's spirit). As in all cases of Mysticism, the governing body wrest power away from others by holding themselves up as the channel we must go through to achieve a superior life. In this case, it is the BIBLE which is the magic wand which this magisterium wields like a weapon of great power. The hold on man's mind is illusory--yet--it is fear and a damaged consciousness which makes it possible. Religion damages man's confidence that he can think for himself.

  So, more specifically......NO. I don't accept that man has any built-in values to guide his life at all. They are learned through the mechanism of thought from either the enviornment (trial and error) or abstraction (forming concepts) or instruction (accepting the facts or opinions of others). Beyond that there is nothing but dumb luck.

  T.