Who are we outside of a thought? Well....I think, therefore, I am???? I completely agree
that we do not have to and would be ill-served by defining ourselves by our thoughts of
depression or negativity.
But I also believe that we create who we are by our thoughts, as well as molding our life
circumstances in line with what we feed our subconscious mind. If we consistantly view
ourselves and our experiences negatively, if we believe in our hearts that we are
unworthy, ruined, hopeless, whatever, that that is very likely just what we will be.
Even though thoughts are transitory, and we can learn to let them pass, on the whole I
think they go a long way toward defining who we are, not in the existence of our physical
selves, because as you said, we will still exist if we stop them, but they do seem to make
up the form of our 'selves'.
We can recreate ourselves by changing our thought patterns, and I personally feel that I
have done that since leaving the WTS, in a very major way. Not only in mind, but
physically as well, my body also being affected by my changing thought patterns and my
altered perception of myself. I am in many respects a very different person than I was a
year and a half ago, but at the same time, there is a core of me which remains steady, ad
was throughtout my JW experience of many years, though a large portion of it was not
given expression in that tightly controlled atmosphere. Thank goodness for a free mind!!
Please do not take the above as dogmatic. My expressions are always in a state of
openness to new learning, and respect to the diversity of viewpoints, which I truly believe
are valuable. These things are too big, and too complex to be pinned down to one and
only one way of looking at things.
truman
