Background

The world is understood and organised in a way that gives suffering and tiredness. This is unsatisfactory. We suppose that we are not satisfied because we are not active enough. We have a constant feeling that we should have more of suffering and tiredness in order to make the world better. So we are stuck in a trap.

The solution for avoiding suffering and tiredness is understanding of mind as compared to matter.

The society of suffering and tiredness is based on a material world view. It is the traditional world view. We used to have no alternative. But there is an alternative. It is a world view based on mind.

If we accept the mind world view, we can see mateial factors in a new way. Problems can be solved. Suffering and tiredness can be avoided.

The knowledge of the mind based world view is not new. It is thousands of years old. But it has been known only by very few. But these days the knowledge spreads all over the world to all who are interested.

Kungsträdgården

Kungsträdgården
Originally uploaded by KurtQ

Effect and cause 2

If we accept that the external reality is a projection from mind...

-- it might be hard to accept, but it is the reality --

we can deduce that the content in the mind of individuals varies from the extremely good to the extremely bad.

If we compare this objective perspective with a subjective perspective we see a mixed picture.

Some of the social bad is experienced as individually good, some of the social good is experienced as individually bad, Some of the social bad is experienced as individually bad, and some of the social good is experienced as individually good. 

So there is no complete union between society and individual. Nevertheless, there could be an exchange of ideas between society and individual. But is it possible?

Mind projections have a tendency to support themselves. If we see the world as hostile, the signs of hostility will show that we are right. If we see the world as friendly, we will find this attitude supported by observation and facts.

One theory is that if society acts with sternness, the individuals will see that there is no alternative than to adjust. 

But from mind point of view, sternness would be counter productive. Sternness would support the negative tendencies already existing in mind, and thus make negativity stronger.

Society is a meeting place for projections of all kinds, from the good to the bad, so there is a lot of spontaneous negativity around.

Goodness in content is better than sternness in form as attitude of society. This is also the general principle. Most citizens are socialized by doing what they want - in study, work and family life. 

Form and content 2

Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. So it says in the Heart sutra. What does it mean?
Form is empty of form, but not of content. To be empty of form means that the form is not absolute. One particular content can have different forms.
Emptiness is form means that emptiness must be emptiness of something - of something that can have form. There is emptiness of emptiness, but not emptiness of nothing.
"Nothing" - the not existing - has no form and no emptiness.
To be aware that form is emptiness is to be aware that form can deceive. This person looking poor can be rich, an this one looking rich can be poor.
But if this person acts in an evil way, that is evil. That is no deception. So if we think that this person acting evil might be good, we are wrong. This person looking bad might be good, however.
In this world there are bad actions and bad forms. If we fight bad form by bad action, we do the wrong. Sometimes good form needs effort. That is not wrong if the individual has made a choice and accepted it. But it is wrong if the individual is just forced to do something, even if the result is good form. Form is emptiness, and thus a particular form is not very much to strive for.
The good is in itself formless, but it expresses itself in form, for example as a nice home. We can try to get the good by manifesting its form, for example a nice home. It might succeed, but it might also fail. The form of the good without the content of goodness is just a cold lifeless mask.
Form is important, but content is more important. In the society it is not that obvious, as form is the most important for certain individuals and in certain contexts. If society was more distinct in pointing out the good content, the individuals would be more happy and the form would be nicer also.

Label power 2

Labels are the framework within which we think and feel, so we need nice labels. Like love and trust. Will we always be deceived and fooled if we have nice labels? 

In the analysis of how mind works, labels are a third category. The first category is feelings and the second is thoughts.

Compared to feelings and thoughts labels might seem to be insignificant and almost invisible. Feelings can be grand, thoughts can occupy our mind days and nights. But labels just flash by.

But in the beginning was the word.

And the law system for example is concerned with finding the right label. When someone dies, which label is appropriate: suicide, accident, murder or something else? And the people around, which label is appropriate: innocent, witness, murderer? 

Everything must be sorted under a label or else it is impossible to understand. 

Reality is in constant change so if we have static labels they will become obsolete automatically. 

Good labels have a very strong power, as every teacher knows. The student relating to a good label can achieve great things. The one burdened by a bad label has an internal resistance.

There is a tension between realism and good will. To manifest anything is difficult, and we can not always do it even if we want to.

 

Walking 2

What is the difference between a walk and a pilgrimage? 

Is it what we reach or what we are?

A traditional pilgrimage is to a holy place of some sort. These places are special. You do not find them on your ordinary itinerary. 

Why are these places special? They might be a certain quality there, a certain atmosphere.

If we see external reality as a projection, the visit to a holy place is a projection of the holy in the person. It is an important projection of something quite rare. The holiness is maybe not prominent in all of us.

If we know it is a projection, we can project it on anything. Also on the trivial things in our ordinary life.

When it comes to material things it is obvious we have to get then from the material reality. So we might assume we have to get spiritual things from the outside as well. 

And the spiritual environment we live in is very important. It is invading us so we have to deal with it. On the holy place we might feel we are among friends.

Normally we can not choose projections just after will. The persons we meet "are" attractive or frightening. That means that they are activating different projections, positive or negative. It is a fact that these projections take place. For us as individuals it is annoying that this happens out of our own control. We might fall in love with the wrong person and start to hate our benefactor.

While waking our mind processes the knowledge and experiences it has. It is partly an automatic process and partly aware. If we supervise the processes in mind we can see which are based on knowledge, which are based on good will and which are based on bad will.

These processes have an immediate effect and along term effect.

The immediate effect is our present experience. Are we fine or sad?

The long term effect is a result of learning. While our thoughts run around as it seems on their own, we are learning the things they are occupied with. If we think about anger or negative actions, we are learning this negativity. It will return later in a stronger form. We will that feel these reactions are caused by external factors, bur in reality they are the content in our own mind surfacing and being projected.

The difference 2

The legendary Tibetan poet and yogi Milarepa had a very dramatic life. He was trained as black magician and destroyed his home village before he started to study the compassion and wisdom of Buddhism. After many years of extreme hardship he reached clarity of mind. 

So he himself had experienced the two ways to understand reality, the conventional and the absolute.

The conventional way of understanding reality does not necessarily lead to black magic, but it certainly leads to suffering. The reality will never fit into the categories we believe in and expect to be fulfilled.

Long ago life was quite static for most people - living in one village all the life - so understanding reality as static was almost right.

In the modern world however, all of us are in constant contact with change. Even the remote mountains have satellite television, GPS, Google, blogging and DVD movies. Climate change, swine flu and financial crisis are global.

In this modern world formed by decisions made by humans it gets more and more appropriate to see the absolute aspect of reality and not only the relative.

Milarepa was an example of the lotus principle: purity growing from dirt. From the dirt of black magic, the purity of the saintly poet emerged. 

Dream 2

When studying mind television programs of the type Idol are a new way to get knowledge.
In these programs different artists show their best performances, and the audience can see the differences.
The qualities displayed might be analysed in terms of music, presence, choreography and the like, but all of these aspects are mind. The show is a meeting between the performance and the ideas in the minds of the viewers and judges.
The winner often has a quality we can feel and experience, but which might be difficult to describe in words.
This quality is the difference between dream and reality. We can all dream about how to win Idol, but most of us do not.
But if we knew mind we would all be winners. If we sort out and take away everything that disturbs our understanding, and work very hard to manifest our idea, we will win.

Cool

Cool
Originally uploaded by KurtQ

The clear light reflected in this dahlia is it the exception or the rule?

Stiff 2

Mind is openness. It is so open that it can be trained not to be open. The opposite to openness is being stiff. Mind can be stiff and react in one particular way to a certain stimulus. This happens in basic military training. The idea is that soldiers should use their weapons automatically in war situations.

War has this technical aspect of handling weapons. It also has the humane aspect of relating to other individuals.

It is easier to avoid this issue if the mind is stiff. It the others are understood as just enemy, evil, threatening and not as nice people longing for love and kindness, it is easier to kill them.

Is this good or bad?

A person with a very stiff mind can treat others very bad and still feel that he is doing the right and good thing.

To relate to others is difficult, in particular in the meeting between different cultures. Here we need the openness of mind. We need new solutions or at least a new understanding.

Truth 2

How to avoid disappointments? When we get new ideas we also get now hopes. If they fail, we are disappointed.

Is it possible to compare our ideas with truth itself and thus find the factors that reinforce the idea and avoid all mistakes?

When we meet a new person - the one we have been looking for so long, or when we start a new project, career, movie, investment we start making plans. 

These plans have a positive side - we imagine all the nice things we could do. We also feel the joy of accomplishment. We will be famous, probably.

But there is also a neutral and a negative side. The neutral side is the work involved. Whatever the idea is - protecting the environment, finding the murderer, getting a baby, building a house - a tremendous lot of work is needed. This is not bad, but it is a fact.

The negative side is the things we have to abstain from in order to fulfill our idea.

But the main problem is in the realism of the idea. Will this person share the future with me? Is he really the murderer? Are we ready for a child? Can we manage everything needed to get a house of our own?

Well, we have a brain process here. If we have a good idea, we normally start to create a positive emotional charge. We need this emotional power in order to do anything, so it is positive so far.

The problem is that we can create emotional attraction even for the most unrealistic of ideas. Sometimes we feel that the strength of our feelings is proof of their justification. The stronger attraction, the safer relation. The stronger the hate, the more certain that he is a villain.

This is not true, of course. We can be extremely attracted even to the most destructive, and our hate can be totally unjustified even if it blinding us totally.

On the other side we have truth itself. It is very discrete and subtle. Compared to the emotional charge, truth is very bleak.

In order to be able to hear the faint voice of truth, we have to shatter the emotional charge. Kill your darlings, is the expression.

We can do that, as the darlings will return if they stand the test of truth. 

Energy 2

Breakfast with bread, apricot jam, cheese and newspaper. Obama in Asia. Very good. What about Tibet?
Green Chinese tea in the usual mug. Time for the meaning of life. Start the laptop.
Life is an energy process. The meaning is in the content.
Energy is squeezed in between meaning and manifestation.
Manifestation? What should be manifested? It depends on the role we have, the vehicle we drive. Naturally. Obama drives the big vehicle called USA. In Afghanistan his compatriots drive military vehicles. The purpose is different! Great surprise!
Normally we know what vehicle we have, where we have influence, which our resources in knowledge, connections and economy are. At least we have a rough estimate.
The tea is very good. Outside it is raining a little. People have umbrellas. It is a dark November day. No snow.
Do we have to be president of the USA to manifest something worthwhile? No.
It is a question of frequency. On the low frequency level we have specifics. This mug of tea is specific. It is this mug of tea, nothing more. Nice tea, but nothing more.
On the highest frequencies there are no specifics, and not even general concepts. We are above concepts, in the space above language!
The only thing that can be manifested here is ideas, or rather just one idea: will well.
The value of this idea is without limit.
From this everything else falls out. On the ethical scale: no killing, no stealing, no lying.
Can we ever do good by doing bad? As in Afghanistan? The intellectual confusion in this world and the acceptance of this confusion is rather big. If we build on this confusion we build on bad ground. As in Afghanistan. To build on corruption or to build on temporary military power is not safe.

Afflictions 2

The reality is complex and always changing - it is impossible to follow with our clumsy brain. So we simplify and look for rules of thumb.

Historically we used to live a static life - one village, one work, one group of other people. We could learn a lot about this small world, but as we had to live together in order to survive we also had to accept a lot of ignorance and even ill will.

These days we can move around more and we can get more information about the world at large. So a lot of the old ignorance is removed. We can not uphold prejudice in face of truth.

When we were rooted in one economical situation and in one world view we are like sitting ducks - vulnerable to whatever happened around us.

If we have a clear mind we can undermine all afflictions. The afflictions are related to mind, not to any external reality. We can remove all afflictions and live under very different circumstances - rich or poor, traditional or modern, in the wilderness or in the city.

If there is a problem, it depends on new attacks of ignorance. Sometimes ignorance is attacking with weapons, sometimes it is attacking with limiting rules and even laws.

From reality to memory 2

The slowness of the brain which makes us live in memory rather than in reality creates constant dysfunction, according to Buddhist psychology. There are three standard, basic faults.

The first is that we see a solidity which has no factual existence. The memory might be solid and static, but the really behind is never solid or static.

The second fault is that we exaggerate the positive in the positive we encounter. 

The third fault is that we exaggerate the negative in the negative we encounter.

Flow is a situation where we live in the dynamic reality, without having to solidify reality and without having to exaggerate anything.

To Be Is Not To Be 2

We all know that the reality we see is not the true reality. We see static things on the surface, but reality is a dynamic process. The computer looks like a box of metal and nothing more. Madame Bovary looks like the young wife of a country doctor and nothing more.

So the surface - that which seems to be - is deceptive. The nice can hide something bad. The bad can cover something nice.

But the difference between the high energy state and the low energy state is something different. The low energy state - that which seems to be - is like the ashes after the fire. It has almost none of the qualities of the fire.

On mind level we can reverse the process and transform ashes into fire, or surface into reality.

That is the dimension of freedom - to return to the high frequencies.

Mind control 2

Why mind control? What is it useful for, is it engaging?

The problem is that we can not understand or experience the effects of mind control before we have it. So the argument for mind control is primarily negative: we want to avoid something bad we certainly have. The bad is suffering, aging, illness and death.

Should we make the study of mind a central issue in our life? 

Well, mind is the decisive factor in everything we do. Mind is behind everything. If we ignore mind we accept living in unawareness.

Not long ago we had no other choice. The knowledge of mind was very difficult to get. But now it is quite different. The number of books in English is so high that no single individual can read them all. On Internet there is teachings which only few individuals could get earlier.

We study mind not to get theoretical knowledge but to use mind and control mind.  

When we run into problems we might seek the cause in the external world and even put a blame on others. 

Instead we could inquire about the workings of our mind. The more individuals who do so, the easier it will be to erase suffering.

Deactivation 2

If our self is under attack, we defend it by reflex. The stronger the attack, the stronger the defense.

But we have no self. It is an artificial construct. 

If our self is not under attack, we can see that it has no existence. We can joke about it and about ourselves.

The self is an idea of ourselves be build in order to do things. We need preservation and self confidence in order to do anything in this world. Everything we do meet friction and opposition.

So we create this hypothetical identity. It has no reality. So it is extremely vulnerable. It will break at any challenge. 

When it breaks there is normally strong feelings. But if we knew from the beginning that the self was just a construct, we would not be sad when it breaks.

This does not mean we have the right to break the self of others. We have no right to hurt the body of others and no right to hurt the self of others.

 

Dependency 2

Form can never exist on its own. It must always be supported by other factors. There is a necessary dependency. 

The most important other factors are mind.

In earlier times, the mind aspects were quite simple and direct: food, sex, money, power.

These days reality is more complex. The mind factors which support some form and counteract other forms can be very difficult to describe and control.

In music and fashion, for example, the difference between the good and the bad can be quite obvious but still impossible to describe. What makes that melody so fine?

In music and fashion we are free to follow our impulses. But in relation to other people and society in general, we are taking part in a network. Most of us know that, but there is a constant debate about appropriate and non appropriate actions.

It is a weakness of a society if this debate is very big. The normal situation should be that all human activity take place withing the limits and borders. It is an ideal.

Symbols 2

Normal human life is an exchange of symbols. We say a few words and pay a symbolic sum of money, and we get the object or the service we want.

Even not normal human life is an exchange of symbols. Like in the south of Afghanistan where a war is going on. The weapons used have an effect by themselves. Persons are hurt and even killed. But the main importance is on the level of meaning. 

The foreign soldiers can probably not win the war militarily. If all Taliban were killed it would be genocide.

So the use of weapons is symbolic, as way to convince the Taliban to be nice people, peaceful and democratic.

So far the strategy has not worked. The Taliban continue to fight, and in the areas they control they impose very strict Islamic rules.

Which strategy could work?

The future Afghanistan must be founded on the traditional roots. They are quite destroyed after decades of war. But they are Afghan and they are mainly Muslim. So the western ideas are alien.

If the global community wants to support Afghanistan, it should be done mainly by Muslim countries. It should be a meeting between friends.

The Taliban is a militant movement. To convince them to use peaceful means is difficult as the issue includes both power over land and religious ideas.

It is obvious that without the immediate threat of weapons, the people in Afghanistan prefer a non-radical Islam. 

So the chain of symbols that would make Afghanistan peaceful would be: Muslim soldiers instead of western, a peaceful, prosperous society as alternative to continuous war and the coexistence of different Muslim traditions.

Pakistan could be the practical example.

The necessary condition 2

Lack of compassion is a mental illness which is a bit more devastating than most physical illnesses. The present most recent illness - the swine flue - has caused some 6 000 deaths so far globally. The lack of compassion has caused millions and millions of deaths in wars and conflicts.

The problem with lack of compassion is that it starts anew with every new generation. It can not be erased once and for all. But the situation is better now than it used to be only one hundred years ago. It can be much better.

Low level lack of compassion is tolerated in most cultures. Hostility, negativity and envy is often considered good as social control and a way for keeping the population alert. 

To live in this acid environment is not nice or fruitful, however.
Lack of compassion causes frictions and conflicts, and in order to stop these effects more friction and violence is used - by military, police or private gangs.

The better way would be to stop the mental illness as a mental illness. It is a question of awareness. No medicines are necessary.

Slow 2

There is a movie about the object - subject process called "The Devil Wears Prada". The subject is a young woman called Andy and the object is management within the fashion industry. 

For the young woman fashion is a typical object: alien, unknown, something to be independent of and even spiteful and hostile towards.

But as Andy starts her new job she has to learn about fashion and she also learns the logic of the business. And as she is a good learner, the object is about to become subject. 

After half a year she has got a new side in her personality, a side which is totally alien to her old friends including her boyfriend.

Andy herself is in doubt about the ruthlessness in the fashion industry, so there is a conflict. 

The cool attitude Andy used to have about fashion and work is threatened by her new knowledge. The drastic manners of her boss becomes her own. Attitudes she initially saw with aversion becomes part of her own personality.

The mind process of object becoming subject is stronger than her intellectual ambition of remaining cool.

And this is the way mind works. Our learning creates our personality, and if we want a nice personality we should learn nice things in a nice way.

Ideal 2

In Buddhist philosophy there is not one ideal but three. One is for the physical body, the second is for the energy system of the organism and the third is mind. 

All of these three - physical body, energy and mind - are called body. The Sanskrit word for body is kaya. 

The ideal physical body is thus called nirmanakaya. The perfected energy level is called sambhogakaya. The perfected mind level is called dharmakaya.

The normal ideal for the physical body is that it be strong and healthy. But nirmanakaya is not particularly strong. Indeed, it has almost no physical quality at all. Instead it is a visual manifestation. It looks like body but behind the surface there are no intestines and organs.

The ideal is to be able to manifest in different ways according to circumstances and need.

The most important body is the body of knowledge, dharmakaya. This makes Buddhism a bit particular.

Realism 2

As individuals we often experience our limitless possibilities - we can become anything! Problems occur when we try to achieve it.

There are internal obstacles. In order to achieve anything we have to practice. The rule of thumb says we have to spend 10 000

hours of practice before we can master anything. Even if we are talented we have to practice this much.

We have this time, but all of us do not use it in a systematic way. But those who do become good, in whatever it is like music, computers, writing, sports, business.

Our most important organ to practice is mind, independently of what we are interested in concretely. Music is mind, computers is mind, writing is mind, sports is mind and business is mind.

Then we have external obstacles. There are many of them. The expectations of others are often limiting. Competition creates limits. Habits creates limits. 

To follow a norm might be difficult enough, as many norms are so extremely demanding, but to break a norm is even more difficult.

However, social norms and individual norms are not absolute. Even if it seems so sometimes.

There is one way to dissolve this social oppression. It is simple to state: Everyone decides not to thwart the good ambitions of others.

Three times 2

The principle for living in the now is "fake it till you make it". It means that we should know our ideal and try to live it immediately, while we continue to learn and do what is necessary for making it a spontaneous reality.

The advantage of this is that we have to define our ideal, and that we can start realizing it now.

This is the standard formula for every successful person in world history. Be it in business, arts, entertainment, science or whatever.

If we do not trust in the now, we usually trust in some established reality. The past is very obvious and imposing, and the future is given by the past, it seems. 

But the practical reality is that the future seldom fulfills the promises of the past. Everything from empires to small companies fall. The Roman empire and the Soviet Union were strong in any realistic analysis. General Motors and Ford were strong companies.

So the truth is that the ideas we have in the now are stronger than "reality". Indeed, the "reality" is formed from our ideas, not the other way around. Microsoft and Google are made from ideas, not from reality.

All ideas and ideals are not good. The very good ideas are few. So we should know where to look for them. We find them in the clear mind, and we impose them now.

Side effects 2

If we have an interesting idea, we naturally tend to repeat it and stick to it and see its advantages. But this process can be very deceptive.

Our imagination can make the idea better than it really is.

If we want to use mind in the best way, we should try to shatter the original idea, return to clear mind and see what appears. If the idea can stand this test it is probably a good one.

On the level of clear mind language does not exist. It is too gross. Language is a side effect, something that can appear when the frequency gets lower.

In order to communicate with others, we use language. The things we read and hear needs interpretation. A normal way to interpret is to lower frequency. But the best way to interpret is to go up in frequency. This is pure joy.

Of course, everything that is said does not improve when the frequency is increased.

Old and new knowledge 2

The goal in the classical Buddhist knowledge of mind is to reach a combination of wisdom and compassion. If somebody does not want that, there is no use to start the process of learning and practice. 

Compassion here is a total compassion, including all. It is not only compassion for me, my group or nation but for all.

Wisdom is not knowledge in general, but knowledge for a purpose. The purpose is compassion. 

This purpose is understood in a very wide sense. The ambition is not to limit knowledge, but to avoid wasting time and energy in learning things that never will be used, as for violence and conflict.

If we knew how to live in harmony, we would not need to know how to fight. This has never been tried practically, but it sounds reasonable.

The combination of wisdom and compassion is not artificial. It is the goal we arrive at even if we do not want it initially.

In every generation there are a lot of individuals who try to reach something good by neglecting compassion and using knowledge that is not very wise. The result is always disaster. 

Creating 2

Mind is very creative, but mind itself can not directly see the difference between good and bad. Many of the ideas appearing in mind can be problematic.

So in order to use mind we need a meta mind. A mind that controls the mind. There are many meta minds or normative systems around. 

The problem with them is that they often get outdated soon. The reality is in constant change, and we need a meta mind that can work in unison with this change.

At the same time it is an advantage if the meta mind is accepted by many or even all individuals. This calls for some stability or at least ability to communicate.

A meta mind for change will always tend to expand and see things in new ways.

So there is a natural tension between the old and the new on the social level.

There is a difference between good and bad, and the difference is drastic on the level of result. But the difference is also obvious from the start.

The good starts from the idea of harmony for all in non violence. The bad starts from the idea of ego preservation with violence. The two will never meet.

Looking out for looking in 2

If our observations of the external reality are decided by our own subjective interests and feelings, the idea of objectivity is challenged. 

It is very easy for us to assume that others see reality in the same way as we do. And there is no direct method for control. We can never see with the eyes and mind of someone else.

But we are reminded all the time that different persons see and understand reality differently. We see it in the opinion polls, in elections and in the choices we all make daily.

Life would be easy if a complete objectivity existed. But we realize that this is not the case. Then we might feel that objectivity is right on the whole, but that there is a limited subjective flavor to it.

This is probably wrong also. Instead, the truth is that the totality of reality is subjective. We can be certain about that.

But in this subjectivity, there are truths which can be shared by all. 

Truths are facts about relations in the relative reality. There are general truths as "virus can cause illness" and there are specific truths as "I was ill last week".

None of these truths are absolute. To say "virus can cause illness" implies that all virus does not cause illness, and that all are not ill by exposure to virus. And the sentence "I was ill last week" can mean that I was in bed, or that I did work as usual even if I did not feel quite fine, for example.

If we want to seek out the few truths that exists in the big ocean of subjectivity, one way is to look at ourselves, our interests and feelings, and thus avoid our spontaneous bias. 

Intention 2

Solving acute problems in a way that gives problems in a future shows the power of intention. We did not intend to create problems for the future, but we did. 

If our intention had been not to create long term problems, we had probably solved the acute situation in another way and thus escaped the long term problems.

The process "intention - action - result" is always going on, and if we neglect the intention aspect, the action and result will easily derail.

Intention can be superficial as choosing the most attractive alternative of the alternatives at hand. Historically this has been quite common. Many bad alternatives have been accepted as the best during the years.

Intention is something we can consider over and over again. We do not have to make fast decisions, even if we can make fast decisions if we have analysed the situation in advance.

Existentially, good intentions are willing well for others. The will is most important, manifestation can also be good.  

Lotus 2

If democracy needs non democracy in order to progress, there is a lot of traditional non democracy remaining in the world. And there is a new kind brewing under the surface.

The new kind is the new generation of the police state. The rapid progress in technology has made it possible to collect information about individual citizens in a scale and in details impossible before. At the same time, the individuals working with this are recruited outside democracy and often working outside all meaningful democratic control.

It seems that "progress" is running amok, and there are no natural breaks.

The normal democratic control coming from citizens is annulled, as police and security work is secret for the general public. The political control is also annulled, as there is no strong public demand for stricter rules, and the politicians themselves are already in the net of the security forces. 

A politician who challenges the new police power will be discredited personally or by family, or by economy, or by any other means - there are some strange things in the files about everyone, and if there is none it can be provoked in a few seconds. Everything is in the files, and the methods of provocation gets more sophisticated for every month.

The idea of total control is non democratic in itself. It implies that "I" am better than the rest to decide what is best. We all have that feeling. 

So far no one has had the means to impose it, but the means are getting better and better.

According to the dialectic principle, every thesis will turn into its anti-thesis. So the thesis of today - democracy - will turn into its opposite - non-democracy - in some form soon enough. If the anti-thesis turns out to be a new police state it will be sad.

True flow

If we realize that the only fruitfulness of value that we can ever get is on mind level, we instantly abolish all criminality.

If we believe in material reality however, criminality is inevitable, as we see. 

On mind level, value is related to meaning. And a stolen object has that particular meaning "stolen object". It is thus filled with negative meaning. It is like dirt.

On the material level we might see the object as it is and how it functions. So we think a stolen object has the same value as an object we got honestly. This is a mistake, of course.

Another factor that supports criminality in a materially world view is that material things are scarce. Material resources are limited. Even in modern mass production times, material things are limited.

On mind level, however, there is no limit. There is more mind space than air. All of us can fulfill our most fantastic ideals on mind level without having to take something good from others. On the contrary, we can only fulfill our ideals by giving to others.

Self illusion 2

We have a self, but the self is an illusion. How can this be understood? The basic self is a kind of responsibility. It is the responsibility to develop abilities and use them for a good cause.

This is a very open definition. It can contain a lot of different things and also be quite empty. It sees the self as potential.

Out of this potential we can not choose everything. We can not be married and single at the same time, for example.

We have to choose. How to choose?

If we misunderstand the illusive self for a real self, every change is a disaster for ourselves. Even normal steps in life as leaving the home city for study and work elsewhere is experienced as a painful loss of identity.

Moving means a change in the way we can relate to the family and friends back home, but it also gives opportunities for meeting new persons and doing new things. So if we see self as a potential, we can benefit from the new without suffer from leaving the old.

So in a way we have a self "a la carte". It means we can choose as from a menu. I can choose to be a citizen in that country, in that city. I can choose to be married or not, to live in a house of my own or in a flat. I can work in that trade or that trade.

Sometimes we make choices in full awareness. We choose this house and not that one. We choose this car and not that one.

But many choices are based on feeling or instinct rather than analysis. This is of course different for different individuals.

If we look at society, we see a lot of common patterns. But we also see a lot of differences.

If we trust in self as reality, we might tend to think that all should live the life in the normal, standard way. If we understand self as illusion, we respect the odd eccentric, if it is an expression of a choice and will.

A beautiful day...

A beautiful day...
Originally uploaded by KurtQ

Forwards backwards 2

Feelings are an inevitable function in mind, so we have to learn to live with them. They have the advantage of helping mobilize energy for mind processes. But they have many disadvantages also.

Feelings are the reaction in mind when new impulses meet our older experiences. Sometimes these experiences are very deep and serious, as when they deal with our purpose and ambitions in life.

Then very strong complexes are activated.  The feelings are experienced as very justified.

If we take these feelings seriously, remain in them and act on them, we are likely to get problems.

From mind point of view, feelings by themselves have no authority. They might be extremely strong and yet totally unjustified. They might also be justified.

In order to see the difference we can take a step backwards, and ask how the feelings were activated. What was the new impulse, and which was our old experience that was activated?

If we do not know about clear mind, we are easily overwhelmed by feelings.

Integration 2

The will to integrate new and big things is a spontaneous impulse, often intensified by difficult circumstances. All of us live in difficult circumstances. Even a prince like Siddharta left his privileged situation to become a renunciate and later a Buddha.

How can knowledge of mind help us succeed in integrating new things?

According to some philosophical traditions, mind is the most important factor in everything. Old power structures have a tendency to lose contact with mind and thus be vulnerable to change. Some old structures are very robust, however. Many are unwilling to resign. Everything new is not good.

Mind values are truth, justice, beauty, freedom, joy and love. If we relate to these values directly, old power structures are likely to fall.

These values are not academical theories but living realities, often quite childish in style.

Sometimes we leave difficult circumstances just to find that the new circumstances are more difficult. Maybe we asked for it? If we do not want more of wisdom and compassion, we will get the opposite.

Time trap 2

The time lap or time trap is part of the knowledge of mind. How does it fit into our total body of knowledge?

Our reality as human beings have three distinct aspects, called body, energy and mind. We normally know a lot of the body aspect - what to eat, physical training, health, beauty, cosmetics.

About the energy aspect, we are not so aware normally. Breathing is automatic for most of us in most instances. Few know the advantages of being aware of the breath. How the energy in the food we eat is distributed and used is not particularly aware for most of us. In elite sports and military activities, the use of energy is important.

The awareness of mind as such is often quite low. Instead we are aware of the content in mind - our interesting thoughts and intense feelings.

But mind is the platform for our energy and body levels, and for our existence at large. And mind is not some vague, unstructured phenomenon.

If we want to we can get more knowledge about the workings of our mind than about the workings of our body. And it would be worthwhile. All of our problems are caused by mind. 

We avoid eating poisoned food, but we do not avoid poisoning our mind.

We use our mind all the time, so we get some ideas about how it works. But everything is not obvious. The time lag is not immediately obvious. The time lag is the fact that mind needs some time to process our learning before we can use it. So the time lag can become a time trap, for example for those who know not how to wait till the fruits of learning appear. 

Seeking happiness 2

If happiness is self made by the individual, how can we have social control? It is no real problem, of course.

The basic controlling factor is the need and will to benefit other people. If we do not have that attitude, we will have no good things to refer to when seeking happiness.

This is a great difference compared to a society of the carrot and whip construction. In carrot and whip the rewards and the punishments are administered from the outside, and sometimes in a very biased way.

If the goal for social control is a nice society in creativity and harmony, the awareness of the self made happiness is the best incentive.

Senses and mind

Mind is not an organ but a process. The brain is an organ. It has many different functions. In the brain are the centers for the sense organs.

Mind as process has different levels. The difference is in frequency and subtlety. Normally we use the low frequencies, the most coarse levels.

The energy needed for low frequency level activities are lower, then the energy needed on the higher frequency levels. That is one reason for the popularity of the lower frequencies.

Another reason is the incessant disturbance from sense impulses. When we are awake, we see and hear sensational things most of the time. They activate the coarse levels of mind, and leave the other levels blinded out.

We can learn to live with these disturbances, and yet keep our concentration on the deeper levels.

If we try to understand how material reality works, we see we have to improve our sense organs - as we do with microscopes and binoculars, high speed cameras and radar and in many other ways. We also find that we have to use more and more subtle levels of mind.

If we start with training our mind, our ability to see the more subtle connections and truths increase.

Ultimate illusion 2

A typical fault with the human brain is its tendency to exaggerate. If we see something bad, the tendency is to exaggerate the badness. If we see something good, the tendency is to exaggerate the goodness. If we see something at all, the tendency is to see it as constant and truly existing.

For mind it is different. Mind is perfectly pliable and able to see all distinctions and see everything as process. The bad we see is bad in relation to that particular thing, in that particular environment, for minds with that particular intention and history and only so. The phenomenon is neutral or good in all other circumstances.

Mind can also see  the limitations of the good in the same way. The phenomenon is good in relation to the specific context, to the general situation and to the minds involved.

Illusion is this exaggeration of the brain. We get the impression that there is more of value than it really is. The brain is enthusiastic, the mind is empty handed.

Ultimate reality 2

Ultimate reality is not true but truth giving. It is the origin from which the rest of reality emanate. This truth giving function is easily misled.

There have been many dictators who have had great charisma but have caused bad effects. 

Democracy by itself is not free from faults, but it works comparatively good in practice. If all citizens have their say, the chance of getting good advice is better than if only a few are heard.

Ultimate reality can be understood in many ways. The most subtle levels can only be reached through mind. Our ordinary senses are too coarse for detecting ultimate reality. Our ordinary mind is also to coarse. But we can train our mind and make it more sensitive to high frequencies.

If we are safely anchored in ultimate reality, we can lead a nice, harmonious life. 

So being in ultimate reality is the opposite of being in bondage. There are rules to follow, discipline and consistency is needed, but it is not limiting rules. 

If we want to help others we can not just try to impose rules, we have to help restore a relation to the deepest personality, the ultimate reality.

The origin of mind 2

The balance between feelings and thoughts, between self and others, between helplessness and intention are spontaneous problems we have to deal with as individuals.

On the pure mind level, there is no problem. There it is obvious we are living in interdependency of everything else, we create our experiences by giving what we want to get, and the feelings are supporting our thoughts.

The problem is to reach this awareness.

Our mind might have to act within a framework made up from feelings, being self-centered and helpless. 

This individual immature situation might even be reinforced on the social level by politicians appealing to feelings, self interest and helplessness of the voters.

On the practical, external and material level the relation between action and result might be obscure. Sometimes hard work gives less effect than unethical actions. 

But on mind level, the relations between action and result are direct and obvious. Good gives good.

But again, the problem is to change from accepting the practical, external and material level as being the most real to a mind based world view.

The root 2

According to Buddhist philosophy we are all born from faulty roots. First we have to develop in this faulty direction. When we are strong enough we can get new roots and start all over again in a better direction. 

This is what happened to the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. He was born a prince. It gave him an easy life. But he left the court and lived as a renunciate for six years until he reached enlightenment. After that he was a teacher.

What happens if we do not question our roots? The normal effect is just suffering. It is called sangsaric life. The more refined indivduals are called Asuras. They are highly knowledgeable and secretive persons, almost successful and always disappointed. 

The problem with our first start in life is that our understanding of reality is too limited. When we are born, a tremendous mental process has taken place making it possible for the fetus to develop. But when we start trying to understand reality, we are blind for this.

Modern life can be quite comfortable, and there are different kind of distractions and even drugs which can take our focus away from disturbances and difficulties. But the need to question our roots is still there.

Irrelevancy 2

The situation in the world is probably better now than it used to be - few wars, more food for more people, more education, better health - but it is not good enough. The old illness is still around, even if it is not as dominant as it used to be. The illness is irrelevancy.

Irrelevancy is anything that is not relevant for our good life and our existential task.

There is a spontaneous irrelevancy in our brain, which has a weakness for irrelevant reactions. For teachers tricks and skill are needed to make the pupils interested - left to themselves irrelevant reactions take place for many human beings.

The society might be a bit better than the individuals, but nevertheless many societies are governed by irrelevancy. Dictatorship is the worst, but also democracies have their share of irrelevancy in the form of prejudices and traditions.

However, there are many individuals who want to do what they can do in order to make the world a better place. Imagine that such a person works for the secret services. What would be the best thing to do?

Would it be to increase irrelevancy, haunt, disturb and destruct the life of others? That is the tradition.

If we know that the basic problem is irrelevancy, we also know that this can be healed. And there is  tremendous healing power in relevancy itself. Once it has been introduced, it stays. Peace is better than war. Health is better than illness. Abundance is better than poverty.

So what should our imagined person do? The best thing that could happen would be to teach the leading echelons in the secret services - on all of these innumerable levels and offices - about the secret of life: relevancy. 

New liberation 2

My cat Spunkan was a control freak, and so are many human beings. It is probably in the genes. We feel safer if we feel we have control.

Now the means for control are better than before, so we should all feel safer. Do we?

Maybe not yet. 

For the control freaks in all nations, the new means must be felt as Christmas. But Christmas every day gives a bad taste. It can be too much. The amount of information accessible is enormous. 

This must lead to a better definition of the enemy. What is the threat? What should we look out for? How can we clear individuals from suspicions?

In the new world, security will be integrated from the beginning. It will be a natural part of everything taking place. The control will be a way for all to show how good they are. 

The human mind is at the center of our reality. It can be the best security device, but also the worst threat. Mind thrives on awareness, and the best security is given when the mind is aware of living in a nice world. Secret security is an anomaly, stemming from long ago.

The more of awareness we have, the better we are in solving conflicts in a non violent way. The tendency towards non violence should be supported by international laws making it possible to put to trial those who order and use violence.

 

Intended truth 2

To get peace and harmony, we need to discuss intention rather than to prepare for fight.

Psychologically, we have a tendency to consider all our own intentions as justified. We even feel frustrated if we can not satisfy them.

But intention can arise from murky waters, as well as from the purest of dreams.

Our intentions can be spontaneous or the result of an analysis.

Many of our spontaneous intentions are negative, like revenge. They might be simple and basic, as sexual attraction. Often they are rooted in our social situation and always they are based on our experiences and our knowledge.

We human beings are not inherently good or bad, but we can be both. It is a question of intention.

Historically we have lived in a situation of natural conflict. Resources were limited, nations were limited, but fear was not limited.

Now this is changing, and we can change from having intentions founded in lack and conflict, to intentions founded on the will to will well for all.

Even in country in open conflict as Afghanistan we see the awareness of building a society on trust and cooperation rather than split and weapons.

Normally bad intentions lead to anti social actions, which are punished by the state at a later time. This is not the optimal way to act.

Better is to look closer to the difference between good and bad intentions. The tolerance against bad intentions is much bigger than the tolerance against bad clothes. The archetypical American gangster has impeccable clothes and hair cut, a perfectly clean luxury car but the worst of intentions.

If we analyse intention we find that no fine clothes can make up for bad intentions. 

 

Causes and conditions 2

Mind, as the most important cause and condition, works best in free flow. This situation is very unusual. It is probably possible to live for decades without ever being close to it. Sometimes we experience and realize flow in particular, limited situations.

There are many factors limiting the flow in mind. The first ones are physical. Mind uses the brain as an instrument, and the brain as organic object must be cultivated in order to function smoothly.

Classically there are three stages in the development of the brain. They are called tamas, rajas and sattva. In tamas the brain is blocked, in sattva the brain allows for the clear mind to express itself freely.

If we want to express the free flow on the physical level, we have to practice a lot. Every elite sports person know that.

Even if we want to express flow on mind level, we need a lot of practice.

If there are no serious physical blocks for mind, there are probably preconditions and misunderstandings. 

A typical misunderstanding is to exaggerate the solidity of our own thoughts and feelings, including faulty preconditions. This makes it doubly difficult to overcome our hindrances.

The pure form of flow is called enlightenment, and it is a very rare state.

Our interdependence with everything else gives great opportunities for positive contributions, but it also makes us vulnerable for negative influences from others.

Spontaneously we want to fight these negative impulses, but if we do we just make them stronger. To receive and neutralize negative impulses is an important task in everyday life.

The goal 2

The goal of mind development is seen with suspicion by those who are not informed. In China, for example, the Tibetan traditions are suppressed, even now when the government has accepted capitalism and is taking part in international diplomacy. Also in Tibet, some practices have been prohibited now and then. In Palestine 2000 years ago, the idea of a spiritual king made the real king order the killing of all newborn boys.

This suspicion is unfounded, however. Mind training is not aggressive. 

Mind is the medium of freedom, but this freedom can be used for oppression. It is perfectly possible to create problems out of nowhere. History give many examples. These days we are reminded of the World War 2, which started 70 years ago. From mind point of view it is strange to see how political conflicts were accepted, and how nations entered actual combat.

Whatever mind is used for, mind itself is always pure as an empty monitor. Anything can be written on it. So the oppression is always adventitious. If we look again, we will see it is unfounded and unjustified.

Subject object 2

In a mind model where everything can change and nothing is static, we seek a balance of dynamic harmony. If we have misunderstood reality, and experienced certain factors as stable, life seems to have a meaning it does not really have. 

Most practical situations have stable parts. It is a nuisance. For young persons, the stability is in the environment like parents, school and personal lack of resources, education, contacts. The potential for change is also great, of course.

For those who are not very young, their past is a stabilizing factor. 

To experience stable factors is most disturbing, just because it is a fault in mind. Mind must be in flow to work properly. 

Flow is the natural state. Objects are not static but open to definition. Subject is not static but open to definition, The meeting is not static but open to definition. The external environment is not static but open to definition.

Our existential function is not to deal with hang ups in mind but to deal with hang ups in mind. This means that we should dissolve the hang ups in our mind, rather than see the hang ups as real and worthy of counter action.

Good for me 2

The spontaneous idea of "good for me" has caused many conflicts. But it is the most fundamental idea we can have, as it is the base for our survival. How can we satisfy this need witout creating unnecessary conflict?

On the material level this is very difficult, as material resources are limited. And if we start using material things as symbols for our ego, we need a lot of things.

Our identity, our self, is experienced as given. It seems to be the same always. But that is not the case. The self can be identified in different ways.

In a material world we might identify with our possessions. We are what we own.

This is wrong of course. Ownership is not a very strong relation in the relative reality. Normally it should be respected. But the hurricane does not respect ownership. The divorce lawyer has a particular attitude towards the ownership of the ex husband.

In all civilized societies, ownership is a cornerstone. In all ethical analyses, the rule not to steal is central.

A mind based world view includes the material reality, but the material factors are seen in the light of principles.

For example, in a materially based world view we might identify our self with our body. In a mind based world view we have a body. The "me" having a body is something more than the body.

In a material world view the robbers are the owners of the money they took, as they have the banknotes in their possession. But in a mind based world view, the legitimate owners are those from whom the bank notes were taken.

Positive alternatives 2

One traditional problem causing factor is our definition of our self. If we have a narrow idea of our self we are likely to see ourself as too distinct from others. Maybe this problem will be smaller as time goes by.

The narrow definition of the self was natural in a static social situation where individuals lived more or less in the same village all life. 

That is not bad, but in the modern village information and impulses from all over the world enter.

It gets more obvious that we are interdependent with everybody and everything else. The more we see and learn, the more we see this interdpendence.

Then it gets more natural to define ourselves as part of this bigger community.

If we have this very wide idea of ourselves, we see how we can forward our own interests by forwarding the interests of all the  others. 

Rule one 2

Rule one in mind minding is really the no rule. It is for the situation where there are no rules. It is for the pre rule situation. The moment before rules are formed.

So the rule one is awareness awareness. It can handle anything. It means to be aware of what we are aware of.

In difficult situations we often lock our mind in a stiff position. We hold our position. This is the opposite of mindfulness.

To be aware and mindful is to see things from all sides and from all different aspects. 

If we have this whole picture, we can often see possibilities and solutions. 

However, awareness can desert us in the moment we need it most. 

But to find the perfect word after some time, when we are leaving the party, is better than nothing. In mind we can restore order once we  get the proper awareness. But the sooner the better.

Hidden dragon 2

Mind is not a dragon spontaneously, it has to be trained first. Training is an internal process in the individual, but it is strongly supported if there is an external teacher or idol.

There are many problems. One is to find free space. We live in an era when so much is already done. It is the last era before the next big bang, the one that will end this eon.

But on mind level, space is without limit. And mind can use anything for this limitlessness, even limitations.

The ideal we would like to reach can be in the form of a particular person, but it can also be an ideal image. The goal is not the other person, not the image but a reality in our own mind, the ability to do the appropriate.

Another difficulty is the balance between power and knowledge. What we experience as lack of power is often lack of knowledge. It would be of no use to get more power.

The law of the law 2

Among the spectators at the football match, a few hooligans are making trouble while the majority is acting as spectators should. What is the problem with the hooligans? Do they miss the brutal violence executed against the majority, making them calm?

What brutal violence, you might ask. The majority is acting correctly without any violence. They follow the law, and even the law of law.

So the problem for the hooligans is not lack of violence but lack of respecting the law.

They are not the only ones. In this society there is a constant attack on the law by people who feel they will win by nagging the rules.

This seems to be an almost instinctive behavior, as so many of the new generations do it. Maybe it can be explained by experiences from long ago when all laws were biased and partial and thus should be violated.

But the question can be asked: Is it better to break the law than to follow it?

If the law is right, it is no good breaking it. But what is a right and good law?

Eventually the answer is given by a free mind. The more free minds there are, the better is the understanding of the law, and of the law of law.

Words and actions 2

The world we live in today is more man made than decided by nature. There are fundamental conditions decided by nature, but for most of us it is more important to deal with other people than deal with the raw nature. 

In this man made sector, mind is the central factor. Everything must pass mind. So in a way, mind is the creator of all. 

Normally our words are an expression of our mind. But also normally we use words in order to express what we want in the world. 

The most important factor is mind, so we can ask how we can use words in order to influence our own mind. It is a paradox, as when it comes to the relation between actions and words, mind actions comes before words. In ordinary, external contexts, words come before action.

There is no direct way to control mind with words. But there are indirect ways. In order to use these ways, words are often good to use. We can define the problem, the method and the solution.

This is not a simple thing. Often we have to take step after step, continually refining our idea of problem, method and solution.

Harmony 2

There are three kinds of suffering. One kind is immediate suffering or the pain we experience when our body is hurt. Another kind is suffering of change - the pain we feel when something good is lost for us. The third kind is the suffering caused by our way of living. 

The third kind is most difficult to experience and get rid of.

In the western culture, tremendous progress have been made in lessening the first kind of suffering. Factors that used to give this suffering - lack of food, clothes, bad housing, bad health, dangerous homes and work and even war - have been dealt with. The situation of today is like paradise compared to what it was just 200 years ago.

Also, the suffering of change has been lessened. Our pain of losing material things is turned into the consumer world we live in, where new products help us forget the loss of glamor of last years products. But still we suffer from losing other people, and from losing our own health, youth and life.

The third kind of suffering is not yet addressed properly. We have to endure it. We even increase it. But it can be addressed.

The factors in our way of living that result in suffering are very fundamental. They are our ignorance and our way to relate to others.

Suffering as experience is a distinct process in mind. It can be solved in mind. The antidote is love. 

In order to solve the external causes which give rise to ever new and worsened suffering, the first step is to seek harmony in relations with others. We should acknowledge our total interdependency. And there are good signs. The awareness of our interdependency in environment, climate and global economy is increasing.

Tiger lily

Tiger lily
Originally uploaded by KurtQ

The origin 2

When we wake up in the morning, we are loaded with old holograms in mind. We are not new born. We have experiences and knowledge.

In this moment, this morning, we can not change this. We can not change our history.

The observations we make during the day, we will try to fit into our ready made holograms. If the observations does not fit we are likely to just dismiss them or try to distort them. We do not easily change our holograms.

But we can change the holograms in the long run. We do it by starting today doing what we want to happen to ourselves.

If we want happiness we have to have holograms allowing for happiness. The best way is to have nice memories of good things we did earlier.

If we want a nice society, we have to have holograms allowing for a nice society. The best way is to have memories of a good society.

If we do not have such memory, but rather memories of suffering, poverty, injustice, violence and the like, we are likely to remain in the gloominess.

But we are not the victim of external circumstances. We can do our own thing, even under difficult circumstances. We can try, anyway.

Non dual security 2

In a non dual situation security is no problem, as all belong to the same family and all have a positive, supportive attitude to all the others.

So the best way for preparing for future security is not weapons and surveillance but mind training. 

Spontaneously we are born dualistic The basic dualism is between me and the all the others. I have this self and it is in conflict with the others. Often this is developed into the paradigm of us against them.

We do not need any mind training for being dualistic.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of spontaneous practices leading to more and deeper dualism. Conflicts can widen, depression can become chronic.

Non dualism is a kind of natural law. If we try to break it, it is just a mistake. It does not work. It is like neglecting gravity. 

The understanding of non dualism can be more or less deep. There are three distinct levels. 

The first one is just rational. It is better to live in peace and harmony than in war and despair.

The second level is romantic love. You and me, let us build a nice world!

The third level is great compassion. It can be activated as the heart aspect of mind. It is literally a heart effect rather than a brain effect. 

To reach this level, both psychological and physical means are used.

Mindmind message

The site mindminding.com is open again.

Definitions 2

In a free world, we are free to define parts of reality as we consider best. The result is a complex society. Everything gets a bad label from some. Most get also a good label from some. Nothing is popular for all. 

Normally we try to justify our labels as true and real. But this is existentially impossible. We can be more or less true, more or less close to reality.

Searching for being more true and more close to reality is respectable. But it will never succeed totally.

So we need other parameters as well. One of these is happiness. Will our imperfect definitions give more or less happiness for others?

Another parameter is understandability. When we communicate we have to relate to the knowledge and experiences of the listeners. Some are experts, others are not experts in that particular field. 

Yet another parameter is uncertainty. If we acknowledge the existential imperfection in all definitions, we might avoid the grossest of mistakes.

A parameter popular in political circles is social order. But this is a weapon of mass destruction. 

The best definitions are those who give the listener a chance to look beyond the definition and discover the fantastic reality behind.

Objectivity

Mind is the creator of everything, but we feel that everything is created in other ways. How comes?
One reason is that we ourselves seems to be created before our mind. We are not aware of who we are and what we are before we are it.
But this depends on the difference between awareness and mind. Mind works even in our unawareness, as in the first part of our sleep. Then our senses are closed down and dreaming has not yet started.
The development of the human body takes a lot of mind power. This mind activity is unaware for the child.
When our awareness awakens, we have a period of learning. We get information from the external world about the external world. Here objectivity is the important attitude.
This period is important enough, but it is only a stage in our development. The next level is understanding mind as creator, and not just as receiver of information from the outside.
If we can create, should we create more of love and abundance?
If we wanted to, we can not just rely on external objectivity. The world is not dominated by love and abundance, but we can make it that way. That is the idea of creation: changing to the better.

Relative truth

The world we see with our eyes is a relative manifestation of the absolute reality. The relative reality is always relative and thus always untrue. Nothing is what it seems to be - really.
But this relativity does not mean we can take the issue of true or false lightly. On the contrary. Because the observable world is more or less untrue constantly, it is particularly important to seek out as much truth as possible.
We should understand as much of truth as possible, and we should express as much of truth as possible in our communication.
Sometimes it is claimed that lie is necessary for showing truth. Well, there is sometimes an exception that confirms the rule. The rule is not to lie.
In the relative reality, everything gets its value as a relation. Big or small, that depends on what we relate it to.
The most important aspect we can relate to is our own mind. Our own mind is our only connection with the absolute level.
And in our mind we also have the intentions and knowledge that decide what is more true and what is less true.
And our mind is the target of everything we think, say and do. If we lie, our mind is undermined.

Harmonizing

We are governed by mind, and mind is governed by disturbing emotions of unclear origin. When the emotions appear they have great impact on the individual, and they are most obvious. They feel justified, but they have no other justification than a dream. They are constructs of mind.
If we want clarity of mind, we can seek out the causes for the emotions. Sometimes the causes are good and the emotions justified. If we feel glad because someone else made something good, we certainly are justified in feeling glad.
But if we are glad because someone else made a mistake, our joy is not justified.
To live in strong emotions is attractive for many of us. For some it is like a drug. The strong challenges are sought out, just because they are dangerous and forbidden.
Strong emotions naturally lead to wrong actions, which makes the situation desperate, which calls for more desperate action. This bad circle naturally causes a situation of raving madness.
Exactly in this moment we need harmonizing. It should be nice to break the evil tendency, return to peace and clear vision. Here we need compassion. Compassion is like a gentle massage on the raw brain cells. These brain cells want to take over the situation and do drastic, bad things.

Substitute

Most of the things we seek in life are substitutes for reality. Money, marriage, work are such substitutes. The reality behind can not be expressed by words, but as substitute description we could hint at concepts like power, love, freedom and participation.
The substitutes are tangible, but the reality behind is not tangible. So we focus on the substitutes.
The substitutes are closer to reality than the opposites of the substitutes. Poverty, loneliness and isolation are far from reality.
But we can reach reality in its naked, powerful existence. We can reach it through mind. Mind is not a well defined concept. The aspect of mind that can approach reality is a high frequency state of constant awareness. This is not the normal aspect of mind, even if the high frequency range is open all the time for all of us.

Mindminding message

The site www.mindminding.com is closed temporary because of hacking attempts.

Stockholm 2009 - 09 - 21

Anger 2

Shantideva says we should be "like a log of wood" in situations provoking anger. For the person who is provoking, it should be as talking to just a piece of wood. 

But being provoked is not that easy to endure. We human beings are normally quite sensitive to provocation. 

Shantideva argues extensively to show that provocations are irrational. If others are angry with us, it depends on their being carried away by disturbing emotions. They need pity. There is not cause for responding with anger.

But on the pure brain level, there is a difficulty. In heated situations, brain is not very open for rational argument. Brain reacts spontaneously.

Can we reprogram our brain, so it turns like a log towards provocation? 

Technically it is possible, but it needs practice.

One method for getting rid of bad habits is to get new habits. One positive habit would be to notice and try to approach the divine reality.

Many of as are quite insensitive - we are like a log - towards the divine values.

Spotless mind 2

The idea of making mind spotless artificially is natural but bad. It is natural as our normal, not spotless mind is giving problems. But the problems can be dealt with in a more rational way than just erasing them from memory.

According to mind theory we human beings are governed by mind, and mind can be governed by disturbing emotions of unclear origin. We are also governed by external and internal consequences of our earlier actions.

The basic problem is the disturbing emotions of unclear origin. 

There are two kinds of disturbing emotions: intense desire and intense aversion . Mild desire and mild aversion are all right. The problem is when the reactions become too strong. Then desire turns into grasping and aversion into hatred.

If we do things out of extreme desire, the result must be disappointment, as the thing or person we desire never can contain this extremely positive factor we think is there. If we do things out of hatred, our reaction is meaningless as the object does not deserve this hatred, and the means we use are often destructive by themselves.

The remedy against disturbing emotions is to be aware of the origin of these emotions. If we have this awareness, we can make good decisions. 

We can let things be, or we can follow the emotions even if we know they will not last but turn into its opposite soon enough.

Football or high jump 2

The normal social situation is dualistic, as there are individuals and groups who believe in dualism. They decide the rules, because their rules are the worst. They take the initiative to criminal acts, terrorism and war if they can.

More and more of society is however turning to the more civilized state of non dualism. Here the central concepts are freedom, cooperation and concern for others.

The problem with the non dualistic society so far is that it is too small. It does not include all. So the outsiders, those who believe in dualism are given arguments for their cause.

In relation to absolute values, dualism is more distant from reality than non dualism. It means that we might do wrong ethically, while doing right dualistically. It might be commercially good to have bad working conditions but it would be bad ethically.

If we want to be on the safe side ethically, it is best to have a non dualistic outlook. This means we want only good and not bad. We want the good for our child. 

Ideologically, non dualism is accepted as a global over ideology. There are many exceptions on all levels, but they are exceptions and they will hopefully lose ground over time. 

 

Football or high jump 2

The normal social situation is dualistic, as there are individuals and groups who believe in dualism. They decide the rules, because their rules are the worst. They take the initiative to criminal acts, terrorism and war if they can.

More and more of society is however turning to the more civilized state of non dualism. Here the central concepts are freedom, cooperation and concern for others.

The problem with the non dualistic society so far is that it is too small. It does not include all. So the outsiders, those who believe in dualism are given arguments for their cause.

In relation to absolute values, dualism is more distant from reality than non dualism. It means that we might do wrong ethically, while doing right dualistically. It might be commercially good to have bad working conditions but it would be bad ethically.

If we want to be on the safe side ethically, it is best to have a non dualistic outlook. This means we want only good and not bad. We want the good for our child. 

Ideologically, non dualism is accepted as a global over ideology. There are many exceptions on all levels, but they are exceptions and they will hopefully lose ground over time. 

 

Compassion vs democracy 2

We are all experts on ourselves, but who are we?

We can define ourselves on external factors as nationality, family, work education. That is all right if that is relevant.

We can also define ourselves on personal factors, as sex, age, health.

And we can define ourselves on mind factors as attitudes and intentions, convictions and skills.

Often the mind factors are an effect of our external situation and our personal situation. 

But we can also turn it around, and start our definition of ourself on mind level.

If we do, we can have no external authorities. We can learn from others, but we can accept only that our mind accepts as relevant and right.

If we define ourself from mind level we can be safe in any situation. We might have a local idiom, but that is all right if its is decided boy ourself.

GMI 2

If we realize that mind power is the only valuable natural resource we have, humanity will take a huge leap forward. This step is already on its way. In Asia Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong is inspiration for the many citizens in China and India. 

If we tried to estimate the mind power used there would be two aspects, the raw figure and the way it is used. 

The less we know, the more raw mind power is needed. The more we know, the less mind power we need for that purpose, but usually new possibilities open up and dedmand for more mind power.

It is like driving a car. To learn to drive takes a lot of mind energy. When driving is routine, the mind power needed is small. But if we drive the car to new cities and countries, the need for mind power increases.

If we would like to measure a GMI, a general mind index, we would measure education, number of pupils, results and levels. We would also measure work types (manual, white collar, management and science, culture). Computer time and Internet hours would also be a big factor. The ratio between routines (in work, household) and time for free thinking.

When it comes to the use of mind power, negative factors are general poverty, frictions in economy and daily life, big resources spent on military, police and security. Positive factors are a certain abundance, many alternatives to choose from in education and jobs, many jobs for professionals, dynamic peacefulness and a security culture where safety and security is integrated in all activities, rather than imposed from the outside.

Disturbances 2

Thoughts are carried by energy impulses. This kind of energy is called prana in Sanskrit. Normally we expect the content in thoughts to decide what we think about. But the prana as energy can have its own way. All energy is following the natural laws for energy. 

So the energy fields in one person react to the energy fields of another person in an involuntary way.
Often these reactions are rationalized as being based of content. But they are not based on content.

The meeting of different energy fields can cause unease, and thus create an impulse to neutralize the difference.

The justification for such a neutralization can  be felt as strong and self evident.

Illusive freedom 2

We live in a relative world but we seek for the absolute. We can never find it in the normal reality. But it is no problem. We have the freedom of seeking the better and better. It is good enough.

For example, in art we have unlimited freedom. The artist can paint anything on the pure canvas. But is every painting the best? No, not necessarily.

There is no absolute way to measure the quality of a painting, but there are relative ways. They are all related to mind. And it is a true difference in value between the best and the almost best.

All of us are not experts in art, but many of us have recently seen on television Idol-type programs where good and best artists meet and can be compared. 

This is the attitude we could have to all open issues, be they art, politics, ethics and whatever: use the freedom to seek out the best.

Traditional moral debate, or debate about security services or military activity, is often about how bad and brutal we can be. This kind of debate is a dead end.

Freedom is not there to be misused, but to be used in a positive way.

Initiative 2

Mind can create action, and is thus taking initiatives all the time. Some of these are good and some are bad. What is the difference?

It is a very complicated issue. For practical reasons, it is good to build and heal. But in an existential perspective the best is to dissociate oneself from material reality.

For a spontaneous mind, a lot of initiatives are taken. All of them are wrong. It is nothing personal. We are all like that. Already before we are born, as  fetus, we start reacting in the wrong way. The reactions we are experiencing result in counteractions, and all is registered in our mind which prepares us for repeating this destructive routine again and again, till we eventually die.

The good alternative would be to stop relating to our experiences and to social conventions, and start relating to existential principles. This means to avoid spontaneous reactions and replace them with awareness.

This is not easy, and few persons even think about it and try it. 

Happiness, the dynamics 2

The paradox of happiness is that we have to give it, but we can not be given it.

In order to be happy ourselves, we have to have the intention of helping others to be happy. If we just want happiness for ourselves we will not get it. In particular we will miss it if we hurt or mistreat others in order to get happiness ourselves.

It is like money. If we help others to become rich, we become rich ourselves. If we like some dictators try to be rich by stealing from the citizens the result is sad for all, even if the stolen sums are huge.

A symbol for doing good is giving things to the poor. It is not bad, and the receivers might appreciate what they get. But it is not certain.

Happiness is never in a gift but in the mind of the person. If the conditions for happiness exist in the person, anything will trigger that happiness. If might be a small gift, a huge gift or no gift at all. The happiness is in the mind.

But if the conditions for happiness are lacking in the mind, no gift will give happiness.

On an existential level, we can say that all human beings already are given more than needed for perfect happiness for ever. The reason we do not see it thus, is that we close our mind by not including all in our wishing well.

Bad actions 2

If we are aware of the workings of mind, we can see how emotional and intellectual reactions are dependent upon the internal balance in mind. If we do not know these factors, we might think that our feelings and thoughts are caused by some sort of external reality, by our personality or by divine truth or something.

This analysis is not new. It was described but the Tibetan master Longchenpa (born in the 14th century) and translated into English by Herbert V. Guenther in 1975 under the title Kindly Bent to Ease us.

The internal balance in mind is between the four concepts called the immeasurables. They are love, compassion, joy and equanimity.

Love out of balance becomes attachment, or the will to hold on to the beloved in such a way that it eventually is killed. The remedy against this is compassion.

Compassion out of balance turns into sentimentality. The remedy against sentimentality is joy.

Joy out of balance turns into elation, which in the modern world could be experienced as a result of using drugs. The remedy against elation is equanimity.

Equanimity is the ability to stay cool. Equanimity out of balance turns into apathy. The remedy against apathy is love.

So we have this rational and logical balance of four poles in mind where every tendency to lose balance can be counteracted in a rational and effective way -- it is all very kind, and the result is a situation of tremendous ease.

Weakness of strength 2

Stronger than strength is awareness, as we see everywhere and for example in Iraq. The military strength was very impressive, and the break down of Iraq did not take many weeks.

But when it came to making Iraq a nice place again, the military force was weak. Rebuilding was like a blind spot. Not only the foreign soldiers were weak in this respect, but also the national power groups. To form a new Iraq with bombs and guns did not work very well.

The only factor than can build something is awareness. Slowly the awareness of practical and political opportunities for Iraq is developing.

Traditionally military training is very intense. What about awareness training? 

Conditions for awareness increase is better now than before, thanks to better education and Internet. In old countries with many young inhabitants like China and India we see a virtual tiger leap in increased awareness. 

Awareness is something more than knowledge and traditional skills. It should center on awareness of mind. The awareness of mind is special. It is different from everything else.

 

Weakness of strength 2

Stronger than strength is awareness, as we see everywhere and for example in Iraq. The military strength was very impressive, and the break down of Iraq did not take many weeks.

But when it came to making Iraq a nice place again, the military force was weak. Rebuilding was like a blind spot. Not only the foreign soldiers were weak in this respect, but also the national power groups. To form a new Iraq with bombs and guns did not work very well.

The only factor than can build something is awareness. Slowly the awareness of practical and political opportunities for Iraq is developing.

Traditionally military training is very intense. What about awareness training? 

Conditions for awareness increase is better now than before, thanks to better education and Internet. In old countries with many young inhabitants like China and India we see a virtual tiger leap in increased awareness. 

Awareness is something more than knowledge and traditional skills. It should center on awareness of mind. The awareness of mind is special. It is different from everything else.

 

Free as a human 2

In order to do something meaningful, we must have something to work with. Normally we do that in ordinary work. But independently of work, we all have something worthwhile to work with. That is our mind.

Ordinary education is a way to train the mind. That is good. But it is not all.

To work with mind is good for society. It creates a better intellectual atmosphere, where ideas of non-violence, harmony, and concern for climate and nature are easily accepted.

Mind training must be individual. Only you can train your mind. 

The need for mind training is big. According to David R Hawkins, 85 percent of the world population has a brain energy level below 200 on a logarithmic scale up to 1 000. Only a fraction of the capacity is thus used. This is the real natural catastrophe of our times.

Besides low energy level, other main mind problems are ignorance, disturbing emotions and negativity. These problems are so accepted that they are the basis for a lot of our economy, religion, culture and entertainment industry.

Overpopulation is normally seen as a problem, but if the great number of minds can be trained, the number is no problem.

Two sides of mind 2

So we have this individual creative process: 

In the soft mind of now we leave imprints which will harden and become our unavoidable "here and now" for some time in the future. The "here and now" we are in in this moment is the effect of imprints we made in our soft mind at some earlier moment.

Another way to describe this is to say that the situation we are in at present is the result of our earlier experiences and knowledge. Our experiences and knowledge are stored and processed in our memory. 

Your situation is different from mine because we have different experiences and knowledge. But if we are of the same generation and live in the same country we probably have a lot in common.

In every now our mind can be very active. Observations, thoughts, feelings and impulses can happen. Are all of the same importance? 

The decisive aspect for the future is the ethical quality. If we do good towards others now, we will experience good in the future. But if we do bad towards others in order to get good for ourselves, we will get a bad future. 

The process of soft mind imprints hardening into unavoidable "here and now" goes on always, independently of if we care or not. Usually we do not care much.

If we would take this process seriously we would try seriously to do good on all of the three levels of mind, words and actions.  

Constructive 2

Mind discipline is not to think about anything irrelevant. It is virtually impossible in this world where we are incessantly bombarded with impulses and information. The constant distraction of Twitter, Facebook, Internet, other media, phone calls, hormone chocks, physical illness, mental stupor, memory, subliminal impulses and a lot of other impulses is even a life style. If Twitter is down for half an hour, life seems to lose its meaning.

Why should we try to hold on to our own course of thought? Why is our own thoughts more valuable than those we get from others?

The questions is relevant, as we have so much to learn from others, and new information appears all the time. If we want to develop an original thought of our own, we have a long process before we can reach the level of the ready made ideas given to us.

But on the existential level it is more important than ever to seek the constructive and avoid the destructive.

It is about the meaning of life. 

So the thoughts in our mind are important. There is a difference between the ideas founded on our own clarity of mind, and those ideas given us in different ways. The given ideas might be very good, but we have to test them against our clear mind to know that. We also have to test our own constructs against the clear mind.

Easy to say, difficult to accomplish. Mind is so volatile. And it is also strong. It is like a flying elephant.

Mind following mind 2

Non-violence on mind level, how does it work?

Well, violence is really for the body level. The body is valuable and should be respected and protected. So if someone threatens the body, it is a bad deed and a serious one. It has been quite popular during history. 

The equivalent of violence on mind level is forecefulness. It is no good.

The ideal medium of mind is clear without resistance. It is like a good monitor. Anything can be shown on it, and it is of no use using extra force.

Extra force is causing distortion, which makes the image unclear.

Of course, mind is not always in this ideal, clear and neutral state. Often we have mind habits, prejudices and even physical tracks in the brain which makes us prefer some ideas before others.

But if we use extra force in order to break these patterns, we cause resistance. Mind is not made of a passive medium. It is sensitive and reactive. 

For example, if we have a serious problem and spend a sleepless night trying to solve it with all our might, we are likely to fail. Or we might be lucky and fall asleep and find the problem solved by itself when we wake up. Bur normally, our forcefulness makes the problem worse.

We know that the ideal mood for learning is peaceful, nondistracted awareness. So this is what we should seek, even when we are the utmost distracted and disturbed, in the midst of catastrophe and the like.

If we have strong prejudices or biased interests in some issue, mind makes itself hostile to argument. If we use forcefulness in this situation, the problem is likely to get worse.

The solution is instead in non-violence or peaceful, compassionate healing of the sore parts of mind.