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.

Mind against mind 2

We can never get rid of feelings. They exist in our mind all our life. There are three kinds: desire, neutral and aversion. Desire and aversion can have different strength, ranging from the most extreme to the mildest.

As long s the feelings are comparatively mild and tame, it is all right. They are even essential for life. We should seek the good and avoid the bad. That is part of our existential task, if we have any such task.

However, to find out what is really good is difficult. Many of our ideas are rather weak. They might have some good aspects, but also a lot of bad aspects. 

If an idea is associated with a feeling, this feeling might be very strong even if the idea is weak. And this is a big problem in the mind against mind process in our mind.

For mind itself it is very difficult to see when a feeling is losing its justification and gets exaggerated in relation to the idea. This goes for desire - when we feel that this new car or this new person will solve all our problems, and it goes for aversion -when we feel hatred for someone who has ruined our life or at least a part of our lunch time.

Often the mind is quite reluctant to deal with this problem. It is so nice to desire something strongly. We do not want to break this bubble of hope and glory.

And the remedy against hate is love. But the mind is not keen on sending out a lot of love to the person who acted badly against us.

Without mind training we might get stuck in false desire or old hatred. But it is good to stick to our ideals even when they can not be realized, and we should avoid people who act bad.

The general remedy is awareness. Awareness is to question our pet ideas, not simply to support or strengthen them.

See totality 2

How to fight for non-violence? 

Non-violence is the only positive atmosphere in a mind-based society. But violence is supported by tradition, habit and easy access.

The simple model for the dynamics of spontaneous mind is the basis - reaction model. The basis is a situation, a fact, an idea, a concept or something we see as given. From this situation we react.

The basis is very important. In a school situation, for example, some might see the basis as education but some might see the basis as the enjoyment of destruction. As long as there are different bases, there will be no order. 

We can draw different conclusions from the same basis, but different bases give naturally different reactions.

On  the material level, the basis - reaction model is comparatively simple. If we are hungry we want food. If we are tired we want to sleep.

On mind level the model is quite open. Any basis can give many different reactions. And every basis can be questioned. 

If we limit our reactions to a certain basis we can make mistakes. The best way to avoid this is to see every basis as part of totality.

In a materially based situatioin we might think that a basis is absolute. In a mind reality, we know that a basis is relative. It can be very strong,  but it is always relative.

A basis can have a very strong attraction of its own, even when the basis is bad. For example in military activity.

The concept of non-violence is self-evident in a totality view, but alien in an isolated basis - reaction situation.