Hi Manolo,
But can we call "mind" then a process of thoughts arising and vanishing where sometimes it seems that there's a bit of control over them?
The thing is that you are trying to solve this intellectually. But unfortunately, thinking won’t happen.
We are not trying to give a name or define the SEEMING process of thoughts appearing. No.
We are investigating if our beliefs can stand up to the scrutiny of experience.
So you have a belief that there is such thing in reality as a mind.
Now I’m asking you to check if there is an actual, real mind in reality, in experience, and it is not just a man-made concept.
For example, to do this inquiry there has to be a will from myself to do i
t.
This is how it SEEMS. But what if this is not not how it seems to be?
This generate thoughts and a feeling of control of the following thoughts, which gives validity to my person.
This is what you think, thus what you believe. But now we are investigating our beliefs. To check if they are actually in line with experience.
Have noticed the text in my signature? -
The most profound discoveries arise from questioning the obvious.
What we do is to question our most obvious assumptions to check out if they can stand up to scrutiny. Maybe they just collapse under the microscope :)
If Manolo is reading your instructions and executing them, can we agree that there's a will of Manolo to go through this process and experience whatever comes?
Let’s see what happens here.
You make an assumption that Manolo is the one reading the instructions. You take this assumption as a fact. But what if your assumption (what seems to be obvious) is not how it is?
In this inquiry we are getting outside of your comfort zone of thinking and analysing.
We are only ever investigating what is here now, in the immediacy of experience, BEFORE any thoughts and interpretation. To see what is left (what remains) if we stop thinking about it.
In order for this to happen, Manolo has to sit down and start asking this questions. Well, that chain of thoughts that are influenced by the will of Manolo is part of what Manolo calls mind. Thougths moving with an influence toward Manolos will.
This is the ‘obvious’ what we are checking if it’s true. So we are not going along this idea and think and speculate how it might be. No. We question your original idea itself.
We are questioning the things we’ve taken for granted and treated as obvious.
But for this we need an open and empty ‘mind’ (figuratively speaking).
If we are at the position of “I already know” then there is no place and openness to discover something new. Since we already know. If I want to see, then I have to let go off everything I know, to get into the realm of not-knowing, if I want to discover something new.
Just a thought, clearly. And I am not sure at all that a real mind can be observed. On the contrary, it seems that there's no such a thing but I am not convinced =)
Than you have to look more.
If a mind cannot be felt, seen, smelled, tasted, touched, heard, then how do you know that it exists?
Is there anything to experience than the five senses (color, sound, sensation, taste, smell)?
Clearly not, but what I call mind is an effect, a process of moving thoughts. My experience is that something is "running one thought after the other". That's what I'm calling mind.
But this is just an idea. And idea is never a reality.
We are looking for an actual thing where thoughts are coming from.
There is one thought after another thought. But why giving the appearance of thoughts the name of a mind? Why not call thoughts for what they are, thoughts only?
There is no point calling the thoughts to something else than what they are.
Do you see that your reservation is still about the notion that might be a mind somewhere hiding, where thoughts are stored, produced and originate from?
My experience is that something is "running one thought after the other".
So are saying that a mind is not a supposed placeholder, origin and producer of thoughts, but the thing that is running after thoughts?
Is there actually something running after thoughts?
Look at this something that is running after thoughts. What do you see when you directly observe this thing?
Vivien
