Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!eagle!data.nas.nasa.gov!news From: simmonds@demon.siemens.com (Tom Simmonds) Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern Subject: Conditioning Message-ID: <1991May17.223507.28829@nas.nasa.gov> Date: 17 May 91 22:35:07 GMT Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov Organization: Siemens Corp.Res. Inc.,Princeton, NJ Lines: 52 Approved: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov > johnw@farside.eng.ready.com (John Wheeler) >Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern >Subject: Conditioning >The idea that the mind enslaves us, and that it must be quietened, >controlled, unconditioned, or otherwise modified would seem to be one of the >most deletorious notions in the realm of spiritual philosophy? >Buddha called the attempts to attain freedom by quitening the mind, >or manipulating the content of thought a "Dharma disease", i.e. a false >understanding of the import of his teachings. In general, I agree with you, but there is one thing I'd like to add. In the Lankavatara Sutra, Buddha is quoted as saying that philosophers cannot see reality because they are addicted to concepts, and similar quotes appear in other places. It seems to me that, although quieting the mind may not lead to Nirvana, there is work to be done, for most of us, in disentangling ourselves from attachment to concepts. We tend to view our experiences with mental biases that include ideas about the nature of the universe and our relation to it, ideas about who or what we are, ideas about past history and imaginary extrapolations into the future, desires and expectations, cultural biases, emotional attitudes, etc. Many of our mantal biases are the result of "education" and social conditioning. Such habits can be so thoroughly ingrained that they become automatic to the extent that we are not aware that they are taking place. To the extent that we view ourselves and our experience through our ideas, as through tinted glasses, we limit ourselves and are unable to experience the unlimited freedom of Nirvana. Somewhere in the Zen literature on my bookshelf, I remember reading that trying to quiet the mind by some effort to stop the thoughts is like trying to smooth the surface of a lake by beating down the waves with a shovel. It should not be our goal to quiet our minds; if quieting them means stopping or restricting our thoughts. However, I think it is very important to work on overcoming attachment to ideas. My experience has been that it is a little easier to let go of that attachment to ideas when I spend some time to relax and slow down the flood of thoughts to something less than the usual frantic pace. It seems easier to recognize those habits of thought that I usually don't notice because they are working quietly in the background of a very noisy mind. Before I can let go of an attachment, I have to recognize what it is that I'm supposed to let go of. Letting go of thoughts is not the same as stopping them; it's more like indifferent laissez-faire. -- (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))tom simmonds)))))))))))))))))))) (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( ))))))) "True beauty consists in purity of heart." - Mahatma Gandhi ))))))))