An Interesting Question About the Mind

[RedDragon94]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

 

[Kirran]

I would say neither - we observe the mind.

 

[RedDragon94]

I would say neither - we observe the mind.

Ahh, then what do we observe the mind with?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

One might say the wise man uses his mind, while the fool is used by his mind. Heh

I would say though that the answer is neither, because the mind is just a compounded thing, produced when a myriad of factors hit the brain. The brain filters sensation, etc and produces 'mind'/the sense of being.

 

[RedDragon94]

One might say the wise man uses his mind, while the fool is used by his mind. Heh

I would say though that the answer is neither, because the mind is just a compounded thing, produced when a myriad of factors hit the brain. The brain filters sensation, etc and produces 'mind'/the sense of being.

So since the mind is our sense of being, is it a life force?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

So since the mind is our sense of being, is it a life force?

I don't believe so, because without the factors that cause the brain to generate it- it is not. You can't take all the factors that make up the sense of being away and have anything left you could point to as a mind.

 

[RedDragon94]

You can't take all the factors that make up the sense of being away and have anything left you could point to as a mind.

And yet there are some people who live in a vegetative state. Are they alive or dead?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

And yet there are some people who live in a vegetative state. Are they alive or dead?

Their being in a vegatative state is alive in a sense. They are so because their brain has lost the ability to cognitivity, but it is still reliant on the brain, and is brain generated.

 

[RedDragon94]

Their being in a vegatative state is alive in a sense. They are so because their brain has lost the ability to cognitivity, but it is still reliant on the brain, and is brain generated.

So it's possible to be alive without a mind?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Certainly, if you define mind as the sense that one has a self. Lesser lifeforms do not have our sense of self, or even any sense. How do you define alive, may I ask?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

By the way, I voted we use our minds in your poll, because ideally the wise man masters their senses, and is not mastered by them.

 

[savagewind]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

I think it is a fact that I can't do anything without my mind. "Use" is a verb so what is the "we" of "we use our minds"?

 

[allfoak]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

It depends on who you are.
Some people use their mind and some people are abused by their mind.

If you want to use your mind then you would naturally need to know how to control it.
When a thought comes to us we have a corresponding emotion.
If this emotion is positive then we should continue to pursue that stream of thought.
If the emotion is negative, then we should abandon that stream of thought for something more positive.

The thoughts that come to us can be controlled by either entertaining them or rejecting them.
Our emotions are the guide as to which thoughts we accept or reject

 

[viole]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

We ARE the mind. So, your question is a bit meaningless. It is like asking whether the mind uses the mind....

Ciao

- viole

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Neither; your proposition is based on the assumption that "we" and "mind" are two different, separate things: they are not.

 

[Kirran]

Ahh, then what do we observe the mind with?

Not with anything per se, as I believe that we are the awareness itself, we are consciousness. So we don't need to use anything.

 

[McBell]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

I would vote "both".
But alas, that option is not available.

Do we use our minds? yes.
that is how complex problems get solved.

Does our mind use us? Yes.
Reflexes and instinct.

 

[Banjankri]

Do we use our minds or do our minds use us?

If the former, how do you know you're in control and what keeps you in control?

If the latter, how do you know and how are you being used?

I agree with what allfoak said, but I will add something from what I found. First of all, we control things through stress, and that is basically what we are. Our mind is a pendulum of thoughts and emotions. When we look at our feelings during thinking, we will notice that they are shaped by stress, so they can fit into the context of our thoughts. On the other hand, feelings can trigger thinking and stress. This goes as a continuum, without stopping. What is important is that neither thinking nor feeling needs our attention. This pendulum can function on it's own, using stress when needed.
But... stress can be applied consciously to modify this harmonious flow. This is what we call intention and it manifests as effort. Basically, human being is a robot, with can be controlled. Those two modes of functioning are known as conscious and unconscious. The question remains, what is conscious? Some call it soul, others karma. What we know is that giving it up brings joy and peace, and exercising it makes people organize into cultural society.

 

[buddhist]

A spiritually aware individual's consciousness observes and directs the mind. An individual with an undeveloped consciousness becomes led by the mind.

 

[RedDragon94]

what is the "we" of "we use our minds"?

I guess whatever is the driving force of life itself.