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What lies behind thought?
- Thread starter sandandfoam
- Start date
Amechania
Daimona of the Helpless
Can a person with no sensory imput think? Do people who suffer from some sensory loss think less effectively than those who have fully functioning senses?
Gjallarhorn
N'yog-Sothep
And what would they think?
Desert Snake
Veteran Member
Not sure. On some level I would guess the answer to be yes, however "effectively" could also be a subjective term in many cases.
Cheers.
PolyHedral
Superabacus Mystic
How are we measuring "effectively?"
Copernicus
Industrial Strength Linguist
I would define as bodily sensations in connection with memory of past sensations and imagination (or calculation) of possible sensations. Language is an expression of thought, so you can study the properties of language to get a description of its properties. That is why Noam Chomsky has called language a "window on the mind." So it is no accident that all languages embody methods for expressing past, present, and future (actually, irrealis) conditions.
The thoughtless.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
The thinker, obviously.
apophenia
Well-Known Member
Not what - who.
But there is no answer to the question 'who lies behind thought ?'
Only the recognition.
Desert Snake
Veteran Member
NobodyYouKnow
Misanthropist
If you can even think what lies beyond thought, you are still thinking.
I can tell you though because I have been there and there is absolutely nothing and when I say nothing, it's like a huge black hole that sucks your whole awareness and consciousness into it...so it's not really nothing.
Have you ever been totally uninspired? have you ever tried to think about something but could not, until your mind even stops thinking about it; the very second before you leave that half-finished book or painting alone for the day when 'inspiration comes'? this is exactly what it feels like...at the beginning.
When one becomes adept at being the observer and watching their own thoughts, they can see them rise, manifest and fall, like waves on the ocean (vrittis imposed on chitta/manas). When we entertain such thoughts, they lead to action and often, habit (samskaras).
Each thought is briefly separated from the next, just as each breath is separated by a short period of full exhalation.
The purpose and point of meditation is to watch your thoughts and breath, trying to slow both down until this split second separation is extended beyond that.
I have got it down to about 10 seconds now, before my 'conscious awareness' kicks in again. I can keep on doing it, but only for this long, each time. I just haven't been able to make that state 'fixed' yet.
So, one loses all those thoughts, only to think 'okay, so are all my thoughts gone yet?' 'am I still thinking?' 'Oh dear lord, I am thinking about thinking...stop it'.
Eventually, I let all that go to and just watch and there's absolutely nothing to observe at all...nothing is there!
It's like walking into a pitch black cave without a torch and trying to see...but the feeling afterwards (and sometimes a few days afterwards) is just incredible!!! it's amazing!!!
The only downside I have found now, is that after a while of trying not to think, when one actually has to think in the 'real world', that task becomes increasingly difficult.
It's like a form of mental dysphasia, when you know what you want to think/say, but there are no thoughts and you go into that 10 second 'blankness' automatically, without even thinking that there's a thought.
Then, one of either two things happen...I go 'forget this, let's play video games' OR 'forget this...if I want to attain Nirvana, I should be meditating'...and go do it.
So, I hope this answers your question because I haven't seen it with my own eyes. lol
Last edited:
apophenia
Well-Known Member
NYK,
Teachers at yoga often mention the space between thoughts. I have found it helpful to consider that space as the space within which thought occurs. Viewed this way, the 'space' is everpresent, and is not merely absence of thought. This is not just a clever concept - persevering in it has transformed my experience such that the dichotomy of thought/no thought is dissolved.
There is no need to supress thought, which is like clouds in the sky. The clouds do not obscure the sky - they are a feature of it.
Teachers at yoga often mention the space between thoughts. I have found it helpful to consider that space as the space within which thought occurs. Viewed this way, the 'space' is everpresent, and is not merely absence of thought. This is not just a clever concept - persevering in it has transformed my experience such that the dichotomy of thought/no thought is dissolved.
There is no need to supress thought, which is like clouds in the sky. The clouds do not obscure the sky - they are a feature of it.
Sensation, Emotion, Memory
Leftimies
Dwelling in the Principle
Quantic physics.
collectivedementia
home-base umpire
Sight,sound,touch,taste,smell.
DallasApple
Depends Upon My Mood..
A basic inherent trait of most human brains. Curiosity .(its an emotion) A compelling one.
Unknown.
NobodyYouKnow
Misanthropist
Thak you for that helpful insight. As a qualified yoga teacher myself, I have always thought/believed in the way I previously described. I am just wondering how to translate your perspective into my actual practice of meditation.