-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Is the mind the enemy?
- Thread starter Phasmid
- Start date
Halcyon
Lord of the Badgers
No, if you didn't have a mind you'd be dead, or a vegetable.
If you're thinking of the concept of anatta "no-mind", then there are people who have blown it out of all proportion over the years, spouting stuff like "there is no mind, there is only the One", when what no-mind actually means is that there is no permanent entity that is "the mind", but that it does exist as an ever changing process.
If you're thinking of the concept of anatta "no-mind", then there are people who have blown it out of all proportion over the years, spouting stuff like "there is no mind, there is only the One", when what no-mind actually means is that there is no permanent entity that is "the mind", but that it does exist as an ever changing process.
Halcyon
Lord of the Badgers
Lol, controlling the mind is part of the path, but I don't think the idea is to suppress it.
methylatedghosts
Can't brain. Has dumb.
like with a child, you do not supress it.
instead you give it something quiet to focus on.
instead you give it something quiet to focus on.
lilithu
The Devil's Advocate
Mind precedes all things.
Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts
suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Mind precedes all things.
Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts
happiness then follows along like a never departing shadow.
- from the Dammapada, chapter 1: Pairs.
Mind is not an enemy. If you call it an enemy you also have to call it a friend.
Aw, man. Lilithu stole my answer - sort of. 
I was going to say that the mind is our worst enemy. But the mind is also our greatest friend.
The goal is not to suppress it or defeat it. It is to awaken with it.
I was going to say that the mind is our worst enemy. But the mind is also our greatest friend.
The goal is not to suppress it or defeat it. It is to awaken with it.
Rolling_Stone
Well-Known Member
I think of mind as the mediator between spirit-potential and material reality.
zenzero
Its only a Label
Friend Phasmid,
Once again the THINKING MIND is the barrier, if one wants to say it that way.
Even if one has thoughts of Buddha that too is a barrier.[though it is the best thought possible]
Mind's nature is to think.
It is the silent mind that is one with the whole.
So, how to silence the mind - simple, get the mind to no more work.
Plaaese note that to reach that state one has to first get the mind as friend Liluthu states to think good and the like Engyo states: Be the master of the mind and not the other way round. Finally simply drop the mind [akin to thinking]
Be a No-MIND.
Love & rgds
Once again the THINKING MIND is the barrier, if one wants to say it that way.
Even if one has thoughts of Buddha that too is a barrier.[though it is the best thought possible]
Mind's nature is to think.
It is the silent mind that is one with the whole.
So, how to silence the mind - simple, get the mind to no more work.
Plaaese note that to reach that state one has to first get the mind as friend Liluthu states to think good and the like Engyo states: Be the master of the mind and not the other way round. Finally simply drop the mind [akin to thinking]
Be a No-MIND.
Love & rgds
Phasmid
Mr Invisible
But some aspects of thinking are enjoyable e.g. learning something for yourself.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
***MOD ADVISORY***
Please keep in mind that this forum is for Buddhists to talk about their religion, or answer polite questions posed by other folks. Debating and outside viewpoints are not allowed here.
Thanks -
RF Staff
Please keep in mind that this forum is for Buddhists to talk about their religion, or answer polite questions posed by other folks. Debating and outside viewpoints are not allowed here.
Thanks -
RF Staff
zenzero
Its only a Label
Friend Phasmid,
I am hungry, I eat a fruit, I enjoy it. The juicy fruit satiating the hungry body and slowly through the blood sream reaching to ever cell of the body. [mind is not at work]
I see a girl. Mind goes over drive imagining many scences. I enjoy [mind at work]
Mind's enjoyment are all temporary. Mere imagination and so the world is said to be MAYA / ILLUSION made of mind stuff.
You state that learning something of yourself is enjoyable. The you that you talk about is only the ego which is but a shadow. In reality no PHASMID exists. You may argue that you do exists but its only a label to indicate something. The I that one talks about cannot be pinpointed as to what exactly is that I.
Only once an individual knows what a silent mind IS, he will always go back to taste it more and more such is the pull. BUT till that point, the thinking mind will try and make every known trick in and out of the books to keep the individual so engaged at all times that it never goes to that silent mode.
Permanence is only when the mind is silent.
Love & rgds
I am hungry, I eat a fruit, I enjoy it. The juicy fruit satiating the hungry body and slowly through the blood sream reaching to ever cell of the body. [mind is not at work]
I see a girl. Mind goes over drive imagining many scences. I enjoy [mind at work]
Mind's enjoyment are all temporary. Mere imagination and so the world is said to be MAYA / ILLUSION made of mind stuff.
You state that learning something of yourself is enjoyable. The you that you talk about is only the ego which is but a shadow. In reality no PHASMID exists. You may argue that you do exists but its only a label to indicate something. The I that one talks about cannot be pinpointed as to what exactly is that I.
Only once an individual knows what a silent mind IS, he will always go back to taste it more and more such is the pull. BUT till that point, the thinking mind will try and make every known trick in and out of the books to keep the individual so engaged at all times that it never goes to that silent mode.
Permanence is only when the mind is silent.
Love & rgds
TurkeyOnRye
Well-Known Member
To the unenlightened, the mind is the enemy.
To the enlightened, there are no enemies.
To the enlightened, there are no enemies.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
I've always thought of Buddhism as tempering, honing, cultivating and elevating the mind.
Ben Dhyan
Veteran Member
No, not according to my understanding. Though it is considered that a mind that dwells predominantly on conceptualizing about non-essential issues is considered unenlightened.
Attainment to the state of enlightenment through meditation is the recommended remedy for the ignorant mind.
zenzero
Its only a Label
Friends,
The personal understanding of the word meditation is that it is not a process; it is a state.
A state where the mind is silent.
Only when the mind is silent one merges with the whole which may also be called a meditative state.
Being in this state for long periods one is able to bring out all that lies in the subconcious, unconciuos states to conciousness and when all things are in the open in the concious state does ones mind becomes completely silent. A nirvanic state.
If there are other ways of enlightenment, am sorry, have no knowledge of the same from any source. Yes, do know that mind plays many tricks and creating the atmosphere of the individual having reached that state is quite common.
Mind and its nature has to be understood to transend it.
Love & rgds
The personal understanding of the word meditation is that it is not a process; it is a state.
A state where the mind is silent.
Only when the mind is silent one merges with the whole which may also be called a meditative state.
Being in this state for long periods one is able to bring out all that lies in the subconcious, unconciuos states to conciousness and when all things are in the open in the concious state does ones mind becomes completely silent. A nirvanic state.
If there are other ways of enlightenment, am sorry, have no knowledge of the same from any source. Yes, do know that mind plays many tricks and creating the atmosphere of the individual having reached that state is quite common.
Mind and its nature has to be understood to transend it.
Love & rgds
TurkeyOnRye
Well-Known Member
I find that I can enter into a deep state of no-mindedness after certain epiphanies. Sometimes I am so awestruck at a piece of wisdom that I've just learned that my mind shuts down for several minutes and I become extremely conscious and at peace. This doesn't happen often, but I find that after it has happened, I usually remain in a very conscious state for the rest of the day.