The Third Alternative

by Siddhashunyata 43 Replies latest jw friends

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  Brumm

  Roflao Wednesday!

  ." It says, "the mind will sit in a holding pattern until it can decide between two opposites. Or it will simply conclude it cannot decide and move on to another subject."

  Good thought Sidd, this would relate to a question you asked yesterday about the purpose of dilemmas. Sometimes they are unresolved and do not leave people with or without faith, I would assume in a lot of cases the mind simply moves on undecided, so the person remains in the same system of belief that they had before a dilemma began.

  You make very interesting observations, do you study the mind indepth? Psychology or something?

  Brummie
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  Siddhashunyata

  To be, YES, the third alternative. And to know what is. All this without belief or nonbelief.
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  outoftheorg

  Sidd.

  I understand what you are saying. At least I understand the words. What do you mean when you say "just look"? I have a highly assessing analyzing personality, so this may be difficult for me to do.

  If you can break this down or express it in another way I may be able to grasp what you mean.

  I am hanging it up for tonight, so see you tomorrow if you want.

  Outoftheorg
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  heathen

  I think what you are saying is that the relationship between beyond beleif and disbelief is a matter of how easily one can be convinced of an uproven without solid evidence . The old, A tree fell in the forest but noone was there to see it ,but did it make a sound? ploy eh .( In voice of maxwell smart) .he he
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  SixofNine

  I think that you are full of shit.
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  Siddhashunyata

  Brummie, there are many teachers that have studied the mind. The best of them recommend that we study our own mind. I recommend this to you because it is self evident that what they have we all have. There is no discrimination here. They all knew this.

  The method is simple but you will confront a most formidable foe.....yourself. The method is simple. Observe without guilt or judgement . Watch your thoughts as they arise. That is your mind. It is difficult because we attatch to the thoughts and they motivate us to action. With practice one can see the process and one can know himself. Just watch don't judge.

  Psychology strengthens the self, that is it enables a person to function among other selves. The truth of existence is much greater than that. There is only one self and it is at play everywhere. Therefore, spirituality is opposed to psychology in that it , spirituality , destroys that small ego-centric self . That is what happens when one sees clearly what the mind is doing. The mind is a tool but it has taken on a life of its own. This is the real meaning of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Man is ill in that he is judging everywhere, everything. He has no sense of the single self that is operating everywhere because he is using the process described as alternatives 1& 2. This process carries with it a sense of separation from all other things. It is a feeling, a sense.

  By observing your mind you will weaken the minds power to exist as a "self" and the sense of separatness will be replaced with the truth of no separatness.. One thing alive.
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  Siddhashunyata

  outoftheorg , that language you hear is the mind doing what it is supposed to do. It analyzes. It is a tool. The problem is that the tool has taken on a personality, a self. This has happened everywhere and so all these selves are afraid of each other. To see this clearly one has to watch that self at work, that is watch what your mind is doing all the time. This is not easy and if you are afraid, simply observe that fear and keep watching . Eventually the mind will quiet down and the analyzing will stop and you will be where you are and simply look. This is a practice and the mind will become quiet sooner and sooner as you continue to observe it.

  I too have an analytical mind but I'm on to it. Let it be your tool.
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  rem

  Belief and Knowledge are two completely separate things.

  Belief is binary: either you believe or you don't. There is no middle ground.

  Knowlege is the same: either you know something or you don't.

  Many people mistake believing in something with knowing something. For example:

  Either you believe in some concept of 'god' or you don't (deist/theist vs. atheist). Whether you believe in god or not is different than whether you know there is a god or not (gnostic vs. agnostic). There are four possibilities here:

  agnostic atheist (I don't believe in god, but I don't know for sure that one does not exist)
  gnostic atheist (I don't believe in god and I know that no gods exist)
  agnostic deist (I believe in god, but i don't know for sure it exists, nor do I know it's characteristics)
  gnostic deist (I believe in god and I know that he is, for example, the god of the bible with certain characteristics)

  To simply observe would be to be an agnostic atheist because to have a belief is to form an opinion. Non-belief is the default state. (e.g. by default I don't believe in Invisible Pink Unicorns).

  rem
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  ESTEE

  I understand. . . I think. . .

  New Age?. . .New Thought?

  ESTEE
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  Goshawk

  Fourth Alternative

  I am so burned out that I D.F.C. anymore.