You are more than your thoughts

Discussion in 'Yoga and Meditation' started by CherokeeMist, Jul 20, 2013.

  1. CherokeeMist

    CherokeeMist Senior Member

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    That funny idea that words themselves mean nothing (as in they are just scribbles and shapes, or inherently arbitrary sounds, I think is of little value because well yeah yeah so what?

    I do think that with that, thoughts are often under-associated with this mostly inconsequential tidbit

    Thoughts are nothing more than internal words. Yet so often, I find myself being dictated by my thoughts, which *are* 'true' and real, but they're really just an incomplete part of me

    How do you go about integrating this notion into your lives? What practices and steps do you take towards this particular idea?

    A Zen teacher said to me, something along the lines of: We can live in a house without a TV, even furniture really but not without a trash can. We need a place to put our garbage, and our thoughts are that garbage

    Interestingly enough I came across a nearly identical idea in a book on Sufism.
     
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  2. Maelstrom

    Maelstrom Banned

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    We would be nothing without our thoughts, for without thought there would be no brain activity. No brain activity, and one is nothing.
     
  3. FlyingFly

    FlyingFly Dickens

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    What would you want them to mean and why do you expect them to mean anything? Spoken words are there just to help us communicate with eachother and written word is a way to put a sound on paper so others will be able to recognise it.



    More likely: you can represent thoughts by internal words

    did you ever had this situation, when you had a thought and you knew what it is, but you couldn't find a word to describe it to other person?

    words are just for human communication

    thoughts are electro-chemical reactions in our brains

    I don't really get the meaning of it. This doesn't make any sense.
    First of all, yes we can live with a place without trash can, throw trash out of the window... and how did he figure out that thoughts are garbage? is it supposed to come out of this sentence?

    Since when thinking is just producing garbage?

    Who or what would you be thoughtless?

    You ARE your thoughts. Thoughts are what makes you human.



    What exactly? I am human. Animal, mammal.
     
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  4. Maelstrom

    Maelstrom Banned

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    Without thought, this thread would not have been able to have been created.
     
  5. CherokeeMist

    CherokeeMist Senior Member

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    I'm not saying thoughts are bad; in fact they're useful. I'm saying they just represent something that is much deeper.

    This was made for people who are interested in meditation and ideas related, and people like me who can get wrapped up in thoughts, and realizing that all that chaos can go in circles in thoughts for hours without a chance to sit with anything.
     
  6. Ray_killeen

    Ray_killeen Member

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    "Watch your thoughts; they become words.
    Watch your words; they become actions.
    Watch your actions; they become habits.
    Watch your habits; they become character.
    Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny."~Upanishads (and many others)

    Thoughts create the appearance of the world however upon close examination are they not but spontaneous arising's, instantaneous notions that surfaces from the depths of consciousness. Are thoughts tangible, real or simply illusions/Maya appearing so quickly one wants to take credit for them, do they not only exist in your world therefore are you in the world or is the world in you. Is not the entire world a manifestation in consciousness, the grand illusion, which is sparked into play when awareness reflects minds matter and filter ego to create the sensation I-AM-NESS, everything arising in your world is created from the sense of BEING-NESS and does it no all go away when your consciousness subsides, sleep etc. Mistaken yourself as the body/mind or even consciousness and you will be nothing more than the finite limits of your thoughts, understand your true inner nature and “You are more than your thoughts” realizing there is awareness of your consciousness but you cannot be conscious of your awareness, that which you are; the infinite, changeless backdrop of silence/stillness, absolute, non-dual, eternal awareness; that which is neither born nor dies, the same thing you were before you’re apparent birth, life or death.

    Human language is grounded in a phenomenal experience of multiplicity and cannot therefore be used accurately to refer to what this message points i.e. there is no notion in human consciousness outside the realm of ignorance, including the one, the questions you seek can only be answered by you in silence.
     
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  7. monkeywisdom

    monkeywisdom Member

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    Long term practitioners of meditation gradually learn that they are not their thoughts. Almost all techniques help you to become calmly aware of the thoughts and observe them impartially without attraction and repulsion. The less you're clinging to or reacting to thoughts, the freer you become. You realize that they are just processes happening within you. You are the ocean. They are the waves. Ray Killeen's post is awesome. It couldn't hurt to read it 20-30 times.
     
  8. beyondtheastral

    beyondtheastral Member

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    Something to ponder on - "If you are not aware of your thought before they enter your head"
    1. How can you control them ?
    2. How can you still your min with your mind?
     
  9. Moonglow181

    Moonglow181 Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    Woah....that is some avatar.....^
    I can min my mind with that for a minute...lol.... Love the color yellow....It is probably my favorite color since childhood even.....
     
  10. beyondtheastral

    beyondtheastral Member

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    Yellow is the color of being in the now - many people can be uncomfortable with it as we tend to be looking at the past or future - my meditations room is yellow :)
     
  11. aesthetic

    aesthetic Z

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    Words mean nothing.
    It's what they mean, after you give them meaning.

    Language is the root of all evil, man did not know evil until he understood it.

    Blessings on your quest
     
  12. scratcho

    scratcho Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    We are more than our thoughts. Our thoughts are the culmination of our ability to learn language. Language is the manifestation of that ability. We are merely complicated, biological sacks of meat who as we mature, become inculcated with the sociological aspects of the particular society in which we dwell.

    To escape the constant din of the apparent societal world around us, we (some) employ a quieting process called meditation. Without thought--of course there would not be
    meditation. Or sacks of meat.

    I personally don't try to eliminate thought from my mind when the din begins to overwhelm. I lay in a virtual hammock next to a beautiful lagoon on an island, feeling a gentle breeze stir as I listen to little children play and laugh together somewhere in the background. The sun is warm, the water is clear and all is well. Quiets the din of the world for me and
    works quite well.

    Of course I may not understand TRUE meditation at all. No matter. I do understand what I need to feel whole,clear of mind and relaxed once more.
     
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  13. Chodpa

    Chodpa Senior Member

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    most people i know are less than their thoughts
     

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