This came up in another topic on another board, but I want to point it out. Actually before I point that out ... Hi! Er, I never knew much about Buddhism, but darrelkitchen told me to pick up a book, What the Buddha Taught, and I've been reading it ferociously and thinking hard about it. Many things in that book hit home with my previous beliefs, I just called myself a panentheist and never thought that it may be Buddhist-like. Now then ... In Buddha's Fifth Aggregate, the Aggregate of Consciousness, it shows that consciousness is "awareness of sensation." And (correct me if I am wrong!) that this consciousness is what produces a response to a sensation (which is a volitional activity, according to the fourth Aggregate). But what of instinct? I thought pretty hard about this, and came to this conclusion: Perhaps, there are two "types" of consciousness. Subconsciousness, which acts in response to *sensation,* and the reaction would be accurately called instinct, and ... Consciousness, which acts in response to *perception* (or recognition of a sensation), and the reaction would be accurately called volition (or will/desire). Does that make sense, or am I missing something? It makes sense to me, in the following: Say, you decide to go explore a dark cave. When you get to the cave, you immediately get a "bad feeling" and become more aware of your surroundings. This would be the subconscious reacting to some sensation that you do not immediately recognize. After examining your surroundings, you realize that you have a bad feeling because the cave is dark, and you get uneasy in the dark. As a response, you relax a bit, and tell yourself that everything is all good. This would be the consciousness reacting to the perception (or the recognition of the sensation felt earlier). This also seems to make sense when looking at the mind and thought-objects. For example, we don't seem to have thoughts when we are asleep ... and we don't have an instinctive reaction whenever we have a thought, because we seem to immediately recognize the thought. Perhaps thoughts are free from instinctive reaction, because thought-objects are just of the nature of being self-recognizable? Anybody have any relevant thoughts?
Hey Hikaru, Very thoughtful post, I had to think about this for awhile! My understanding is that in Buddhism there are three levels of consciousness: gross, subtle, and very subtle. The gross level relates to brain function and the body’s interaction with its environment. It contains all emotions. The subtle level corresponds to the "I" sensation and introspection of the mind itself. It contains habitual patterns and tendencies. The very subtle level is sheer consciousness without a particular object to focus on. This is the luminous level, basic awareness without the distortions of mental constructs or emotions. This is Buddhahood. Now, all of theses levels are processes of higher brain activity; they rely on the 6th mental sense of Buddhism. Without the higher functions of the brain these levels could not occur. Instinct, or reaction, I believe, could be assigned to the more primitive levels of the brain, the area of the brain stem. Functions assigned to this area are not colored by the emotions or habitual patterns of the higher brain and are not conscious activities. In your example: This bad feeling must arise from the interaction of your senses to the environment on the gross level. Note that you must be in this environment for these bad feelings to arise. The bad part is due to past experiences that have occurred in similar situations. The bad feeling is not immediate, although it seems so. It takes the brain 180 milliseconds for the mind to react to stimulus. Recognition occurs from 180 to 360 milliseconds. Reaction occurs in the next sixth of a second. The whole process takes three-quarters of a second. What you are calling the subconscious is the emotional component of the recognition phase of consciousness. This part is the reaction stage. You are now analyzing the experience and suppressing the distortions of the sensory input caused by the emotions based upon your habitual patterns and tendencies. This is the subtle level. The aim of Buddhism is to modify or skip the emotional distortions that occur to sensory input during the 180-to 360-millisecond reaction period. As the mind is trained in this, the habitual patterns and tendencies are modified to operate at "purer" level. You would walk into the cave and be unaffected by darkness. A bad feeling would not arise, as you would not project previous bad experiences to this present neutral one. You would be operating on the very subtle level. Just my understanding… Let me know what you think!
Thanks a lot! I think I had part of the Four Noble Truths a little messed up. ^_^ I'm going to study this a lot further; if only the Buddha was still around to teach it, haha.
My first thought is that instinct is part of the Skanda of that is the physical body. Instinct is produced by hormones in the brain (pineal gland and hypothalamus) and other parts of the body. However what you are refering to for much of your post refers to intuition, which is, I think a different matter. Blessings Sebbi
i didnt read all of everyone´s posts or replies, but i just wanted to mention one thing. if you can, read Andrew Weil´s book "The Marriage of the Sun and Moon." he talks about there being a lunar and solar mind, which are complements, kind of like yin and yang. in our day-to-day waking consciousness, we are in our solar mind, in other words "straight thinkers" (a term he uses in the book). when we dream, or get into other states of consciousness while in a waking state, we are using the lunar mind, or are "stoned thinkers" (again, just a term - doesnt imply being stoned by weed or anything). also, these two spheres of consciousness are represented by the sun and the moon in that they are constantly changing and in flux. but what you want to do is to open up the channels between the two in order to ... well... yeah. maybe that book will explain it better than i can. just some great theories and takes on consciousness by this guy. i think it´s similat to what you´re talking about
I remember seeing somewhere that according to various studies, human intuition is right 80% of the time.
