Do You Think That All Human Aggression Is In Self-Defense?

Meditation means a state of constant awareness where one resides deeply in the present moment, by the cessation of the uncontrolled thinking process.

Rather than being unconscious , one is deeply alert and aware in this state.

Meditation does not mean that one has to sit in the lotus position all the time. Through regular meditation, the state of meditation becomes a natural state in the midst of one's daily activities.

There is a saying in the Bhagavad Gita, ' Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam ' , which means Yoga is skill in action.

Janaka , an ancient king, attained enlightenment as a Karma yogi, by practicing mindfulness incessantly in the midst of his administratorial duties as a king.

 

Children do think and have a ego of their own too, propelled by their own childlike ego complete with its desires and cravings, even if it is for chocolate and toys.

" Pure awareness" is a meditative state where uncontrolled thought does not exist. It does not arise spontaneously in untrained children as you suggest here. This arises out of meditation , and meditative children have been found to be much more calmer and in control of their emotions and responses.

Meditation sesssions have worked well in prisons too, and it has reportedly reduced aggressive and violent tendencies in those with a hitherto criminal mindset.

http://www.vridhamma.org/Research-on-inmates-of-Tihar-Jail-Delhi

http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1999/fnov99/bnygpris.shtml

 

Monks self-immolating is not "pure awareness" , but monks expressing their political protests in their own unique manner, just as a soldier expresses political protests or interests of his government by fighting and dying if needed.

There is no teaching of self-immolation in Buddhism, and those who do are just expressing protests against political tyranny or what they perceive as unjust political practices . This is not Buddhism where the priority is on enlightenment and enlightened living.

 

I don't think your argument is helpful the way you posit it. We are tasting and knowing man homo sapiens sapiens. Tasting and knowing are powers of distinction. Categorization , whether a thing is the same or different and determining what a thing is for are essential to us in apprehending the world. Separating things into categories is not dualism. Dualism is seeing the world as existing as two different and unequal values, i.e. good and bad. A judgmental attitude is taught. Ego is sense of identity simply. Not a product of a diseased mind.

It is not a state of duality that causes predation in the animal kingdom.

You could say the same thing about having a name. This statement is not his best work.

Maybe learn to think for yourself if you can.

 

This is not the meaning or definition of the word meditation. There is no moment other than this moment.

 

See, good and bad varies for all people. What is poison for one, can be a medicine for someone else. So, it is but relative.

It is the mind based in mindfulness that can truly perceive reality, without any conditioning whatsoever, and do the right thing at the right time.

Ego, which is based in time and is the outcome of conditioning, prevents this mindful state, which is also the natural state.

It is for this reason, unnatural, and a diseased state, which is the source of all violence and conflict both within and without.

 

The animal is appeased when its instincts are satisfied. After it has gotten over its hunger, the tiger does not go on an another hunt immediately and stock more and more deers in its cave account.

This is not the case with man who is predominated by desires for more. It is this difference between legitimate needs and unlimited desires that is taking a major toll in the world's resources, sparking off wars and negative relationships, and which is but the outcome of ego.

 

It is true that there is no moment other than this moment, but are you sure you are in this moment at all times ! That is where all the issue lies, for most of us at least.

I am also interested in your meaning or definition of meditation.

 

I am in no other.
meditation is mental attention.

 

That is irrelevant to the proposition of duality, still one or the other,

Mind is the communication between breath and body. You cannot perceive without conditioning. You come to find out what condition your condition is in.

Eeck eeck and eeck. This is a prejudice.

 

Predatory animals also have the instinct for play and in fact kill other animals for sport above and beyond hunger. You could use more experience in the natural world to round out your book learning.

 

This quote is suggesting indoctrination is the root of violence, not thought. To add some kindling to that fire, might as well add Hinduism and Buddhism there.

Humans have one of the longest child rearing time frames of any mammal. We both intuitively know and it's been scientifically shown that young children have not developed anywhere near the complexity of thought as adults. You make it sound as if children should be held responsible for all problems they create, I'm not granting you that argument at all.

Are you going to contend that the monks that self-immolate don't practice "Self-Awareness" or meditation and mindfulness techniques ? LOL

I'm not sure how you can know for sure that their technique of self-immolation doesn't involve "Self-awareness". Their action is performed to resolve a conflict in their minds, just as the meditation is an action to resolve or address a conflict in the prisoners minds. In both instances, it would appear that they have developed unhealthy states of being which prompted the respective suicide and crime.

Just as no law permits physical violence for the autonomous, thinking, self-aware individual in Western Society.


I can understand the benefits of meditation and mindfullness techniques but as an overarching philosophy to suppress thought, I don't really see the difference between your being of pure awareness and a philosophical zombie.

 

Meditation, as per the western understanding could be mental attention.

As per the eastern understanding, it is a state of relaxed alertness or awareness, defocussed.

 

my meditation is beyond symbols

 

So , the dual perception of relative good and bad, which is the outcome of one's conditioning, can be evil in itself.

Perception is not dependent on conditioning by social, religious and political and other institutions, all of which want you to perceive things the way they want you to perceive things. True perception arises when the mind is free of all conditioning , and consequently lacks a predetermined judgemental attitude and starts seeing things the way they really are in the moment, mindful and deeply in the moment, without the reaction of the conditioned memory or thought.

 

Predatory animals , driven by territorial drives, kill other animals and those of its own species too, if they consider it a threat. But I have never known a tiger or leopard which starts stocking up kills for the sake of the thrill of possession. We have a couple of lions and tigers over here in India too.

 

Indoctrination is but conditioning the thought process, to perceive things the way the indoctrinator wants one to perceive, and not reality as it truly may be.

All thought is thus the outcome of conditioning, through tradition or belief or other influences, the response of the conditioned memory, and hence you cease to perceive reality as it is. You thus end up as a puppet of external influence, which moulds and fashions you as per its whims and fancies on what it thinks is correct and appropriate as per its own conditioned mindset.

And when you understand the thinking process is thus conditioned, you may be able to understand that thought is an ineffective tool to perceive truth or reality, and a higher consciousness is needed to perceive it instead.

 

The correct distinctions are same, different, and purposeful
Matter is of three properties absorption, refelection, and polarity
good and evil do not exist in the material world.
these are sensational tensions

 

Perception is dependent upon condition.

 

Complexity of thought does not have to emerge from intellectual ability. Children , prompted by desires and cravings and conditioning, have also committed crimes themselves. There is a well-known case of two children killing a toddler, imitating a horror film they have seen of some diabolical puppet entity, in Britain years back.

It is but spurred by political or religious issues of the region or country they live in. As you stated earlier, Hinduism and Buddhism can also become a conditioning in itself instead of a set process to liberate oneself from the clutches of the conditioned mind.

It is not suppression of thought, but understanding the origin and pattern of the thought process , which is conditioned by a thousand influences and more, and understanding the futility of thought in perceiving the unconditioned truth in the moment, and the need for an elevated consciousness or awareness to do so, which I am referring to over here.