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Re: No thought being true
From what I gather @Jeroen, thoughts can arise in an attempt to narrate the experience had by this karmically driven psychophysical phenomenon we call the self, they are also masters of illusion, often deluding this sense of self with make believe and when they do attempt to narrate the actual experience had, they never quite hit the mark, because of the constant state of flux/change the self finds itself in...Thoughts try to describe the indescribable aka reality...constantly changing experiences ...
Thoughts are always passing through the mind and our minds can often become charmed by them... This is when our developed Awareness( which comes from meditation practice) filters the thoughts, dismissing the unwholesome and nurturing the wholesome ones which can lead to/point towards the cessation of Dukkha/Unsatisfactoriness ...
Well that's the plan ....
Awareness is fundamentally non conceptual before thinking splits experience into subject and object... It is empty and so can contain everything, including thought... It is boundless, and amazingly it is intrinsically knowing
Shoshin1
Re: No thought being true
It seems that other people besides Adyashanti have also been saying this about thoughts. Byron Katie’s ‘Work’ is based on examining one’s thoughts for truth, and Eckhart Tolle and Diederik Wolsak have also talked about it.
I think these teachings point us at a good habit, acknowledging that our thoughts may be false means we have to take a certain distance from them and not identify with them. It points us at equanimity, because feelings arise in response to a thought. It seems to me that it is not too much to say that this is a core ability, a key knack — to leave our thoughts alone for a bit after they arise, and only then examine them.
If you can feel compassion for yourself as you examine your thoughts, then this habit can give you a great deal of inner peace.
Jeroen
Selflessness and Altruism
I had an experience in one of my TTRPG games recently that got me thinking a bit about a distinction that helps define the virtue of non self. I'll use some definitions that are maybe my own, its the idea behind them rather than any precise dictionary definition. I'm thinking of selflessness as doing something without thinking of yourself and altruism as you doing good for someone else.
So in my game there was a sort of test to determine the character's quality. In the test my internal experience was pragmatic, it was about the best solution for the most people, myself included. It wasn't about doing good, or being a good person. I wasn't being sacrificial, I took risks that put my character in danger, but it was benefiting me, I just included everyone else in the benefit. Anyway, this was just pretend, I didn't have any real skin in the game, I'm not trying to humble brag, I doubt I would have acted the same IRL. The point is in my mind I was acting pragmatically but in the eyes of the person giving the test I seem to have come across as virtuous.
Which got me to thinking, what is the internal experience of selflessness? Is it an attempt to be good to others, or is the internal experience one of doing good without regard to self and other? You see suffering or a problem and regardless of whether its yours or someone else's you act to remedy it.
person
Re: Selflessness and Altruism
@person said:
Which got me to thinking, what is the internal experience of selflessness? Is it an attempt to be good to others, or is the internal experience one of doing good without regard to self and other? You see suffering or a problem and regardless of whether its yours or someone else's you act to remedy it.
I help others when I'm in a position to do so/as the situations arise....I just do it without giving too much thought on the whys and what fors..In a sense it's like being on autopilot ...and the only thoughts passing through the mind are how can I be of assistance...However there seems to be a feel good feeling after the act, but this is not the goal. it's just a by-product of the experience
I'm not sure what the internal experience of selflessness is for me .... I just do it before the (often emotionally charged) self ( the selfish side) tries to talk me out of it...
At times I find I'm not in a position to help and there's an acceptance in the self that this is the case...
Shoshin1