Berhane Kassa
berhane54@hotmail.com
It is tragic, but by design we are not taught how to discipline
the mind.
We are not told of its capabilities or its limitations.
The nature of different mental states such as
trances and paradigms (world-views) are not widely
taught, so people are easily programmed and controlled,
believing their programme to be the whole of reality.
We are taught to fear mental illness and insanity, but
we are not taught what sanity is.
Insanity is desire and action contrary to compassion
for all life.
Sanity, or a clean mind, is desire and action taken to
benefit all life.
Love of life starts with love for your self -- such
love of self as to transcend the lower, animal nature.
Modes of Thought
- Engaged thinking
- is you as the ego, conscious of yourself figuring
something out. Like the statue The Thinker,
your hand is on your chin and your attention is on
thought, not your environment.
- Unengaged thinking
- is when your attention is on something external.
The thoughts are background to this object. You are
not aware of yourself tinking.
- Pure trance
- is when you are so caught up in something that you
forget yourself completely. Examples of this are
intense sexual relations and deep meditation.
- Neutral mode
- is your mind on nothing. The mind at rest. The
slowing and stopping of internal dialogue. Most
people are not aware of the existence or possibility
of this mode, so they never attain it.
It is important to know that all verbal thought arises
from feeling in the soul and body. Thought is not
independent of, but is a result of, body feeling, so
we should call it
"feeling thought".
Therefore your mind is not a separate part of you. It
is the action of you--
- musing (wondering)
(creating)
- questing
- crying (in pain), or
- paying attention, which
is the quieting of the dialogue because the feeling is
not in the past or the future, both of which cause
insecurity.
Divine Objective
The main trance of our lives is our meaning or
non-meaning a life -- our self imposed purpose or
highest value.
To be without purpose is to be lost and miserable.
From my experience and study of numerous spiritual
teachers the highest value is to seek the best for all
beings, the best being the
sustenance and freedom of choice you would want for
yourself.
The Benefit of Meditation
Simply sitting and breathing deeply with focussed
attention and straight posture, watching your mind's
feeling-thoughts,
strengthens the mind.
By uniting with the emptiness of Now, which
is love, you protect your mind from neuroses and
fixations.
Obsessive compulsions are crutches the insecure mind
uses to fill the empty space.
If you really want peace of mind, your enlightenment
is inevitable.
Always give thanks and praise to the Creator.
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Principles of Critical Thinking
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Berhane Kassa
berhane54@hotmail.com
Critical thinking is the ability to judge any
information and place it in a workable model of
reality.
--in short, to decide what is true and what is
false as far as this is possible.
The first principle is to make no
assumptions without reliable evidence.
If you think you know something or stereotype
something without PAYING ATTENTION
you cannot analyse clearly.
We can, of course, allow for basic assumptions such
as "I am" and "The world is", etc.
So it is wise to withhold judgement until you get
convincing evidence.
Some other principles of critical thinking are:
- Logic
- An inherent quality of the mind to affirm or deny. The
inevitable inference or conclusion of certain information.
Remember that an individual's thinking and logical decisions
are based on their basic assumptions and values.
- Definition of Terms
- Check the real meaning of opposing concepts to see if
there is a difference between them.
- Pragmatism
- Check the value to actual living of any
theory. Does believing it make you and the world better.
- Occam's Razor
- Avoid the multiplication of unnecessary factors to explain
something, when a simpler explanation will work.
- Relative eEmotional Attachment
- Avoid being influenced by possible bias or personal
gain. Avoid being influenced by emotionalism and rhetoric.
It is largely our choice how we allow emotions to affect
us.
- Analysis of Evidence
- Seek both quality and quantity. Check if the source of
the evidence is reliable and unbiased. Types of evidence
are:
- Intuition - common sense or hunches
- Experienced authorities - Testimony of ancient
writings or old people
- Personal experience - Seeing and hearing
for yourself
- Eye-Witness Testimony
- Analogy - Seeing patterns in differennt
situations
- Scientific Research - This brings us to
the SCIENTIFIC METHOD
- Hypothesis: Proposed theory
- Induction: Discovery by experiment
and observation -- from the particular to the general
- Deduction: Defining something particular
based on a general premise. Judgement based on a rational
pattern
- Trial and error: Accurate recording of
experimental results for a substantial number of times
- Formulation of the Theory as a predictor of
certain results.
- The Concensus of the Scientific Community:
The scientific method is not absolute but is weighty
evidence.
Reality is mysterious and not completely definable.
Remember the map is not the territory.
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How To Think
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berhane54@hotmail.com
