Sunday, November 6, 2011

appropriate action...

What is the appropriate action to take when it is seen that adolescent grandchildren that you love are heading down a path to hell?
By hell i mean that they are being consumed by the illusion that what matters most in the world is that their peers think they look good. That their possessions are as good as their peers possessions. That their self worth is determined be the acceptance of their friends and the advertisements on TV. That the taste of what they eat is much more important than it's nutritional value.
Can i do anything? Should i do anything?
For any offering to be accepted, without doubt it must have no element of criticism.
Waiting for enquiry may be the most appropriate attitude....
But then i might wait forever, but as it's their trip (not mine), that's ok too.

I think therefore...

Descarte' famous saying, "I think, therefore I am." is worthy of analysis.
"I think..."
Who thinks?
I can only say "I" if I don't look.
If I do look, the best i can come up with is a concept which I call I.
Who thinks?
If mind investigates then it can only observe thoughts arising.
Also it is implied that thinking is a deliberate action, but investigation of this shows that thoughts happen to me, not by me.
Who "am"?
Am is definitely correct.
Something is aware that this is going on. Perhaps it is Consciousness ?
"am" what?
If the am is happening to that something, then the something is before mind, so it is reasonable that the mind can't know what produces it.
When we look in a mirror we don't see ourselves. We see an image of how we look. It in no way represents more than a visual representation of our body.
Perhaps the mind is like a mirror reflecting a partial representation of the "what" ?

If Descarte were more accurate, maybe he would have said "Thinking occurs, therefore Ego can believe it is I."