Monday, April 21, 2014

Am I more than a thought ?

Who am I ?
What am I ?
What do i find when looking ?
Where ever i look, there are thoughts.
Thoughts about the contents of other thoughts,
Thoughts about sensations, and, and nothing else.
Of course there are times when not looking,
Then there is nothing.
That is until remembering happens, and that's more thoughts.

Beliefs

what makes a belief a belief? 
It's interesting that we can't experience a belief. 
We can act out the content of one, but the moment we recognize the container of that content (the belief) is ceases to be a belief. It is just thoughts.
It may be reinstated as a belief, but while we examine it what is it ?
What are beliefs made from ?
They are thoughts of course, but thoughts with a special status. That status is that they are identified with. They have been given permission to be acted on without consideration. They don't need to surface (become conscious) before being taken as true or real. They are me, or I am them.
Now, consider this; You once believed in Santa.
When you stopped believing that he was real, what happened to that belief ?
Did it morph into a belief that he is not real ?
Does that belief still exist but with another belief that the first belief is wrong ? (that is that there are now two beliefs)
Did that belief cease to be a belief ? If this is the case, was it replaced with a new one that says "Santa is not real" ?
What about the case of say, Yeti or Bigfoot or Aliens. If you haven't been forced to take a stand and committed to either believing that they exist or believing that they don't exist, (to say "not believing" is a misnomer as that is a belief) you probably still behave AS IF they don't exist. (given that you most likely would be surprised to be confronted by one)
Can we know of those beliefs that are embedded ?
What does it take to discover the existence of a belief ?
Is examination of a belief sufficient to introduce the possibility that it will be 'dropped' ?