If we understood monkeys….

When talking about the amazing restless of the mind Buddhists often call it the monkey mind. I found this gem from Ajahn Chah on using the mind to understand the mind:

Let me give you an example. Suppose you have a pet monkey at home. It doesn’t sit still. It likes to jump around and grab hold of things. That’s how monkeys are. . . . → Read More: If we understood monkeys….

Gentle realizations: Meditation on the body

The mind is not separate from the body, the body is not lesser and the mind or spirit greater. They cohabit this nexus which we identify as ourselves. What Buddha would also point out is that identification of a self is in itself a mistake. There is no self there. There are only the co-dependent arising, abiding and disspating of bodies, minds people and things. . . . → Read More: Gentle realizations: Meditation on the body

The mind, citta and cetasikas

Cetasika Mind Map

One of the kernels of Buddhist psychology is, in my limited understanding the idea of the cittas. The mind produces thoughts like bubbles on a stream. They arise, persist for a while and pass away. But the mental productions are more than just the thoughts that we identify as ego thoughts in Western psychology and metaphysics. They are also the physical, the world, matter, the universe. The whole of the arising and passing away of these mind things, citta, are what is called samsara, the stream of birth and death. . . . → Read More: The mind, citta and cetasikas

The persistence of the self

The immortality projects of singularity science bring with it a serious question of what it will be to continue to exist as a self. I look at Eastern and Western concepts of self in this thought about transcendent projects. . . . → Read More: The persistence of the self