The Mind of Man

The human brain is such a marvel of evolution that to set out to describe it is an exercise in futility and one that is impossible but here I go anyway.  I am going to write it down as it comes to mind.  Then perhaps go back and sort it out.

Aha!  right there is a big clue.  At first I refer to the brain, an organ of the body that has been studied in great detail; measured, weighed, has had features described and functions ascribed to different lobes and zones.  Then I referred to writing it down "as it comes to mind."

This means something entirely different than brain.  Mind provides ideas, which by definition are not physical, and brain allows us to express them in words.  We are at some level connected to a spiritual world, and "mind" as used here refers to that connection.

Even when connected we are at different points of connection at different times.  We can be connected to another person, living or dead, or connected to a whole layer, and there are different layers available that give insight to thoughts and ideas unique to the instance.  We could be connected to whole realms of cerebral images and not able to comprehend and describe the experience.

As for most of the time, the brain is not necessarily so connected and functions as an organ of the body, relaying sensations and interpreting signals from within.  E.g., blow your nose, eat s.t., relieve your bladder and/or bowels, move your leg, it's getting stiff; for men, empty your semen sac; for women, fill a void. And on, and on, and on.

There are, however, occasions where we are connected to that spiritual world.  At these times we are cued to act, react, move, think, are made aware of this or that; and we may act upon those hints or not and if not this time, perhaps they will come around again.

A subset of this is the influence others have on us.  Sometimes merely by their presence but more likely by their expression to us, which can be directed toward any one or combination of the senses.

There is also an emotional aspect of any expression, be it picture, gesture, or words; some even from hundreds of years ago.  This emotional aspect stimulates us, as the receiver or viewer, and may or may not have been intended to cause the reaction that it does; unintended consequences.

Our thinking, other than responding to the needs of our body, is often guided by outside influences.  These include others with whom we have contact, which can be in-person or by some other means such as a picture, correspondence, phone, text or other digital social media.

Influence is also from media in general, i.e. advertising where we are bombarded constantly to do this or that, mostly to buy or call.  Then there is the influence of music.

Music is much more subtle in its role as an influence.  It seems to work on an emotional level and evokes various responses.

All of these influences seem to get us to act in some certain way; to do something.  If we are not careful they can take over our activities and we abandon the pursuit of our dream(s).  There are those who don't have a stated dream and they go on about their activities at the beck and call of others.  Something like an actor in a play or movie, written and directed by others.

So we have response to body influences, response to the influence of others, response to environmental influence, and response to music.  All of these are what the 4th Way uses to state that we are mechanical, or "machines."  All of these influences take a great deal of lifetime, not all of which is wasted.  A good part of it though could better be spent on chasing our dream(s).  And I say "chase" advisedly because the fulfillment of dreams is elusive, dreams evolve as we approach the realization of them.

We can often not see what is necessary to fulfill a dream.  What we see are little opportunities to take steps towards it.  If we are awake to them, we can take them.  So the fundamental requirement is to have a dream in the first place.  Without it we are adrift on the ocean of life, floating aimlessly, only to one day be cast ashore never to move again.

In other writing, I have recognized the importance of a dream.  More than one persona in the being is on the alert for the opportunities to move toward realization so things seem to happen that way.

Dreaming is a major application of mindful thinking.  It requires the full force of the mind and is primarily imagination.  Imagination, guided by reason and experience, is the most significant aspect of the mind.  This essay is from imagination; it is a product of imagination.  These are thoughts written.

The importance of words suddenly becomes apparent.  Words have meaning and become the woven fabric of thought that transcend simple actions and reactions.   Language allows complex thoughts to be expressed and not only be developed by the author, but also to be passed along to others now and in the future.

A biblical reference is, "In the beginning was the word." It is, I think, fundamentally correct.  We could, I suppose, have imagination without language to express it.  That premise would require a lot of imagination to pursue.

Nothing happens until one acts, takes action, does something.  All of the thinking in the world means nothing if action is not taken, which may be why we exist as physical beings.

Thinking is one of the processes from which action comes and the most basic component or the starting point, the genesis of ideas, is imagination, abstract thinking.  The cycle is: abstract thought, to dreams, to action.

The leap from dream to action can be made in one leap or in small steps.  The realization of a dream is a group effort, where the group is comprised of all the many personae who are the being.

In addition to these and in the likeness of being, we form organizations of people that have as their purpose the realization of  the larger dream, which is sometimes called the mission or purpose.  Once beyond the individual, it is a whole new field of study.

It is important to recognize that organizations are similar to an individual.  Just as a person has a variety of unique personae, an organization has a variety of unique people.  It is the dream that unites the persona and gives them direction.

I am reaching a conclusion that the mind and the body, including the brain, are two different entities.  This is big.

It seems that the brain gathers impressions, remembers them and the mind uses them as fodder for imagination which can lead to action.  The mind reaches a decision on what to do in a variety of ways but it is important to note that not all actions are initiated by mind.

Some actions are reflexive, some responsive, and some reflective.  Reflexive are made in response to perceived danger or threat.  Responsive are made to satisfy a physical need, real or perceived, from ideas spawned from influences.  Reflective are from mind.

Mind may straddle the spiritual and physical realms.  While imagination uses memory and reason to reach conclusions that lead to actions, the influence of other entities in the spiritual realm may also be a factor.  They may, although not in every instance, influence the mind to act in a way that the rest of the being may not have foreseen.

A great mystery is the composition of the spiritual realm.  I imagine two general sections, good and evil.  Where good is the constructive and works to continue life and the spawning of spiritual entities and evil is destructive and intent on doing what can be to destroy life and end the development of the spiritual realm.  Good and evil may even be further subdivided according to some overall aims that are eternal.  We see evidence of great good and great evil such as Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler.

The influencing entities are those who, as Masters, have graduated to permanence through work during lifetimes.  Influence on the mind of living beings comes from within the subdivisions of good and evil

These subdivisions may even be hierarchical right down to the individual spiritual entity.  This is not to say that an individual mind is completely in the spiritual realm but it is closely influenced by spiritual entities in its proximity.

Using his mind, the individual still has the choice to act in agreement with spiritual entities' influences or not.  He has the option to select which influence he will allow to prevail.  The integral of his choices, leading to the juncture where Master attains permanence, determines where in the hierarchy of the spiritual realm he is placed.

Completely good and completely evil may be two extremes of a continuum.  It could be that spiritual entities enter that realm at some sort of mid-point, leaning one way or the other.  Then as the present passes they develop, even in this spiritual realm, to more of one or the other and existing there in eternity, influencing living beings.

It seems reasonable to think that the physical realm, from energy and subatomic particles through atoms and matter to the universe, is a model of the spiritual world.  And we are just beginning to see and understand more of this physical world.  We only have imaginative statements, such as what I am making, about the spiritual realm.  Furthermore, and by definition, there is no physical proof of its existence.  This is the beauty and the futility of it.