Apr 29, 2017

Body, Memory, and Craving (trsna): Function and Disfunction


To hear the sound of a bird's song it is necessary that we be corporeally conscious in the entirety of all the other sounds and the silence that makes hearing it possible. An ambient consciousness in the aural whole is, therefore, of necessity, to hear a particular sound.    


It is often difficult for us to gain the insight (Skt. vipashyana/Pali vipassana) necessary to observe the functioning of the "subtle" (feeling) body, memory (smrti/sati), and craving (trsna).



The thinker and thoughts...

Many years ago, I came across a truism that many found upsetting at the time and many found quite liberating. What do you think?

"Thoughts* think the thinker; the thinker does not think thoughts."

I have placed an asterisk after "thoughts" because, as written, the saying is grossly incomplete. Our thoughts include so much more than the explicit, conscious thoughts. Things such as history, biology, kinesthetic palpitations, heredity, language, and more form a deep reservoir from which thought gains its evanescent morphology.