Thursday, December 1, 2016

Mind Control

Buddhism, especially the sect Zen Buddhism, stresses that we should be aware of the limitation of language as a form of communication. Besides understanding the dictionary/agreed upon meanings of the words, we must try to understand the intent of the speaker. Mind control has a negative connotation, but in Buddhism it is not,  because Buddhism is a study of mind, thoughts, and thinking. 

It's no accident that the first sentence of the Dhammapada is "we are what we think".

If you read Hindu and Buddhist scriptures, you will be amazed of the extent they dissect every conceivable aspect of a subject at hand. I guess in those times of yore in India, the priestly class had plenty of time to meditate and think. India is still the land where mind and thus body control is held in high esteem and pushed to the extreme. 

I submit that one of the reasons Man is different from and superior to other forms of life on this planet is because he learns to control his body and his mind. Among humans themselves, superior humans are the ones who learn to control how they eat, sleep, and think (speak and write and act). 

We humans all think we know how to think rationally, but actually it is not the case. The way a person speaks/writes indicates how well he thinks. 

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