There are many examples of simple, profound insights leading to revolutionary scientific breakthroughs - e.g., theory of evolution, movement of tectonic plates, etc.
One such profound insight had the misfortune to be originated in the East - the insight into the human mind and the nature of self by Buddha in 6th century. Humanity would have been much better-off if this was starting point for scientific exploration into the nature of human mind, rather than the current historical evolution of those insights turning into yet another organized religion. Just as modern science celebrates Darwin as the father of theory of evolution, it would be recognizing Buddha as the father of the theory of human mind. Psychology as a discipline would have been on a totally different track.
Religious dogma always ends with 'because it said so' - as opposed to scientific process, which takes a concept, shapes it and makes it better/truer over time - sometimes into contradictory directions (e.g., conventional mechanics to quantum mechanics) before reconciling everything. It does not care about one person's words centuries ago - we read Charles Darwin these days to understand how his theory came about, and not take all his words as 'gospel' in this current knowledge environment; e.g., DNA was not known in his time, and he could not have gotten all the details correct. Religion was thus the wrong track of development for those simple, true insights into the theory of mind and application in practice.
Instead, scientific process could have evolved the insights of theory of mind into better theories and practical applications. Psychology and associated medicine has done a large disservice to humanity, basing their practices on intricacies of neuroscience or very high level empirical observations, obsessing over naming and classification of conditions. [Yes, there are deeply conditioned behaviors and abnormalities that need special attention and professional 'external' intervention - but no need to start with those heavy-duty tools for everyone, thus depriving a large population of simple tools]. These insights into the theory of mind were very simple, but not fully adopted by the scientific professions of psychology and medicine for their day-to-day well-being benefit - yet.
Now, after centuries, western science is discovering the power of these insights into the theory of mind, while East is still stuck on its religious track.
These simple original 6th century insights are:
(1) everything is temporary: whatever arises, will also pass away. This insight applies in multiple time frames - from microseconds (thoughts, feeling, emotions) to decades (behavior, beliefs, conditioning) or centuries (cultural norms, state of civilization) and everything in between.
(2) our awareness is vast, exists independent of its 'content' and is thus inherently empty. The nature of awareness can be glimpsed independent of its content with lots of practice (to break decades of habitual conditioning); this would lead to a realization of non-permanence of things, and thus non-attachment to temporary phenomena - a truly 'better' state of being. In most cases, this also provides a framework for deeply exploring/acknowledging one's past and potentially moving beyond it.
(3) these temporary (and ever-changing) phenomena include:
. stimulus that's sensed by physiology: sights, sounds, sensations etc
. emotions, moods, etc., that arise in the mind
. appearances or illusions of self, free-will
. longer term behavior/conditioning: sense of purpose, motivation, ethics, values etc
This simplicity (the recognition of non-permanence, and the steps to letting go) was spelled out in 6th century! These are meant to be simple, intuitive and easy to follow every day principles/guidelines for the secular-minded. Have tried to avoid esoteric, spiritual, new-age terminology; in the paragraphs below, please take the word 'meditation' (which has various connotations) to just mean 'to be intentionally aware'.
In order to put this into practice, one doesn't need to follow any dogma, just start experiencing it oneself. The best tool out there is mindfulness; here are some of the pointers I have found valuable:
- Waking Up app (practice and theory) by Sam Harris,
- Insight Hour podcast with lots of lectures by Joseph Goldstein,
- Insight Timer app that has many lectures, tools etc.
- Book by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche titled "The Joy of Living"
Here is a simple starting point: install the (free) Insight Timer app. It has hundreds of free meditation, sounds, configurable timers etc. But for the first time, select meditation, followed by mindfulness, choose shortest length (< 5 min), and select one (e.g., Hugh Byrne, 4m), just follow his instructions.
The above are just starting points and suggestions for initial tools; for regular practice, after following some of these for a few months, a simple anchor (e.g., breath) and focused observation of passing phenomena is all that is needed. These can be done literally any time, sitting, walking, laying down. There will really be no such thing as boredom, since that feeling itself will be an object worthy of exploration.
This solid foundation can then be coupled with the following for a fulfilled living:
- deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for the universe, life, and awareness
- can do attitude, which comes from freedom from illusion of control
- self-confidence, that arises from focus, and realization of temporary nature of setbacks
One such profound insight had the misfortune to be originated in the East - the insight into the human mind and the nature of self by Buddha in 6th century. Humanity would have been much better-off if this was starting point for scientific exploration into the nature of human mind, rather than the current historical evolution of those insights turning into yet another organized religion. Just as modern science celebrates Darwin as the father of theory of evolution, it would be recognizing Buddha as the father of the theory of human mind. Psychology as a discipline would have been on a totally different track.
Religious dogma always ends with 'because it said so' - as opposed to scientific process, which takes a concept, shapes it and makes it better/truer over time - sometimes into contradictory directions (e.g., conventional mechanics to quantum mechanics) before reconciling everything. It does not care about one person's words centuries ago - we read Charles Darwin these days to understand how his theory came about, and not take all his words as 'gospel' in this current knowledge environment; e.g., DNA was not known in his time, and he could not have gotten all the details correct. Religion was thus the wrong track of development for those simple, true insights into the theory of mind and application in practice.
Instead, scientific process could have evolved the insights of theory of mind into better theories and practical applications. Psychology and associated medicine has done a large disservice to humanity, basing their practices on intricacies of neuroscience or very high level empirical observations, obsessing over naming and classification of conditions. [Yes, there are deeply conditioned behaviors and abnormalities that need special attention and professional 'external' intervention - but no need to start with those heavy-duty tools for everyone, thus depriving a large population of simple tools]. These insights into the theory of mind were very simple, but not fully adopted by the scientific professions of psychology and medicine for their day-to-day well-being benefit - yet.
Now, after centuries, western science is discovering the power of these insights into the theory of mind, while East is still stuck on its religious track.
These simple original 6th century insights are:
(1) everything is temporary: whatever arises, will also pass away. This insight applies in multiple time frames - from microseconds (thoughts, feeling, emotions) to decades (behavior, beliefs, conditioning) or centuries (cultural norms, state of civilization) and everything in between.
(2) our awareness is vast, exists independent of its 'content' and is thus inherently empty. The nature of awareness can be glimpsed independent of its content with lots of practice (to break decades of habitual conditioning); this would lead to a realization of non-permanence of things, and thus non-attachment to temporary phenomena - a truly 'better' state of being. In most cases, this also provides a framework for deeply exploring/acknowledging one's past and potentially moving beyond it.
(3) these temporary (and ever-changing) phenomena include:
. stimulus that's sensed by physiology: sights, sounds, sensations etc
. emotions, moods, etc., that arise in the mind
. appearances or illusions of self, free-will
. longer term behavior/conditioning: sense of purpose, motivation, ethics, values etc
This simplicity (the recognition of non-permanence, and the steps to letting go) was spelled out in 6th century! These are meant to be simple, intuitive and easy to follow every day principles/guidelines for the secular-minded. Have tried to avoid esoteric, spiritual, new-age terminology; in the paragraphs below, please take the word 'meditation' (which has various connotations) to just mean 'to be intentionally aware'.
In order to put this into practice, one doesn't need to follow any dogma, just start experiencing it oneself. The best tool out there is mindfulness; here are some of the pointers I have found valuable:
- Waking Up app (practice and theory) by Sam Harris,
- Insight Hour podcast with lots of lectures by Joseph Goldstein,
- Insight Timer app that has many lectures, tools etc.
- Book by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche titled "The Joy of Living"
Here is a simple starting point: install the (free) Insight Timer app. It has hundreds of free meditation, sounds, configurable timers etc. But for the first time, select meditation, followed by mindfulness, choose shortest length (< 5 min), and select one (e.g., Hugh Byrne, 4m), just follow his instructions.
The above are just starting points and suggestions for initial tools; for regular practice, after following some of these for a few months, a simple anchor (e.g., breath) and focused observation of passing phenomena is all that is needed. These can be done literally any time, sitting, walking, laying down. There will really be no such thing as boredom, since that feeling itself will be an object worthy of exploration.
This solid foundation can then be coupled with the following for a fulfilled living:
- deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for the universe, life, and awareness
- can do attitude, which comes from freedom from illusion of control
- self-confidence, that arises from focus, and realization of temporary nature of setbacks
