Thought ;a deception ?

[china]

What do we mean by deception? I think it is very important, because the more we deceive ourselves the greater is the strength in the deception; for it gives us a certain vitality, a certain energy, a certain capacity which entails the imposing of our deception on others. So gradually we are not only imposing deception on ourselves but on others. It is an interacting process of self-deception. Are we aware of this process? We think we are capable of thinking very clearly, purposefully and directly; and are we aware that, in this process of thinking, there is self-deception? Is not thought itself a process of search, a seeking of justification, of security, of self-protection, a desire to be well thought of, a desire to have position, prestige and power? Is not this desire to be, politically, or religio-sociologically, the very cause of self-deception? The moment I want something other than the purely materialistic necessities, do I not produce, do I not bring about, a state which easily accepts? Take, for example, this: many of us are interested to know what happens after death; the older we are, the more interested we are. We want to know the truth of it. How shall we find it? Certainly not by reading nor through the different explanations.
How shall we find it? .

 

[Cliffy]

Through self awareness. Our perception of the outer world is based on our thought process. Most people do not pay attention to the constant dialogue the mind is having with itself. It is important to pay attention because our experience of the outer world is directly linked to that inner dialogue. It is a random bunch of voices of everything everybody has ever said to us or thoughts we have had about ourselves and most of it is negative. The ego dwells on the negative. So it colours much of our experience in a negative light.

By paying attention to our thoughts and the effects or co-incidences that they cause, we become aware how those thoughts for the basis of our reality. The trick here is to alter the dialogue to one that is more positive. This can take practice but if we are diligent we can change our experience to one that is more positive.

We create our own reality. But most people are not aware of this so much of what they experience seems like random chance. They create their reality by default using ideas and beliefs that are not their own. They are those of all those who influenced them in their lives. If they would pay attention to that inner dialogue they would recognize the voices of those who planted those ideas and beliefs. They would no longer have to be influenced by all the negative thoughts because they can change them.

 

[Nuggler]

Hi, China.

Nice to see you still here.

8O

 

[china]

Cliffy,



I think that firstly you must purge your mind completely of every factor that is in the way - every hope, every desire to continue, every desire to find out what is on that other side. Because the mind is constantly seeking security, it has the desire to continue and hopes for a means of fulfilment, for a future existence. Such a mind, though it is seeking the truth of life after death, reincarnation or whatever it is, is incapable of discovering that truths .
What is important is not whether reincarnation is true or not but how the mind seeks justification, through self-deception, of a fact which may or may not be. What is important is the approach to the problem, with what motivation, with what urge, with what desire you come to it. The seeker is always imposing this deception upon himself; no one can impose it upon him; he himself does it. We create deception and then we become slaves to it.
The fundamental factor of self-deception is this constant desire to be something in this world and in the world hereafter. We know the result of wanting to be something in this world; it is utter confusion, where each is competing with the other, each is destroying the other in the name of peace; you know the whole game we play with each other, which is an extraordinary form of self-deception. Similarly, we want security in the other world, "a position".