IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND

My toe hurts. The perception of pain is not in my toe, it is in my mind. Note, not brain — mind. Brain is the instrument through which mind ordinarily functions, but it is not the origin of mind.

If a neurologist suggests that mind is a function of brain rather than merely functioning through the brain, ask him or her, “First, define ‘mind’ and next, where in the brain does mind originate?”. The observer will find the dance of rationalization performed while attempting to answer these questions to be entertaining. The neurologist will not find it comfortable. Fortunately, those who study neurology are gradually expanding in their understanding of the nature of the brain and mind.

What experience, what knowledge, do we consciously find elsewhere than in our minds? Since there is no evidence that mind is a function originating in the brain, or elsewhere in the body, it cannot be said to be limited by the material construct of the body. We have abundant evidence (through NDE and other sources) that when the brain flatlines, ceases all function, mind can continue to consciously function, even to a more effective level.

Once again, our quantum physicists are way out in front regarding the function and power of mind in it’s observation of and participation in our experience of Reality.

When speaking of mind, we must remember that mind is only partially experienced through conscious ego. By far the greater portion of mind, both personal and transpersonal, lies beneath the surface in the subconscious, or nonconsciousness.

I don’t care for either of those terms. One tends to sublimate the non conscious to the conscious mind, while the other tends to imply a total lack of “conscious” capacity, i.e. thinking, feeling, functioning, intentional mind. This is not the case. Even worse is the term “unconscious” mind, implying complete mental dysfunction

We are speaking here of “total mind,” most of which is not ordinarily accessible to the ego centered mind. Perhaps “non-ego centered” mind could substitute for “sub”, “non”, and “un”. For me, soul and psyche are adequate terms for “total mind”. Mind, psyche, soul are concepts beyond materialistic reduction, not limited by time and space, or any other “material” consideration. More on that later.

The “non-ego” mind is most readily accessed through dreams. We must remember, dreams speak in symbolic language. Other approaches are equally effective, but that subject is beyond the scope of this writting.

It is well that time/space and all materiality are products of the mind. Dr. David Bohm is the most authoritative and eloquent spokesman for this quantum physics principal, fully expounded in his “Wholeness and the Implicate Order”, a concept so far beyond the ordinary thinking of scientists, the current scientific paradigms, that even after the fifty or so years since Bohm presented his revolutionary view of reality, most of our scientific community still has not caught up with him.

Through what sources do our minds access information? First, and most obviously, through our five senses, if they are all functional. Our senses provide data from particular perspectives. That data requires critical evaluation. It comes from the particular perspective at which we find ourselves at the moment of data access.

We may misperceive the data that comes in, particularly found in “eye witness” accounts which are all from a particular perspective. We may experience pareidolia. This is when our minds impose a familiar but inaccurate image upon an incomplete or mixed set of data. We may be convinced we see what turns out to not be there (faces in the clouds).

Acquired data requires analysis by comparing it to data from different perspectives when available. Our perceptions may prove accurate, from our particular point of view, but may differ greatly from accurate data from other perspectives. Indeed, the data from different perspectives may produce totally opposite, but nonetheless accurate information. Both sets of data may be correct from their limited points of view, yet incorrect if interpreted as all the informatin necessary for a complete picture of truth.

A nice example of this is the Zen story of the monk with the new hat. He rides down the main street in town. Folks on one side of the street admire his lovely new blue hat. Observers on the opposite side of the street admire his lovely new red hat. Argument ensues.

The opposing sides rage at the insanity of those who differ from them. The monk rides back down the street in the opposite direction. Behold, truth is discovered. Those who saw a blue hat now see a red hat, and vice versa. The monk smiles, sets his hat on the ground so all can view it from above. Yes, one side is red, the other blue. Although both of the differing perspectives were correct, neither represented the whole story.

Extraordinary and meaningful data may be presented to our minds from sources other than our five senses. Some still resist the now scientifically well proven fact of what we call ESP, extrasensory perception. This field includes much more than information obtained through sources other than the five senses. It also includes mental effects on material objects without physical contact.

The best known and most scientifically verified example of psychokinesis is the placebo effect. A person takes a sugar pill believing it to be a powerful, efficacious medication, and then the patient receives the healing expected from the authentic medication. This clearly reveals the power of the mind to alter physical conditions. There are many, many other examples of dramatic effects upon material objects caused solely by mental activity. Time and space are not restrictions on either the gathering of information through ESP or the modification of material objects. Material objects are morphable through nonmaterial, mental processes.

This brings us to the nice segue into our relationship with times-space, and all materiality. This is Bohm territory, and too extensive for me to elaborate upon here. Suffice to say, our minds produce to our consciousness information and experience far outside the physical limitations of matter and the time-space continuum. We are children of the Universe, and the Universal Mind which produces all that is.

All these points can be debated as well as endlessly elaborated upon. Opposite positions with sound basis can be argued. The resulting dialectic is exciting.

Now, as Buzz would say, “To infinity, and beyond”. Enjoy your voyage, remembering, IT IS ALL IN YOUR MIND, yet more Real than real.