What is Mind?

Assuming you are reading this one might assume that you assume you have a mind to do the reading. But what is this thing called mind that you use, or uses you? Is it a thing, an entity, a brain, a soul, a self, etc.? Or is mind nothing more than a computer in a biological container? We know what we mean when we say someone 'lost their mind' - But what did they lose - the ability to effectively process and control their physical reality - Or is mind more than that? Must a mind be creative, individualistic, with a self and an ego? What do you think it means to have a mind? And what do you think this thing called mind is?

reply to post by AlienView

And what do you think this thing called mind is?

The body. The mind is just another word we use to define the body. What other than the body can we apply that name to?

I think that having a mind is the nameless Creator perceiving Itself through you. I think that it is meaningless to say that we should have the mind of God, since God is always looking out through our eyes, whether we realize it or not. We do Its will whether we realize it or not.

reply to post by AlienView


Mind is the observation of thoughts.

The observing force precedes the mind.

That probably sounds new agey but I've had some profound experiences in meditation which demonstrated to me this distinction.

Completely thoughtless observation.

AlienView
Assuming you are reading this one might assume that you assume you have a mind to do the reading. But what is this thing called mind that you use, or uses you? Is it a thing, an entity, a brain, a soul, a self, etc.? Or is mind nothing more than a computer in a biological container? We know what we mean when we say someone 'lost their mind' - But what did they lose - the ability to effectively process and control their physical reality - Or is mind more than that? Must a mind be creative, individualistic, with a self and an ego? What do you think it means to have a mind? And what do you think this thing called mind is?

a mind is part of a living body but when that body dies then that mind dies,mind controls the body but also body controls the mind and when you don.t have both working together then thats it.

no soul or entity continues,i can,t understand people when they say everything dies but this soul continues on.its a thing that humans want to believe but no evidence what so ever,when i go to sleep and wake up with no memory of anything i know its going to be same when i die,brain is switched off and thats it,nothing is going to be there.

reply to post by sparky31


If you look closely at the OP's comment, the OP was not asking what happens to the mind after we die. The OP was asking what mind is. I think it's also safe to say that we're all expressing opinions.

Words
reply to post by AlienView

 

And what do you think this thing called mind is?

The body. The mind is just another word we use to define the body. What other than the body can we apply that name to?

edit on 3|3|14 by Words because: (no reason given)

It is more than the body. If youve seen someone die, their body remains. It is their 'knowing' that ceases. Words, sounds, taste, touch, sight is all still available to the body. But the knowing of that word, sound, taste, touch, sight has gone.

The mind is knowing, as a unique instance of what you are experiencing.

Words
reply to post by AlienView

 

And what do you think this thing called mind is?

The body. The mind is just another word we use to define the body. What other than the body can we apply that name to?

edit on 3|3|14 by Words because: (no reason given)

It is more than the body. If youve seen someone die, their body remains. It is their 'knowing' that ceases. Words, sounds, taste, touch, sight is all still available to the body. But the knowing of that word, sound, taste, touch, sight has gone.

The mind is knowing, as a unique instance of what you are experiencing.

sparky31
no soul or entity continues

Wow, thanks for clearing that up. I've been waiting my whole life to meet someone with the answer to this. Thanks to you, we can end spiritualism, religion, prayer, karma, and anything else not related to this meat machine of a body. I was doing some 'soul searching' the other day...lol what was I THINKING, I probably should have just chased more money like everyone else. You know, it's kind of a relief actually. Here I was, trying to improve myself, working hard to spread some love in this infinite mysterious universe.....but why bother! Now I can just get drunk, rape, and pillage because nothing matters! Kudos to you sir. Keep spreading your hard-won wisdom, however you acquired it.

reply to post by brazenalderpadrescorpio


true and i appologise
but saying soul i automatically thought mind after death witch i believe there is none.

brazenalderpadrescorpio
reply to post by sparky31

 

If you look closely at the OP's comment, the OP was not asking what happens to the mind after we die. The OP was asking what mind is. I think it's also safe to say that we're all expressing opinions.

That is correct brazenalderpadrescorpio and I am interested in opinions even if I may not agree - When it comes to a subject like mind the amount of concepts and opinions will be as vast as that of mind itself no matter how we might define and perceive it. I have some opinions of my own which bridge science and metaphysics but I will wait for others to express their views first.

reply to post by AlienView


I think the mind is the processor within our brain, that gathers information and processes it, and makes decisions based on past and present data as well as considering the outcome of its actions before it makes a decision and sends out the commands of the actions it wants to take in a given circumstance..all based on the above current data... if it has a malfunction then it will incorrectly process this data and the outcome will be abnormal or not as it should have been... just MHO good post though and food for thought.... :-)

reply to post by sn0rch

mind |mīnd|
noun
1 the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought: as the thoughts ran through his mind, he came to a conclusion | people have the price they are prepared to pay settled in their minds.

What other element besides the body allows us to be aware of the world? Last I heard, "knowing" is an action, not an element.

The universe is its own entity. I'm just here a short time for the ride. Not to get too involved, but to enjoy it all.

AlienView
What is mind?

Doesn't matter. What is matter? Nevermind.

reply to post by AlienView


What's most intriguing about your question is that, within this thread, it has been defined as the three distinctions of God (The Holy Trinity).

Some think mind is awareness. (Father)
Some think mind is body. (Son)
Some think mind is will. (Holy Ghost)

Clearly you cannot separate them, but the majority think the best distinction is that mind is awareness (soul) which wills (spirit) thoughts (body).

However, I don't know if it is wrong to say will (spirit) manifests awareness (soul) as a thought (body / manifestation) of what awareness should be.

Maybe you can even say that the thought (image / body) gave or inspired (will / inspiration) to awareness.

i/o

i is input, o is output, but what is /?

What is between input and output? How do we divide input and output? Isn't the input something else's output? We can make distinctions but we cannot divide them. So, "/" must be will or ability, but what enabled it to begin with? Was it awareness or what it will?

What came first doesn't work, but this is what people seem to be trying to do, like so:

Mind is thoughts. (body)
Mind is awareness of thoughts. (soul)
Mind is production of thoughts - the ability. (spirit)

My answer is that mind is awareness (soul) which has will (spirit) as its means of producing thoughts (body) - the mind is the soul - it is a sensor which outputs senses with its sensory ability or will.

But truly separating them, we cannot do that... so maybe mind is all 3.. or all of the above. (get it, as above so below?) lul bad pun

reply to post by Bleeeeep

Yes, Bleeeep that is an interesting way of looking at existent mind; There are many ways of seeing 'mind' and for that matter consciousness and all of existence. But what I'm looking for is the fundemental of what mind [and included consciousness and existence] are - What is this phenomena that we perceive?

First a quote by one of the leading physicists of the 20th Century:

“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”
― Albert Einstein

If all of existence is based upon different states of energy than mind and consciousness too must be considered as different states of energy - INTELLIGENT ENERGY. The existence of intelligent energy can then be seen as the root of all that is and mind and consciousness are by products. This then leads to speculation on origins, if there are origins, and development of both the universe and the minds within, such as humans. If energy possesses and innate intelligence the more important question might be what is energy [from a philosophical vantage point]? How can energy posses intelligence? I know there will be those who will say energy just goes through different states and what we perceive of as mind and/or intelligence just happened to happen. Really, just happened to happen? I can't buy that. The implication I see here is that the innate intelligence of energy must have always been an inherit property of energy - We live in an intelligent universe, possessing god knows what intelligence [pun intended]. As humans the human mind acts, as has already been postulated as a filter preventing us from seeing the whole picture, assuming, and I do not assume this, there is a whole picture. What I see is creative intelligent energy unfolding a universe where man, for reasons open to speculation, is left with a mind to comprehend, interact with, and possibly even change, the pattern as it unfolds - Exactly what mind is will always be open to debate, but its importance to those who possess it and to the universe of which it is a part should not be underestimated.
All is energy and mind is part of this energy and all that exists including human mind and consciousness are a part of this all-encompassing energy.

reply to post by AlienView


The only reason there is matter is because it was thought to be a good representation of an awareness.

Matter is the Son - he is the image of Father's awareness.

What reality is, is God creating thoughts of his awareness. Physicality, or objectivity is the production of a singular idea, concept, or awareness.

Think of something, anything... and what you are picturing in your mind are images of a concept, or awareness, that you have - this is what the physicality of our reality is -- pictures, images, or descriptive words and symbols of an awareness. You cannot directly reproduce an awareness... you must go through the images to access the awareness, or concept.

Think of a concept you have for bread. You know what bread is, surely, but can you describe the concept without manifesting images or the reproduction of sensations?

No... and this is what reality is about. It is "good" concept (re)production. It is the act of reproducing awareness. You get an image and then you want to spread the awareness of what the image is if you can find the awareness and find that it is good to reproduce.

You want to know what spawned mind, but there is nothing but mind and his creation - his thoughts, and his will which manifests the images.

If it helps, think of it in terms of evolution: Your body is the image of your forefathers concepts - their will manifested their concepts of what is good, and you are the image of their "good" concepts.

When you started this thread, you did so to produce a concept - you have the image of mind / reality but you do not have a good concept for it. You seek conception - as do we, who try to reproduce our concepts within you.

God is doing the same thing - he is reproducing his concepts of good byway of creating images of his concepts.

This is pretty much the concept of fatherhood - spreading concepts to be conceived. To produce the image of your concept.

More, all sensations are images, bodies, or thoughts of others' awareness. e.g. My foot sends its image of touch to my brain and my brain then uses the image to produce an awareness and output an image of itch, pain, tickle, hot, cold, etc.

It's a concept reproduction system of God creating his pleasures, and us, being apart of it as conscious beings, witness it.

As for us, we were created to be church, this is why we desire justice and truth of the awareness. It is why we desire not only pleasurable reproduction but just/true reproduction. We want truth and justice because we are the concept/will/image of church.

And what it is all for, is nothing but pleasure.

Ask yourself what are the requirements of the light / energy? You should see the requirement is nothing but to be an image of a concept. And this is what we see when we look where there is no concept - we see nothingness. We look closely at a tree and see it is mostly empty space, closely within an atom, and it is mostly empty space -- far enough down and it all becomes "uncertainty". So, what is the concept of uncertainty? Is it that there is no reason, no cause and effect, only the will to manifest images of awareness? Maybe.

Anyways.. images of concepts.

Of course if one is to ask 'What is Mind?' one may also ask 'What is Not Mind?' Is there anything or any-state where mind does not exist? Or is mind in fact the prima facie root cause and effect of all that is? No matter how you define its workings does not change the fact that it [mind] must exist for you to be able to define it. Mind must be part of the equation or no equation can be made. Mind must be the underlining principle of all that exists - if it is not part of mind then it does not exist - And what does not exist? Einstein said all matter is a state of energy; and some might believe that energy would then be the underling principle of existence - But even energy can not be proven, as noting can be proven to exist, if there is not mind to perceive and define its existence. All that exists is mind.

Mind and Consciousness, Dr. Stuart Hameroff is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology, and Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. Together with British quantum physicist Sir Roger Penrose, Hameroff is the co-author of the controversial Orch OR model of consciousness.

I cant find a better Understanding of the mind and Consciousness ! ENJOY !