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Mind and symbolism of the head
Typical
dictionary definition of mind
Mind, ego and the
detached witness
Working
definition in the creativity perspective
Mind as a property of
consciousness
Location of
mind
Working with
mind
To be “out
of mind”
The concept of mind is most often
symbolized by the head and/or the brain. As used in the
creativity perspective and the
energy consciousness model for viewing Creation the concept of
mind encompasses more than how most use the term is normally used.
The basic concepts about mind are presented here. Th discussion “Nature
and issues of mind in Creativity” addresses some specific ways
mind influences and/or controls our creativity and our creative
power and ability. The topic “Nature
of Mind in the Creativity Perspective” provides a more detailed
discussion of how the mind is perceived to function in our
creativity based on the
energy consciousness model.
Typical dictionary definition of mind (Top)
The typical dictionary definitions
of mind is as follows. The use of the term mind in the
creativity perspective and the
energy consciousness model encompasses builds on this
definition.
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The collection of processes
originating in and/or associated with the brain, involving
conscious and subconscious thought, interpretations of our
experiences, perceptions, insights, imagination and the like.
-
Our memory and what we
remembrance and recollections.
-
Our opinions, sentiments,
convictions, desires, inclinations and wishes.
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Our intellectual power or
capacity represented by our intelligence.
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Faculty of cognition and
intellect, as opposed to the will and emotions.
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It represents our attention as
to keep one’s mind on a subject.
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In some views of Creation,
mind is seen as related to the Spirit or intelligence seen as
the basic substance of the universe and distinguished from
matter. In this regard mind is a psychical being.
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In some religions and
theologies the "Mind" it is the Divine Principle or God.
Mind, ego
and the detached witness (Top)
It is to be noted that the
definition of mind says nothing about mind being aware of existing,
or conscious aware of itself, or mind being a property of
consciousness. This is an extremely important note to be made
relative to our creativity and our creative power and abilities. The
concept of mind does not necessarily mean or imply mind is aware of
itself. This brings up the concept of awareness. We take awareness
for granted and rarely look to see what it really is. But it is a
concept of which many do not think about and is actually a separate
aspect of consciousness.
Relative to awareness,
ego,
as typically used, is seen as that aspect that is aware. Ego is seen
as related to that aspect of our being that is aware and/or aware of
itself. Ego is seem more as the thinking, feeling, and action self
that is conscious of itself. We refer to “my” beliefs, “my”
thinking, “my” opinions, where as other simply say we are “in our
ego.” The concept of ego is seen as being aware of being distinct or
separate from the self of others and from the objects of its thought
and other operations of the mind and body.
In some contexts
ego
has been used to describe the entire individual viewed as composed
of body, mind and soul. Often it takes on the meaning as the part of
the self that is the enduring, conscious observer of our
experiences. It psychology it is defined as the conscious aspect of
our psyche. I t is seen as developing through the experience we have
with the external world. It is seen as that aspect of the psyche
that protects the individual’s identity by resolving conflicts
between the unconscious instinctual part of our being (the Id) and
the part of our psyche that seeks conform to higher human and/or
social standards (the Superego) in a way that best fits the
situation we face. (More
on .... ego)
Within the
creativity perspective,
the concepts of the
detached witness and ego can be seen as lying on opposite ends
of the spectrum. The more we identify with the identity mind gives
itself based on the experiences it has had, the more we are in our
ego. Here we see whatever we experience as happening to us
personally. The more we detached from the identity mind gives
itself, the more we move into the perspective of the detached
witness and into a more pure awareness. The more we move into the
perspective of the detached witness more we can see that mind simply
creates a vehicle to experience Creation and the more the awareness
that has the experience recognizes what happens to them is not
personal. (More
on ... detached witness)
Working definition in the creativity perspective and used in the
Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity material (Top)
As working definition, mind is
what you think and believe, who you think you are and how you think
the universe works based on all the experiences you have had. It is
what you allow yourself to feel and not feel and the decisions you
make and not make, on what you think and feel. Mind assimilates all
that you have experienced and provides a perspective from which to
view and experience Creation. Since mind is continually assimilating
all that we experience it is a creative living process continually
transforming itself. (More on .....mind
and creativity and
as seen in the creativity perspective)
Ego
is the identity mind constructs from what it thinks and believes
about itself. Ego is the identity mind and gives to itself. Ego is
what we use to describe who we think we are. (More
on .... ego)
The
detached witness is the awareness which knows and understands it
can give itself any identity it choose. It is not limited by the
experiences mind has and what mind thinks. The detached witness is
that aspect of consciousness that becomes aware and observes. It has
no identity and is independent of the information mind stores and
what creates or gives rise to the ego. (More
on ... detached witness)
Mind as a
property of consciousness (Top)
Within the
energy consciousness model and the
creativity perspective mind is seen a property of consciousness.
Within the energy consciousness model, the stuff or material of
Creation is energy and consciousness. Energy and consciousness are
seen as
different forms of the same material. They are just experienced
differently by how we focus our attention and awareness.
Mind is a property of consciousness. It does two important things.
One is it holds the memories of the experiences of consciousness.
The second is that mind synthesizes and assimilates all that has
been experienced into a view or perspective from which consciousness
perceives Creation. Based on that perspective, consciousness makes
choices, decisions, judgments and the like. These choices,
decisions, and judgements, in turn, determine what consciousness
experiences. The experience consciousness has then provides input to
mind to assimilate the experience. This new experience causes mind
to either change or strengthen the perspective it has. In this
regard, our mind is a
creative living process. If you think about this process for a
moment, you can see how very quickly mind can cause consciousness to
develop a very narrow and fixed view of Creation creating a
mind set and/or tunnel vision. This in turn, become a
cage which mind has created that keeps
our creative spirit and
creative ability captive.
As a properly of consciousness mind will always exist with
consciousness and function as a part of consciousness. How mind as
perceived depends on the awareness of consciousness. If our aware
consciousness perceives itself as existing in a human body, it will
perceive mind as the sum total of all the experiences the body has
had. This is the
enculturated mind. If however, we move to a position of the
detached witness where our awareness stands apart from the
experiences of the body and the enculturated mind, we can see that
our awareness possesses what can be called a
transcendental mind. The transcendental mind is the sum total of
all the experiences our awareness ever experienced. The depth and
breadth of what is in the transcendental mind is beyond what the
enculturated mind an conceived. The enculturated mind does not have
the
minimum set of requisite experiences to understand many of the
experience contained in the transcendent mind. However, if we remain
the awareness as a detached witness, all that is in the
transcendental mind becomes open to us and we can begin to recall
the experiences which allows us to understand that transcendental
mind. Exploration of the transcendental mind will cause one to
completely rethink who and what they are and how Creation works. The topics “The
Enculturated Mind” and “The
Transcendental Mind” provide some additional comments on these
two subjects.
Location of mind (Top)
Mind is perceived to reside in the
brain. This is because the brain is what assimilates and interprets
the experiences we have as a physical human being and we have
localized our awareness in th human body. However, mind is a
property of consciousness. Just as consciousness spans all of
Creation, so too our mind. It is just that we localize our awareness
in the form of a human being and perceive our mind to be only what
we have experienced as that human. By shifting the focus of our
attention and awareness we can move our view to any point in
Creation.
Working with mind (Top)
Mind is always changing because
our awareness it
is always experiencing something. Sometimes what we experience is
new and different from the past. Sometimes what we experience is
simply a repeat of the past. In any case, mind is a
creative living process open to constant change. However, mind
can be fixed or fluid. It is fixed when it holds rigidly to what is
has experienced and the perspective it creates from those
experiences. When this occurs a
mind set and tunnel vision are created. It is fluid when it
easily assimilates new information and experiences to change its
perspective to accommodate the new input.
It needs to be noted here that we can be strongly identified with
our mind yet be very open to changing our perspective and
assimilating new information. Similarly, we can be have the
perspective of a
detached witness yet be fixed in a mind set with extremely
narrow tunnel vision. The detached witness does not necessarily mean
we are free of our mind and the perspective it has created. It just
means we are not attached to the mind and what it has created. It
does not mean we are not under its influence. Until we learn to be
aware of our mind and how it influences our perception we cannot
step out of its influence.
To
be “Out of mind” (Top)
To be “out of mind” is to move
from the ego perspective of identification with mind to the
detached witness perspective were mind is seen simply as a
vehicle for experience. But it also includes moving out of any mind
set or particular way of thinking and believing. It is to remove all
filters that one may be using to observe what is experienced. This
mean to be totally focused on feeling and what one feels without
interpretation, judgment and/or opinion of any type. It is to
surrender to the feeling and allow oneself to flow with the feelings
wherever they lead. (More
on ....stepping out of mind)
Related topics
Nature of mind
Understanding mind from a creativity perspective
Stepping out of mind - beyond mind
Nature and issues of mind in creativity
Nature of mind in the creativity perspective
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