tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post2575706332375546279..comments2023-09-09T02:41:47.167-07:00Comments on Beyond Advaita: Why do people talk so much about themselves and Why we 'hear' inner speech in our heads?Ramesam Vemurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-14578797652361220822013-08-23T00:45:52.606-07:002013-08-23T00:45:52.606-07:00Great!Great!Tobiashttp://besttreadmillforhomes.us/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-13339558367928931742013-07-21T07:17:17.364-07:002013-07-21T07:17:17.364-07:00Hi Peter, I am grateful for your kind words. The n...Hi Peter, I am grateful for your kind words. The neuroscientific research developments are quite fascinating and we have to see where they will lead us to in the future.<br /><br />Many thanks, Timothy, for the very thought-provoking observations. What you say is quite true; many questions in science start with "Why" but most of the time end with answering "How" -- at least at the present state of our knowledge.<br /><br />Sometimes one wonders whether human intelligence can answer at all the fundamental questions of "Why" - for example: Why the universe?; Why life?; Why life has to eat life for living? As Dr. Feynman put it so well, "I wonder why, I wonder why I wonder why." <br /><br />I am not sure if philosophers (ancient/modern) could answer "why thoughts occur." The evolutionary psychologists say that our brain constantly monitors information from the environment and assesses it in terms of the survival value for the body-organism. (Most of it happens below the radar of our conscious awareness). As it is common in nature, there is an excess production of the alerting signals and a Darwinian selection process operates to choose what thought is useful at a given moment.<br /><br />It is the Yoga people who stress about 'control' of thoughts and a 'thoughtless state' (nirvikalpa samadhi). Advaita people equate such a state to 'deep sleep' and exhort us to go beyond that. Direct Path Non-duality (Atmananda and his followers: Jean Klein - Francis Lucille - Rupert Spira) says let the mind (=thoughts) do what it wants; do not fight with the thoughts; shift your attention to identify yourself to be that "thing" which is aware of the thoughts because "You are that Awareness." So thought is also an appearance within Awareness like the bodily sensations and perceptions.<br /><br />Peter Dziuban, though coming from altogether a different stream, essentially teaches the same message.<br /><br />warm regards,ramesamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-5640243254927240802013-07-19T16:53:25.509-07:002013-07-19T16:53:25.509-07:00Another great article! I'm always pleased to s...Another great article! I'm always pleased to see research that bridges the gap between the seemingly endless talk-talk-talk about non-duality and something objective and replicable. <br /><br />I was a little bit disappointed about the "inner speech" section, even though I was simultaneously delighted to learn more about the phenomenon. The disappointment arose from the fact that I've been considered the "Why" lately while the article seems more oriented toward the "How."<br /><br />To put it briefly, <i>why</i> on earth do I speak inside my head? Am I telling myself something I didn't already know? No, that never seems to happen. Am I doing it because I'm lonely? No. Who (or what) am I actually talking to?<br /><br />The best I've been able to come up with is that internal speech converts non-declarative impressions into declarative memory. It's like one part of the brain is helping another part keep up with the latest model of reality, in its own language (literally).<br /><br />Of course, it probably goes without saying (in this blog, anyway) that that kind of mental activity carries with it a whole lot of problems. However, simply noting that it causes problems isn't anywhere near the same as finding out why the phenomenon arises in the first place. I've heard countless gurus speaking about the downside of discursive thought but I've yet to hear one say much more than "it's a habit."<br /><br />So ... thanks for the article! Timothy Campbellhttp://www.neosimian.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-38398649189759928622013-07-19T11:44:47.022-07:002013-07-19T11:44:47.022-07:00Thank you again ramesam for another fascinating an...Thank you again ramesam for another fascinating and enlightening post. Yet another expose of who "me" is when the "inner me" seems to be talking.Peter Francis Dziubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11397721901055005612noreply@blogger.com