Quote:
Quote by: Strange Dreamer  quite an interesting concept to examine here...
I'm not going to pretend to be intimately familiar with every detail of the mechanics that drives self awareness, self identity, or self control. I will however work with what I have percieved within myself.
To start with, I find the concept that there are 3 parts that make up a persons mental structure to be an acceptable model to speak from for the sake of discussion. A physical aspect that deal with the body in general and it's needs, an intelectual ascpet that deals with the nescecities of logic, planning, stradegy, memory, and ultimately decision making. And the third part that seems to hold sway over ethical and moral aspects of how one deals with the world.
I will be up front about the fact that I personally am not always in logical control of my actions. Sometimes despite the fact that I decide to do / not do something I find myself acting contrary to that decision. My internal perceptions give me the impression that on of the other parts of my 'being' has in fact trumped my logical self. Wether it is in pursuit of a something that will give some sort of physical stimulus, or as the result of a moral conflict, I have found myself on occation doing things that go contrary to my very firm choices. Also at times I have found myself doing things without the nescecity of higher thought at time, such as pulling up a blanket in the night, or even going into the bathroom. That may start another debate, but I am putting it here for reference.
To assume that self control is merely used to stop something or get something moving is a very narrow view. Self control seems to be to be not just a matter of going against impulses, but also guiding impulses into directed action that are already heavy with momentum or moving in a desired general direction. The means to do this are aquired in time by self awareness and learning what and where to place mental influence.
Since there is no physical reference for mental activity that would prove functional for such a process I find myself at times dealing with multi-dimensional (sometimes 3 dimentions aren't sufficent) imagery to give me reference, whereas other times it is simply a sense of pressures and counterpressures. The end result though is the fact that I am indeed having one part of my mental self working to manipulate another.
That is my assesment and opinion at this time, do with it what you will. |
Those are some good observations and I would not object to the meaning you related. In my view I would not really advocate self control because our thinking self is pretty much in a state of mild confusion because life in not something learned from a book. Moral and ethical aspects must likewise be logical or else they will only add to our confusion as well as guide us away from the objective that I would advocate. Which is - dare to be aware.
And so I am interested in advocating awareness rather then self control as such control is normally based on some pre-learned idea about what is right or wrong, good or evil. It is already bias.
Once one can reach a state of awareness that wishes to be honest then one can let go and allow that awereness to guide or control us, rather then our ego or some dogmatic philosophy found in a book.
Awareness is simply for the purpose of gaining more understanding, watching and taking note of what happens. As our understanding grows out of awareness we then have a good foundation to act or speak out of.
If we reject the direction that awereness would suggest then make things worse for someone else or for our self, because we have accepted a blinded way of life. In a state of awareness we act not with an attitude of controlling our self but in a way that is totally effortless, because we have pre-selected the notion of doing what will give us peace of mind in the long run, rather then getting caught up with internal conflicts and/or confusion. Of course awareness would employ some aspects of memory and logical planning. For example we would see ahead of the game and what our actions would cause if we acted in a way that is not logically in the best interests of everyone.
In my view awareness goes hand in hand with calmness and a process that is always reflecting inwardly for guidance. Now you can still dance to loud music and be very active while having that one "space" inside that remains aware and calm, and still remain connected. While understanding that certain emotions can knock us out of the calm place, but once we are aware of the problem then such emotions can no longer control us because our foreknowledge of that process would make it of non-affect.
So we just live life while remaining aware of everything so that understanding and logic is the servent of that awakening. This is a process of growing and developement also, and so at first our attention might wander back and forth until we finally get into the swing of it.
To repeat my bottom line: Dare to be Aware. and the rest will just follow in a natural process of unfoldment from within.
Also, I would suggest that our attempt to control what we wish to be aware of is what prevents us form attaining true understanding which then subjects us to limitations relative to mental evolution.