Mind and symbolism of the head

 

A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic

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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.

  • 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.

  • Our intellectual power or capacity represented by our intelligence.

  • Faculty of cognition and intellect, as opposed to the will and emotions.

  • It represents our attention as to keep one’s mind on a subject.

  • 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.

  • 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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