Words, Concepts, Contemplations

The Words - definitions and interpretations .....

Stress "... contemplating the healing forces will help direct the brain to reduce the impact of long-term stressors ..."
Web "... it evolves in complexity, level of detail and subtlety ..."
Emotion "... We need to become free of fear (and the other emotional hindrances) - so we can be free to respond to our deep inner need to explore ..."
Sense "... Without senses there would be no consciousness, memory, intelligence, emotion ..."
Knowing "... When we have that feeling that we "know" - we are experiencing an emotion ..."
Belief "... a belief is like a place we visit on our journey - if you stay there you end the journey - if you avoid it, you potentially miss a gem of wisdom ..."
Consciousness "... awareness of external stimuli and of one's own mental activity ..."
State of consciousness "... there are many states of consciousness ... each ... is a collection of more basic conscious structures, energies, interactions and processes ..."
Awareness "... watchfulness ... "
Attentiveness "... steering awareness - away from distraction ..."
Mind "... an integrated complex of interdependent processes that feels, senses, thinks ... "
Cognitive processes "... shape our knowledge of ourselves, others, and environment ... "
Ego " ... the strength of the emotions and arousals connected with the processes of clinging/aversion determine the rigidity of the ego ... "
Spirit "... you are touching and being touched by Spirit now ..."
Soul "... has some mysterious role to play in bringing all our inner processes and energies to a state in which they can work together ..."
Spirit of Nature "... a planetary Sense of Being ... the web of life and the processes of evolution .."
God "... your choice of interpretation/usage of the word God will depend on your conditioning ..."
Truth " ... The most difficult truth to acknowledge is that our knowledge and beliefs can be misleading ..."
The Teachings of Yeshuah (Jesus) "... being kind, forgiving, humble, compassionate and generous is good for your soul ..."
Dukkha "... the Blues - and all that leads up to it ... "
Grasping "... all kinds of mental and emotional grasping and aversion give rise to dukkha ..."
Culture " ... the best way to improve our future is to diversify our future possibilities ..."

Stress -

the body has been programmed by nature (through evolution) to survive in an environment full of threats and opportunities - food, prey, predators, places to live, mates ...
to this end - the body has a huge collection of survival drives - they are common to most living species - they reside roughly in the limbic regions of the brain
living creatures experience arousal - stimulation - direction of energy to a physical action - like running (flight), aggression (fight), and other reactions
the basic survival mechanism is basically a "fuzzy" memory - it recognizes threats and quickly stimulates the best-known kind of reaction - without paying much attention to detailed critical analysis (which would slow down the response)
the triggers for these reactions used to be entirely in the natural environment - like sensing that we are being stalked by a predator, or stumbling on our next lunch
nowadays these triggers are found everywhere.
in fact, our recognition of triggers is not too accurate -

animals and humans tend to react to (for example) anything that moves and has the same color as something that attacked us in the past -
the limbic brain can react to details that could be considered irrelevant after analysis -
but the primitive brain is over-cautious, reacting to the slightest hint of threat - giving little regard for the accuracy of those hints

the primitive survival reactions were designed to act in short bursts - energy was redirected from less critical parts of the body to the parts of the body that give (hopefully) the best chance of survival
if the triggers are present for a longer period (greater than 30 minutes to a few hours - it varies!) then the human biology begins to shift into different modes - more energy is redirected to the bodily survival systems
short bursts of stress also stimulate the immune system
however, sustained stress depresses your immune system, can damage your brain and nervous system, and lead to an over-reactive fight/flight response
so -

occasional short bursts of stress-induced-arousal are harmless to the immune system -
long bursts can drag the immune system down

... sustained periods of stress-induced-arousal are extremely bad for us - and this has been proved for many animal species (including humans)
in the modern world - the primitive reactions are always being triggered - not by animals seeking to make us their lunch - but by people, ideologies, beliefs, culture, religion, family, expectations, greed, hate, anger, fear, propaganda, crazy bosses/leaders/politicians/etc - and all the stuff that pressures us, hurts us, stirs us up .....
in the long run - sustained human-induced stress leads to disease, depression, inability to navigate through life
so - instead of saying "I'm stressed" when you're feeling down - say to yourself "I am experiencing the outcome of sustained stress - I must figure out what is sustaining it - and I must learn to minimize the effect of those stressors on my primitive survival drives - my 'animal brain' "
cultural acceptance of stress is encouraged by those who benefit the most from manipulating others -

being "pumped up", "charged", "motivated", "ambitious" are acceptable because of cultural conditioning and expectations -
yet they are detrimental because they hyper-stimulate the fight-or-flight response systems of the brain
putting you in a state of over-reactive, chronic stress -
and as we have seen, this will lead to ill-health ...
... ambition destroys you ...
you need to learn that you will accomplish better things by slowing down -
- but beware, "slowing down" is less culturally acceptable than being "highly caffeinated - fast talking - hyper-active"!
Just say no to your manic cultural leaders.
Say yes to a walk in the mountains (with no cell phone, ipod, satellite radio, or any other channel for cultural programming)
Question your culture - liberate your soul.

in practice - contemplating the healing emotions/forces will help direct the brain to reduce the impact of long-term stressors - these healing forces include:-

forgiveness
generosity
compassion
kindness
consideration
humility
discipline
analysis, study, nurturing learning
learning how to live in closeness, sincerity, openness, mutual helpfulness and mutual understanding
positive emotions

Web

an intricate pattern or structure suggestive of something woven
a collection of processes, energies, structures, information-centers - interdependent - joined together by other processes, energies and structures -over time it evolves in complexity, level of detail and subtlety

Emotion

Arousal of a specific response (mood, state of mind, energy release, increased metabolism, biological changes, others) to some trigger (an event - inner or outer, experience, memory, thought)
The word "emotion" - it is difficult to pin down exactly what it refers to. There are many variations in its usage. It does fairly consistently refer to a general state of arousal associated with a particular feeling, or a change in state of mind, or change in perception, or change in one's priorities. There are several dozen definitions of the word "emotion" in the scientific literature.
Conceptually - the word 'emotion' is used to generalize personal states of arousal, drive, feeling - some ancient languages did not have a word for this type of generalization and preferred to refer to each kind of feeling without resorting to our emotion-generalization
The generalization does have correlations with physiological processes - such as the release of neuropeptides and hormones - in which each specific emotion is correlated with a specific combination of hormones, neuropeptides, etc
A simple definition of emotion is that it is a response by a whole organism, involving (1) physical arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.
A common use of the word emotion is to point out a sudden and relatively intense change in feelings, often with the idea that the feeling is taking control of our thoughts, desires, senses.
Moods can set the scene for arousal of emotions.
During the emotion of anger or love, the mind is reluctant to pay attention to details and analysis of the experience - humans have a distaste for explaining their own emotions in terms of (complex) biological processes, especially while they are busy being emotional
Philosophically, many humans view rationality and emotions as mutually exclusive. Think of these statements: "you are too emotional to be rational", "you should settle down, you're too emotional".

However, the ability of humans to be rational is highly over-rated. Even when we believe we are being rational - we are being driven by emotional forces.
The belief that we can be purely rational is (contrary to the belief of many scientists, politicians and religious leaders) rooted in our feelings, and is the outcome of a sequence of emotional maneuvering.
All "rational" arguments have hidden agendas, ulterior motives, and so on - often in the service of some (oftentimes suppressed) emotional complex.

Therefore, when one group argues that another group is too emotional to engage in a rational debate, then you can be certain of hidden emotional agendas - usually fueled by greed for power, money, domination or ego-stimulation, fear, and so on - usually in the service of some hierarchical system of social control and organization.

You need to understand that there can not be any degree of "hard, real, and true rationality" until you have acknowledgment of the uncertainty and incompleteness of even the most innocent looking premises used in logical deduction.
However, most people are unwilling to acknowledge limitations in their most cherished assumptions.

Emotions can become intensified by many kinds of imbalances in our body, mind and soul. Grasping and aversion can grab the web of mind-emotion and shake it into painful chaos. When we are inflicted with these emotional imbalances, we feel great frustration, depression, confusion, obsession, instability, pain - and hopefully we begin a search for emotional healing. If we ignore this imbalance, the hindrances (fear, rage, hate ....) begin to dominate our lives and recovery becomes more challenging, less likely.
There are many ideas about the goals of emotional healing. To become free to explore (spiritually and inwardly) our emotions need to be the friends of our spiritual energies. Our emotional tone needs to be tuned to invite spiritual wisdom/messages/insights - which means our emotions need to be mostly of the calming type (the healing forces). We need to become free of fear (and the other emotional hindrances) - so we can be free to respond to our deep inner need to explore, which is the source of our personal spiritual energies.

Sense

Senses are what make living beings different from - for example - a chunk of rock.
Sensory organs evolved alongside the nervous system
Without senses there would be no consciousness, memory, intelligence, emotion - there would be lifelessness
We recognize life by the senses of creatures - the regular senses are touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste
If an organism can sense it's environment - then it is capable of some form of consciousness, intelligence and emotion
Some might believe that a chunk of rock can sense the environment, and could have some form of awareness!

Knowing

When we have that feeling that we "know" - we are experiencing an emotion - originating in the same (limbic) regions of the brain that give rise to most of our other emotions
There are parts of the brain that change state when we learn or discover something new
It is possible that this "feeling of knowing" can spontaneously appear - divorced from facts, reality - sometimes induced by drugs, propaganda, religion, advertising
It is likely that many people have the feeling of knowing without really knowing
Which means that you can do everyone a great favor if you criticize those who are unwilling to question their own knowledge or beliefs

Belief

When the "feeling of knowing" goes unchecked, out of balance, and is given free reign - we have belief - in which we adopt ideas as truth with minimal or zero critical analysis
Beliefs are tightly connected to our emotions
Emotions can steer belief
Emotions can be steered by others
It is relatively easy to control people's beliefs when you can manipulate their emotions
Sometimes a leap of faith, acceptance of a belief can help .... there are positive sides to belief .... their "positiveness" is determined from their capacity to heal, to lead to more diverse exploration -

the problems with belief arise mostly when we become "addicted" to them, when they play on the emotional imbalances that come from the entanglements
a belief is like a place we visit on our journey - if you stay there you end the journey - if you avoid it, you potentially miss a gem of wisdom
as long as a belief brings healing, calmness, and stirs the healing forces (compassion, forgiveness, generosity, kindness...) - then it has a positive and spiritual value

Consciousness - definitions from various sources -

awareness of external stimuli and of one's own mental activity
the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself
the "state of being" that is characterized by sensation, emotion, volition, and thought
the upper level of mental life of which the person is aware as contrasted with unconscious processes
an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation

State of consciousness -

the state of balance, interaction, arousal of the components of consciousness - connected in a complex multidimensional web of interactions
there are many states of consciousness
each state of consciousness is a collection of more basic conscious structures, energies, interactions and processes
the various parts of the body have their own consciousness, as do the senses, and the various parts of the brain
emotional processes have their own kinds of consciousness
in the state of deep sleep - most of these processes are in a state of deep rest
in the state of dreaming sleep - the brain is possibly reorganizing itself at some fundamental level - accompanied by internal sensory simulation
in the waking state - there are many possibilities - the ego is frequently active in the waking state - it is possible (though rare) to be in waking states while the ego is at rest
problem solving states - a variant of the waking state in which there is a gentle swaying between (a) highly disciplined and focused analysis and (b) strategic applications of creative thinking possibly with (c) the help of subconscious problem solving agents - both long term and short term memory play parts in these states - although there may be advantages to diminishing one or the other at times (for example - to allow either creativity or focus to dominate at some point in the problem solving process may lead to quicker solutions)
in healing states - the mind is in a state of peaceful awareness in which the primitive survival instincts are at rest
through evolution (and at some point through creative forms of intelligence and awareness) new states of consciousness emerge
it is possible that new states of consciousness can be created through inner and spiritual exploration
clinging to a single state of consciousness leads to problems - this is clearly true for waking or sleeping - but is not so obvious for states of consciousness that have been deemed to be enlightened, liberating, cosmic, etc
healthy consciousness means there is freedom to entertain and create novel states of consciousness

Awareness - definitions from various sources

having or showing realization, perception, or knowledge
watchfulness
alertness
knowing
pure awareness - in some philosophies and religions is considered the "stuff of God" - that the Great Spirit is pure transcendental awareness, and that the awareness we personally experience is simply a speckle of "light" in that cosmic awareness - and that you can experience this connection to God for yourself
others consider awareness to be something that emerges from matter through evolution
the Great Spirit endlessly breaths new universes into existence - it is the Great Spirit's love of creation and exploration that nurtures awareness (and therefore life) within these new universes

Attentiveness - definitions from various sources

concentrating awareness - to focus on something specific
steering awareness - away from distraction

Mind -

an integrated complex of interdependent processes that feels, senses, thinks
a complex of memories that exert an influence of one's sense of being, judgment, emotion, intent
a complex of memories that interacts with the energies of the body and environmental processes

Cognitive processes - definitions from various sources

a collection of mental process that shape our knowledge of ourselves, others, and environment (our "world model")
includes perception, introspection, memory, imagination, conception, belief, reasoning, volition, and emotion

Ego -

a centralized force within the mind that is constantly finding ways to deal with others, the environment, and oneself
the ego develops a collection of criteria to use when figuring out how to deal with others, environment, self
these criteria are learned through experience with others, environment and self
the quality of these criteria is determined by our states of consciousness
the ego clings to most of those things that reinforce a sense of security, pleasure --

we even cling to non-material things that gives us comfort, including odd things like -

clinging to states of consciousness
clinging to the urge to develop habits and addictions
clinging to habitual body postures
clinging to physical and emotional stress patterns

the ego actively avoids things that threaten it's security
the strength of the emotions and arousals connected with the processes of clinging/aversion determine the rigidity of the ego - the height of the ego's boundaries are high when there is fear

Spirit -

a living entity that does not appear to directly interact with the world we experience through our senses
a living entity that does not appear to interact knowingly with any of our technological sensors
believed to be the source of everything, the life force of the universe, the Great Spirit ("Spirit" with an "S")
communication with the Spirit seems to happen in some states of healing consciousness - but only occasionally - usually without invitation
spirit beings are very aware of the interdependence of all life and all forms of energy (including matter) - whereas those of us who are constrained by the conditioning of the physical senses are less aware of the web of spiritual connectedness
the Spirit is present everywhere and through all time
you are touching and being touched by Spirit now

Soul -

a deep and often hidden Sense of Being that has some mysterious role to play in bringing all our inner processes and energies to a state in which they can work together
in some perspectives, the Soul is Love - bringing many parts of us together to live in unison - and bringing people together to share in developing common goals and interests

Spirit of Nature

a planetary Sense of Being that emerges from the web of life and the processes of evolution
nature's memory is distributed through the DNA of all life, and in the state of balance of processes that is created by and supports life
nature's awareness is that collection of planetary processes that sense and adapt to changes within that same collection of processes
it may be possible to commune with the Spirit of Nature during healing states of consciousness - possibly via mysterious fields that emanate from the energetic transformations taking place in huge numbers of DNA molecules

God - various definitions

a transcendent being - beyond the boundaries of space and time
a divine being - all-knowing and unaffected by the fragmentation within the material universe (i.e., "pure")
in some cultures there are many Gods
in other cultures there are many Gods that are different manifestations of a Universal God
in other cultures there is only one God
a God represents something of great significance - the Creator, the Universal Being, or the mythical Gods of weather, stars, Earth, nature, imagination, archetypes
ancient some tribes would adopt many Gods - over time the number of their Gods would diminish, because they would develop Gods that were mixtures of several other Gods (either from their own tribe or from other tribes - depending on inter-tribal politics) - over more time, some tribes would delight in announcing that their God is the One-and-Only God, and that their tribe is favored by this One God
in other tribes, over time the number of Gods would increase, but over a long period of time a belief in the unity of their Gods would emerge
to avoid falling under the influence of primitive tribal instincts, instead of talking of God, some choose to talk of an infinite state of Being, timeless, beyond all possible boundaries, the ultimate source of everything
for others, they may talk of the Unknowable, the Infinite Journey, the Tao
for some, they may talk of the Companion that is touched from Within, in the Nowness beyond Time and Space
your choice of interpretation/usage of the word God will depend on your conditioning

Truth

There is no "absolute truth" that can be known - but there is no reason not to try to get closer to it ...
There are many opportunities in which honesty can lead to greater things
The most difficult truth to acknowledge is that our knowledge and beliefs can be misleading ... you need to understand this before you can move closer to the truth.
Clinging to false truths tends to suppress awareness of details
The best we can do is to seek ways of bringing us closer to the truth, avoid ways that distort (i.e., the hindrances - fear, hate, greed, etc)

another way of thinking about this is - we train our grasping drives to seek ways that bring is closer to truth - we train our aversion drives to avoid whatever leads us away from truth -

this is only possible when we gain cooperation between the inner animal, the executive/creative mind, and strive to seek the sources of inner and outer wisdom

Exploration brings us closer to the truth - unquestioning belief in anything leads to stagnation

The Teachings of Yeshuah (Jesus)

Yeshuah backs up the notion that being kind, forgiving, humble, compassionate and generous is good for your soul
Questioning the assumptions of yourself and others is encouraged
"Letting go" is the lesson taught by self-sacrifice
Seeking communion with the Spirit is possible as long as you leave behind the hindering emotions that boost the ego

Dukkha

A term used by the Buddha to indicate the pains, sufferings, agitations, discomforts that we all feel in our lives
Sometimes translated as "suffering" - but this is an unfair and over-simplistic translation according to some scholars
The "blues" - and all that leads up to it.

Grasping

The Buddha suggested that all kinds of mental and emotional grasping and aversion give rise to dukkha

Culture

culture is a set of agreements between people
a culture agrees how to express it's feelings, how to engage in discussion or trade
we agree what is acceptable and what is not acceptable
we agree on the punishments for those who don't agree with us
there is a consensus as to what is right and what is wrong
these agreements are rooted in the evolution of a culture's primitive survival instincts, emotional tendencies and it's relationship with the environment
a culture agrees in a general sense how it should condition itself, how people should conform, the types of expectations
cultural intelligence leads to greater integration, diversity and tolerance, whereas cultural ignorance leads to "us-against-them" mentalities, restricting our ability to cooperate and tolerate diversity
cultural enlightenment results in the discovery and teaching of ways that lead to greater healing, exploration, compassion
if we are lucky, then our culture's goals are

the general well-being,
enlightenment,
mutual respect
freedom of it's members
to evolve a set of agreements (eventually these become laws) that allow the general population to improve the level of well-being, enlightenment, mutual respect, opportunity and freedom from the hindrances (fear, hate, greed ....)

history shows that any culture that allows power-centers to emerge that abuse, influence or control a big chunk of it's cultural agreements and members - and that go unchecked and unchallenged - and lead to unfair distribution of opportunity and resources, increasing sustained stress and tension and violence - eventually those cultures will be pulled apart by rebellion, social disintegration, corruption, loss of trust, lack of interest in changing and improving our world
culture is arbitrary and only appears absolute when it is led by crazy people (people who have given in to the hindrances) - culture must constantly evolve, preferably in response to the healing forces (compassion, kindness, forgiveness.... ) and not the hindrances (fear, hate, greed....)
the best way to improve our future is to diversify our future possibilities which can be done by

learning to accept people's differences and
honoring diversity with love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and
learning how to end fear, hate, greed .. and ...
finding way's of keeping too much power-influence-resources from falling into the hands of the few