* Emotions drive motion. They are our autopilot. The sum total of our conditioning.
* Attention stills emotion/motion. It's our ability to look, and look again, without reacting. The unconditioned.
What we usually call thinking is essentially a collection of conditioned emotional reactions. Rationalised to form a meaningful story. We are programmed to think the way we do, and we construct stories to explain why we do it.
In any instant, this (unconditioned) looking and this (conditioned) thinking seem to be mutually exclusive. We're either in enquiry or reaction.
Do I believe (ie emote) logic and reason drive homo sapiens? No. At least not consciously. And when I look right now to check, I don't see that either.
Appreciated that post
@Rex . One reason I enjoy your posts, other than for their intelligence is your intent towards 'truth'. Seeing what Is , clearly.
That 'unconditioned' "enquiry" or "attention" mode you refer to reminds me of some conceptions spiritual practitioners commonly use, especially Buddhist based ones.
Your thoughts share an interesting parallel.
The famous forest Thai Buddhist Theravadian monks (influencing schools Australia, too) in particular use an '
Observation' technique (Vipasana) that becomes deeper & deeper, starting with observation of breath, awareness of ones inner body workings, thoughts, feelings - as starting points. It gets mind blowing after that.
Tibetan Mahayana & Tantric Buddhism schools (more 'mantra' & intent based as opposed to Theravadian Vipasana practices) take it much further, conceiving a stream of 'unconditioned' consciousness ("pure light") that acts, say, like a blank canvas or background, which forms the basis for 'conditioned' thoughts & feelings to arise out of, much like bubbles arising out of water or waves from the ocean.
Anyway, that stuff interests me.
