Questions About Thoughts

[WokeBloke]

I'm trying to make a verbal proof for myself that the body (I) produces the thoughts. So I just have some questions I want to see how people define these words.

1. Do you regard this sentence to be a thought or would you call this something different? In other words is it only a thought if it is not spoken/written?

2. Do random sounds inside your mind (for lack of a better word) constitute a thought? Ex. if you produced garbagunk in your mind would you consider that a thought?

3. Does a thought have to consist of words?

4. Are all words thoughts?

5. What if you said "a" to yourself. Do you consider that to be a thought?

And if you have any other comments about thoughts before I begin I would love to hear them. Thank you very much.

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

The thought of thoughts existing is nothing but a thought.

[WokeBloke]

6 minutes ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

The thought of thoughts existing is nothing but a thought.

Yes but a true thought.

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

1 minute ago, WokeBloke said:

Yes but a true thought.

The thought of "true" and "untrue" thoughts is also nothing but a thought. Duh.

[WokeBloke]

8 minutes ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

The thought of "true" and "untrue" thoughts is also nothing but a thought. Duh.

yes but still a true thought given the definition of true.

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

5 minutes ago, WokeBloke said:

yes but still a true thought given the definition of true.

...which is also a thought. 

We can play this game till the cows come home, lmao.

[mandyjw]

Mu

[Nahm]

@WokeBloke

On a good note, the first ox pic is more or less complete. ?? 

 

SEARCHING

One begins to question the nature of oneself, and the origin & true nature of the universe & experience of reality.

This is often brought about by loss, fear, suffering, feeling incomplete, unworthy, a sense something is lacking, or simply by intuition & curiosity.

The search might also arise from ‘having it all’, yet intuitively sensing there is much more to life and experience which remains veiled.

[WokeBloke]

4 hours ago, Nahm said:

@WokeBloke

On a good note, the first ox pic is more or less complete. ?? 

 

SEARCHING

One begins to question the nature of oneself, and the origin & true nature of the universe & experience of reality.

This is often brought about by loss, fear, suffering, feeling incomplete, unworthy, a sense something is lacking, or simply by intuition & curiosity.

The search might also arise from ‘having it all’, yet intuitively sensing there is much more to life and experience which remains veiled.

what is the first ox pic?

[WelcometoReality]

@WokeBloke Everything in your experience can divided into seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling and thought.

8 hours ago, WokeBloke said:

1. Do you regard this sentence to be a thought or would you call this something different? In other words is it only a thought if it is not spoken/written?

SEEING of the sentence takes place. Recognition of what the sentence means and what to respond. (THOUGHT)

 

8 hours ago, WokeBloke said:

2. Do random sounds inside your mind (for lack of a better word) constitute a thought? Ex. if you produced garbagunk in your mind would you consider that a thought?

THOUGHT can appear as sound. Self talk (THOUGHT) can often have a sound like quality. Can also be in form of pictures or a movie. 

8 hours ago, WokeBloke said:

4. Are all words thoughts?

Can speaking happen without THOUGHT. Can HEARING take place without the mind trying to interpret it? I urge you to explore this. ?

 

8 hours ago, WokeBloke said:

5. What if you said "a" to yourself. Do you consider that to be a thought?

Said as sound (HEARING) or within the mind (THOUGHT).

[LastThursday]

@WokeBloke you're right it's all a matter of definition. What anything "is" is always a problem of how it's defined. Here's my personal broad definition just for fun:

Thought: A non-tangible (from Latin to touch) experience that you take ownership of.

So the ownership thing. You can divide the world into things that emanate from you: your actions, thoughts, physical presence, and everything else (not you).

You definitely don't need words to think. Just picture yourself walking on a tightrope or think about your favourite tune.

[BipolarGrowth]

All of my answers will be coming from the lens of some helpful strains of Buddhism I’ve found in the past months which have added quite a bit to my growth. It can be a very fruitful way of thinking about this stuff. In this framework, the mind is just another sense door like any of the 5 senses. You have sensations which occur in your head which we call thoughts, but they’re really just like a tiny itch arising in your body for one example. It arises without your control. It exists for a time. Then it vanishes. If you do vipassana meditation (which you can do at any time whether “meditating” on a cushion with eyes open, eyes closed, music, no music, at work, at the bar, while eating food… you get the point), you can penetrate and clearly see thoughts as they come as sensations alone. 
 

1. Do you regard this sentence to be a thought or would you call this something different? In other words is it only a thought if it is not spoken/written?

The sentence isn’t a thought. It’s a representation constructed as a byproduct of thought. I consider thoughts to only occur within the mind itself usually as words, images, and memories/future projections (these two are more of an amalgamation of thought rather than a “singular” thought. 

2. Do random sounds inside your mind (for lack of a better word) constitute a thought? Ex. if you produced garbagunk in your mind would you consider that a thought?

I would consider these a type of thought, but they’re less attached to the ego mind in most cases. 

3. Does a thought have to consist of words?

No. Plenty of sources will at the very least say that thought can happen in images. 

4. Are all words thoughts?

If they are heard in the head, yes. If they are “externalized” from the inner mind experience, I don’t consider them thoughts. 

5. What if you said "a" to yourself. Do you consider that to be a thought?

Yes, it just doesn’t have survival utility, so the ego will find little need to support such a thing. This is if you think of it in the head/mind as a sound before saying it. Once it’s turned into just sound sensations, it’s not a thought. You can talk/type/write for hours, weeks, or however long as it goes and have no thoughts. It’s just hard for people to access this state of no mind at the beginning. It becomes pretty common I think as you go later on. 

[Nahm]

@WokeBloke

https://www.actualityofbeing.com/the-ten-ox-herding-pictures