Asking the Right Question

When attempting to understand the workings of the mind, especially the negative side of it, you need to realise one basic thing. The right question comes before the right answer. Or, you only get an answer to what you are looking for. If you cannot get an answer, then you lack sufficient information about the problem at hand and need to do more studying. Increasing the breadth of your study is often more important than increasing the depth of the study.

However, we often let our existing prejudices influence what we consider should be the right answer. How do we get round these prejudices?  We need to explore what is motivating us to pursue our inquiries.

So I ask you a question. What is the overall theme that runs through all your work, all your inquiries?  I presume that you have not yet discovered it. What is the knowledge of worldly life and social conditioning achieving for you?  What would you do if this conditioning could be removed tomorrow?  Another way to approach this is to reflect on what you are most scared of in life.  Are you still running from your fear, or are you seeking some consolation, or are you trying to sublimate the fear into an idealistic goal?

In my case, my ideas cover a wide range of human activity. But the overall theme was the need to understand the causes of violence, particularly mental violence and mental conflict. I only began to understand my mind when I stopped running away from it. My ideal world is one where gentleness is the focus of all relationships.

Copyright @2003  Ian Heath
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The copyright is mine and the articles are free to use. They can be reproduced anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.