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Basic thinking vs Conceptual thinking
In this spellbinding exchange, UG lays out that ‘thinking’ in its most raw form
is a primal survival mechanism, not just limited to humans, but prevalent
across entire creation. He then explicates how culture or human value system
has distorted this basic, fundamental thinking into its most abusive,
disruptive and dangerous form.
Raw or primal thinking is common to the ant, the dog and the human. This form
of thinking is solely for purposes of efficient functioning (food and shelter)
and survival (protection against threats). UG holds that inventing any other
purpose or goal for thought or thinking would be an abuse of the primal
mechanism or the gift of nature! Period.
As opposed to this fundamental purpose for thought or thinking, the human
society or culture coaxes us to use the instrument to chase after its
fabricated goods - the unnatural and artificial ideas, ideals, goals or
purposes. This fosters the ‘goal-driven’ or ‘purpose-driven’ or ‘demand-driven’
or ‘conceptual’ thinking in humans.
No doubt, conceptual thinking has given us some great wonders of technology -
electricity, computer, the airplane etc. but it has also invented the most
destructive instruments of war like the nuclear bomb etc. !
The movement away from the basic or primal thinking to conceptual thinking is a
culturally driven phenomenon that imposes a huge (stressful) cognitive load on
our biology. This guzzles huge amounts of energy causing neurological and
pathological disorders.
UG raises the red flag about such culturally driven, disruptive forms of
thinking saying, ‘Thought is your enemy!’
His sagely counsel is to : ‘Stop thinking (chasing after goals) and start
living’!
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Transcription of the Clip:
Q: When the person is born, the organism is born, you mean to say that the brain will not think at all and only the society puts in the values?
UG: It all depends upon, you see, what you mean by ‘thinking’, even animals do a sort of thinking in the sense that the dog knows that you are the master or you are not the master, the dog knows its way back home. You see, that’s what you want to call it ‘thinking’, is all together a different thing.
But what you mean by thinking is to use thoughts put in by the society or culture or whatever you want to call, ‘to achieve certain goals’. So, you place so called spiritual goals on so called ‘higher level’, achieving a goal. It doesn’t matter what the goal is (say) happiness.
We are not concerned about God, truth, reality, enlightenment and all that stuff, you can brush all that aside but everybody, whether he is here or in India or in America or in Australia or Russia – is only interested in one thing! That is, happiness without one moment of unhappiness, pleasure without one moment of pain! That is what everybody wants!
So our God, enlightenment, all that stuff, is the ultimate pleasure that is placed before us as the goal. And the instrument which you are using to achieve your so called spiritual goals – permanent happiness, permanent bliss, eternal happiness, God knows what, is the same instrument that everybody, even the thief there in the prison is using (exactly the same instrument) to get out of prison, as the one you are using to achieve your spiritual goals. It is matter. Thought is matter. So all your spiritual goals are materialistic.
When you go to a temple or church, what do you do? … What are your prayers? You want this, you want that, you want material goods, if you don’t want material goods, you want spiritual goods, if you don’t want spiritual goods, some eternal goods…
Q: You are saying that the survival mechanism that has gone in the wrong direction?
UG: The survival mechanism that is necessary for the survival of the body is already there, you don’t have to do a thing about it!
Q: Then why is it there? Why the demand (to achieve a goal) is there?
UG: The demand is introduced by culture, that is all I am pointing out! It is the tragedy of man!
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