" What all you can say about thought is what you have gathered from other sources" ~ UG

     

    In this audio clip (scroll down to the bottom), UG is laser-focused on the fuzzy topic of 'thought'. 

    What sets us apart from animals is the dominance of 'information' or 'knowledge' in each and every aspect of our daily life. Information is to social life as oxygen is to the biological life. Information is the backbone of our complex society. Take away information, there is nothing more to society, nothing more to culture.  

    In humans, information or knowledge is a matter of inheritance. It is what is passed on from generation to generation (referred to as the 'world mind' by UG). The cognitive apparatus (the hardware) that processes the information (the software) is built into our biology. Many sophisticated cortical and subcortical networks and modules are part of the cognitive apparatus. And the information gets downloaded and installed through societal programs like cultural conditioning, education, indoctrination etc. 

    In the world of computers, information is organized and processed in basic units of data called 'bits' (short for 'binary digits' - '1' or '0'). Similarly in humans 'thought' could be considered as the basic 'unit of information'. Of course, 'thought' is much more complex and sophisticated than mere 1's and 0's, it can take on a myriad forms including sound, taste, smell, touch, word, image etc. 

    All our thoughts or 'information units' are filtered, refined, categorized, assembled and reassembled into complex structures, into what we refer to as 'knowledge'. The accumulated or cumulative human knowledge over centuries upon centuries is simply inexhaustible. Knowledge fills and spills out from the world's libraries and in today's world, it floods the digital space or the internet.  

    In short, we humans are able to function or transact in the cultural environment thanks to the currency of 'thought', the primary medium of 'information exchange'. No wonder, our investment and belief in 'thought' is very deeply entrenched. In fact, every aspect of our mental life is just the play-acting of 'thought'.  

    To further get a handle on 'thought' and its nature, let us consider one of its most common avatars, the aspect of 'time'. 

    'Time' is nothing but a facet of thought. Unlike a sundial or clock that keeps track of 'calendar time', the 'psychological time' is 'experiential time', a subjective phenomenon. Unlike the mechanical clock, the psychological clock runs per vagaries of thoughts. Yes, 'thought' as pleasure or pain can impact the duration of an experience by either stretching or shortening the psychological 'time'. 

   " Thought is time, thought is space " ~ UG 

    'Thought' plays the record keeper. It is nothing but the memory or record or knowledge of events, of happenings and experiences. Thought has invented 'time' to 'bookmark', or sequence, or keep track of the 'flow of events'. Every experience, every event gets 'bookmarked' or 'timestamped' birthing an imaginary timeline turning 'thought' into a timekeeper. 

    We refer to thought as the 'past' when we invoke memory. Similarly, when we use memory to plan or achieve something ahead, we refer to it as the 'future'. 

    The flow of events alongside bookmarks makes for a narrative or biography. The 'autobiographical self' is nothing but a record of events or experiences of a lifetime replete with bookmarks or timestamps. 

    UG highlights that it is actually the flow of thoughts or the 'movement of knowledge' that fakes the 'I' or the 'self', yet another mischief of 'thought'.

    " The 'self' or 'I' is nothing but 'the movement of knowledge " ~UG

    For UG, the 'I' is just an illusion, a conjecture that 'appears' or 'pops up' whenever there is 'flow of thoughts' or 'churning of knowledge'. In other words, whenever there is a cognitive demand, say, we want to find out the cheapest available flight, knowledge is set into motion ('thinking') and the illusion of the 'I' ('thinker') just pops up. It is actually a deceptive sideshow, not very different from the illusion of cinema where fictional characters, the likes of Tom & Jerry or Mickey Mouse or Charlie Chaplin come alive in the rapid motion of still images. 

    All that we ever know (our knowledge) is essentially the objectification of our experiences or learnings or events. Thought is the primary 'objectification tool' that captures all phenomena for the purposes of storage and retrieval. This is how knowledge enables us to function sanely and intelligently in society. 

    Thought is responsible for all the knowledge that we have gathered. Ironically, we have also amassed plenty of knowledge about 'thought' itself - the various aspects and definitions about thought given by philosophers and scientists etc. In other words, what we know about 'thought' is what we have gathered from others, from various sources. 

    In this audio clip, UG explicates that whenever we refer to 'experience' or 'knowledge' all that we are referring to is only about 'thought'. All our ideas or concepts are merely the permutations and combinations of thoughts. Fundamentally and essentially, there is nothing there apart from 'thought'. 

    " But when you want to look at thought, what is there is only 'what all you know about thought'.

    Otherwise, you can't look at thought. There is no 'thought' other than what is there, what you know (or your knowledge) about thought. This is all that I am saying. " ~ UG

   Thought is the only 'tool of inquiry' or the only 'instrument' we have. This limitation puts us in an awkward situation where we fail to see the absurdity and futility of 'deploying thought to know about thought'. We endlessly indulge in this frivolous mind game as long as we continue our pursuit or inquiry into thought.

   "So, if somebody asks a question, what is thought? Any answer you have is the answer that is put in there, the answers that others have given. And you have, by combinations and permutations of those ideations and meditations about thoughts, created your own thoughts, which you call your own.

    So, just like you see mixing up different colors, you create I don't know how many thousands of pastel colors we have. Basically, all of them can be reduced to only seven colors that you find in nature." ~ UG

    To conclude, here is a great quote from Mahesh Bhatt's book, the Taste of Death,

" Thinking is a poor alternative to acting. Your thinking is consuming all your energy. Act, don't think! " ~ UG

   Yes, thinking about 'thought' is self-abuse and a sheer waste of energy.

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Audio Clip

Audio Transcription

We are all the time talking about thought and thinking.

And if somebody asks you a question, which I am asking you a question, what is thought?

Have you ever looked at thought? Let alone controlling thought, let alone manipulating thought, let alone using that thought or achieving something - material or otherwise, you cannot look at your thought because you can't separate yourself from thought and look at it.

The illusion that you have is, the knowledge you have about thought, that is all that is there. There is no thought independent (of), apart from the knowledge you have about those thoughts, the definitions you have.

So, if somebody asks a question, what is thought? Any answer you have is the answer that is put in there, the answers that others have given. And you have, by combinations and permutations of those ideations and meditations about thoughts, created your own thoughts, which you call your own.

So just like you see mixing up different colors, you create I don't know how many thousands of pastel colors we have. Basically, all of them can be reduced to only seven colors that you find in nature.

So even the seven colors you see, they are not actually seven. Anyway, I don't want to go into that whole color scheme in nature and all that.

So, what you think you see is yours, is the combination and permutation of all those thoughts. Just the way you have created hundreds and hundreds of pastel colors, you have created your own ideas. That is what you call thinking.

    But when you want to look at thought, what is there is only what all you know about thought.

    Otherwise, you can't look at thought. There is no thought other than what is there, what you know (or your knowledge) about thought. This is all that I am saying.

So, when that is understood, you see the meaninglessness of the whole business of wanting to look at thought comes to an end. Because it is not possible. What is there is only what you know, the definitions given by others.

And out of those definitions, if you are very intelligent and clever enough, create your own definitions. That's all.

It is like any other object you have around you, there are so many objects. So when you look at it, you see the knowledge you have about that comes into your head.

So, there is an illusion that the thought is something different.

So, it is you that create the object. The object may be there, but the knowledge you have about that object is all that you know.

Apart from that knowledge and independent of that knowledge, free from that knowledge, you have no way of knowing anything about it. You have no way of directly experiencing anything.

We started with that. When I use the word directly does not mean that there is any other way of experiencing things.

That's the wrong word. Directly implies that there is some other way of experiencing things directly other than the way you are experiencing things.

So, the knowledge you have about it is all that is there, and that is what you are experiencing. Really, you don't know what it is.

In exactly the same way, when you want to know something about thought, experience thought, it is the same process that is in operation.

There is no ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. What is there is only the operation, the ‘flow of the knowledge’.

So, you cannot actually separate yourself from thought and look at it. So, when once such a question is thrown at you, what should happen is that giving all the answers has no meaning because all that is acquired thought. So that movement stops.

So, there is no need for you to answer the question. There is no need for you to know anything about it.

So, all that you know comes to a halt. Not literally. So, it has no momentum anymore. It slows down.

So, then it dawns upon you the meaninglessness of trying to answer that question, because it has really no answer at all. The answers that others have given are there.

So, you have nothing to say on that thing called thought, because what
all you can say (about thought) is what you have gathered from other sources, so you have no answer of your own.