Are Thoughts Inherently Divisive?
"One of the first notions I ever had of Dialogue was many years ago when I read about an anthropologist who visited a North American Indian tribe, probably hunter-gatherers, of about 20 to 40 people. He saw that they frequently gathered together in a circle, and they talked and talked. Nobody seemed to be in authority, and they didn’t have any particular agenda or any particular purpose. They made no decisions – they just talked, and at the end, they separated and seemed to know what to do. They had established a relationship with each other and they could now deal with their practical problems and really communicate. Instead of getting into the state (we are often in) where we are fighting over the problems and not communicating, they were able to see each other.
So, that is really the sort of thing I have in mind for Dialogue. It may prove very hard for us to do this, because for thousands of years our tradition has been otherwise. So when we get together we have a purpose; we have authority and hierarchy with some people having more value than others and their word counting more; and also we want to achieve something and we don’t want to waste our time. So I am suggesting something that seems quite different. You may ask, if we have such pressing problems, why should we waste our time just talking. But I say that our problems originate because we can’t engage in this activity of just talking, and therefore when we try to deal with our serious problems we find that we are not meeting." - David Bohm”
This is what we essentially explored Monday night. We see the fragmentation and violence that thought creates in our world today - Politically, Economically, Socially, and Environmentally. We divide ourselves, mind / body / spirit. We attach ourselves to labels about ourselves and other things (I am this / I am that). This is not who we are. We are not words, we are not labels. Nor are trees, mountains, lakes, cities or countries ever the labels. Words are nothing but symbols and can never truly be the true essence of what is. Yet, we hold onto our ideas and words so strongly and inflexibly and sit here thinking what we imagine with our words and beliefs are essentially real. Yet, as we haven’t freed our minds, we don’t see that these beliefs and words are not the real thing, and project our words outwardly, creating a matrix of delusion upon the world canvas. We have imagined upon this canvas a dream, and a bad dream at that, and then think it is reality.
Yet, other cultures used thought differently and not so solidly. Maybe this was because their population was small and could have the time and energy to talk through things. Maybe it was because they were taught to see the world differently. None the less, their thinking didn’t create the divisiveness nor violence that we see in our society. There is nothing in these small indigenous cultures like the violence and suffering we have seen take place in our culture. There is nothing remotely close within these indigenous cultures to the historic violence we see in our culture. Our culture produced and systematically developed the horror of the North American Slave Trade and the brutality of the Jim Crow era. Out of our culture was born the brutal violence of Stalin and Hitler’s reigns. Throughout our culture’s history there have been constant brutal wars within the confines of territories, as well as the annihilation of any societies that was in the way of progress. We have seen nothing close to the insensitive eradication of anything wild, and consequently, the killing off of more than 50% of all species.
Yet, can we change our way of thinking? Are we different from the thought or feeling itself? What would happen instead of pushing away our thoughts and feelings, we directly were present with that moment of thought and feeling? For example, if I was angry, and I was completely present with that feeling, what would happen? Also, if I began to act in kindness even in situations that are challenging, can I shift my thinking? For example, if I want to be kind, but somebody is being passive aggressive towards me, can I still be kind as my buttons are pushed? Instead of reacting, can I be present with the feelings that arise in total attention? If so, what would happen to the feeling? Can I then act in a different sort of way with that person? Or if I am trying to be kind but trying to get ahead ambitiously, can I notice the ambition and be directly present with what this thinking and feeling is directly? What would I discover? And can one be kind and follow ambition at the same time? What could one find out by being present with this? It makes me wonder that thought doesn’t have to be stagnant nor imprisoning, but rather can be fluid and impermanent like clouds.
This is a reminder that thought is just a reflection of what we are taught. If we are taught that we are separate and have little voice and are tied into a hierarchical classified system, then we will act out the roles we are taught to play. If we are born into and taught that we are connected to our community and ecosystem, then we will act out and think out that role.
Dialogue is a great teacher. It shows us directly that thought can let go and not hold on so tightly. It teaches us to listen and in that space understand. It lets us ponder how we respond or share and how we articulate ourselves. Dialogue is a meditation and contemplation that mirrors the self and collective all at once. Dialogue has the potential to change oneself and the entire group all at once. Dialogue illustrates that thought is just a tool nothing more, nothing less. What only matters and what has always only mattered is oneself.
When one is whole, authentic, and free, one will use thought wisely and only when needed. In this space, a quietness flows, and a listening happens. Here thought has no real power. It is just seen for what it is - a mere pointer. When one is fragmented, lonely, anxious, or fearful, thought will be used to manipulate, to grab, to own, to violate, to interrupt, to argue.
The beautiful thing is this. In every moment, one can decide to continue down the road of living divided, or one can stop playing the game and begin to listen and let go of one’s assumptions, opinions and beliefs and live fresh, alive and free, moment to moment…
