5 Philosophical Ways to Get Your Mind Out of Dark Places
linkedin.com
5 Philosophical Ways to Get Your Mind Out of Dark Places
I call this the Thought See-Saw, and while it features two prominent sides, the truth is that we are rarely sitting at the endpoints of it. Although I’d like to think that sustained thought is a reliable pathway to profound insight, I can easily find myself on a train of thought that is taking me to a pit of anxiety and fear. In fact, I find myself... See more
Lawrence Yeo • The Right Side of Thought - More To That
Ajinkya Wadhwa added
Far from lulling the reasoning mind into some dull blankness, contemplative practice sharpens reason and engenders all manner of creativity. So there is no cause for concern here. The bottom line is this: minimize time given over to chasing thoughts, dramatizing them in grand videos, and believing these videos to be your identity. Otherwise life wi
... See moreMartin Laird • Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation
On living a good life…Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible.
James Clear • Masters of Habit: Rituals, Lessons, and Quotes from Marcus Aurelius
Supritha S added
Well, in my research I’ve noticed certain metaphors of the mind re-appearing in the literature on transcendence. And one of the most persistent is the metaphor of the mind as a palace, castle, or ‘many-roomed mansion’. Explorers of transcendence, from St Augustine to St Teresa to Thomas Traherne to Keats, often use this image to suggest the awesome
... See morephilosophyforlife.org • Mind Palaces: The Art of Psycho-Technics, or Soul-Craft — Philosophy for Life
Jonathan Simcoe added
Reflecting on the nature of thought may not come naturally, but it can be trained with consistent practice. In the same way our muscles don’t bulk up without physical exercise, our minds won’t sharpen up without adequate mental training. Contemplative practices like meditation and prayer contribute to this type of project, but much of it starts by ... See more
Lawrence Yeo • The Right Side of Thought - More To That
Ajinkya Wadhwa added
Plato suggested a metaphor for the mind: our ideas are like birds fluttering around in the aviary of our brains. But in order for the birds to settle, Plato understood that we need periods of purpose-free calm. Staring out of the window offers such an opportunity.
Alain De Botton • The School of Life: An Emotional Education
Resist the lure of the entertained mind and keep your mental gears turning by diving into the “vast recesses of one’s being.”
Shai Tubali • The Mechanized Mind: AI’s Hidden Impact on Human Thought
Daniel Santos added
A habit of finding pleasure in thought rather than action is a safeguard against unwisdom and excessive love of power, a means of preserving serenity in misfortune and peace of mind among worries. A life confined to what is personal is likely, sooner or later, to become unbearably painful; it is only by windows into a larger and less fretful cosmos... See more
Bertrand Russell • In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays
Patricia Mou added