Words, Memory and Thoughts

What thoughts would flood our mind if someone was to tell us that we have been diagnosed with diabetes? Probably we would think about that uncle, that friend, that colleague who doesn't get to eat as he wishes, has become emaciated, have developed eye problems, have had to amputate a foot or something to such effect. Wouldn't the diagnosis worry us? Wouldn't it be enough to cause sleeplessness for at least a few days? It very much might.

And what triggered such train of thoughts? That word 'diabetes'. The memory associated with the word 'diabetes'.

Sounds very simple doesn't it? Sounds logical doesn't it? Now replace that word with any other word or words that bothers us. A friend telling she 'hates' you, the boss telling you are not working as 'expected', the bank sending SMS telling your EMI is 'due', and so on and so forth. If these were apparently negative connotations, the above applies for positive words too. Just think about it.

Our deep conditioning is a reason for great deal of pain and sorrow. Our conditioning as many philosophers would say is not of many years of our lives but of centuries together. That concept is for a different debate, some other time. But conditioning is a truth that chains us. We are chained to the thoughts embedded deep within.

The deep within is the long term memory; unlimited in capacity, storing vast information in packets, interconnected; and able to manifest when a thought draws upon it, from it. In other words our hurts, our notions, our perceptions are all linked to the deep seated memory. An image triggers it, a sound triggers it, a smell triggers it, a touch triggers it, a taste triggers it. Now, we are familiar with our sensory systems.

But what words, a common input for our sensory system can do, more often than not is, it can reach out to the deep seated memory. And then with whatever related thoughts we have, new thoughts are created. So how a good news or a bad news plays with us is by using the words used to generate thoughts.

So far so good, but one might wonder that it is a natural process; what is the big deal about it. The big deal again more often than not is the hurtful, sorrowful, painful thoughts that take space in our minds and makes the living difficult and/or demented. Can this 'natural process' be used to seek peace, seek silence? Yes. Difficult but yes.

The difficulty is in the 'unconditioning' part. If we do not let 'diabetes' conjure the thoughts, many of them half cooked, to build new thoughts that bring about the sleeplessness we can let the word not dictate our thoughts. In other words if the word can be dissociated with thoughts it would fail to impact.

Diabetes is just a word, cancer is just a word, hate is just a word. if we can bring about that desired 'silence' or what has been called as 'no-thought' it can prevent the unwarranted train of thoughts. It doesn't mean fostering ignorance, or denial, or escaping; on the contrary the dissociation between words and thoughts should occur in the background of total awareness, of the situation, of the individuals, of the surrounding, everything.

It is all easier said than done and at the same time not as difficult as it might appear or is made out to be. Tough and challenging times in life are times when such 'philosophies' can be brought into practice. It is when the iron is red hot that the hammer will help shape it. Difficult times and good times both provide that red heat. Question is are you even ready to make an effort to use the hammer?