tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post3995695058423997080..comments2023-08-28T19:10:35.886+10:00Comments on Dr Ian Ellis-Jones ... Living Mindfully Now: MINDFULNESS IN THE BIBLEDr Ian Ellis-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158091959759426208noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post-66581901205436183102017-10-20T08:01:04.179+11:002017-10-20T08:01:04.179+11:00Thank you, Dr Bob. I appreciate your kind words an...Thank you, Dr Bob. I appreciate your kind words and appreciation. Like you, Buddhism appeals to me as a philosophy as opposed to a religion, although it certainly is the latter in some places where there is faith and worship on top of the basic Buddhist philosophy and way of life. I would be happy to be interviewed on your blog. I am off to France for 2-3 weeks but after then I'll be free. Just contact me by email or LinkedIn. All the best to you, personally and professionally, thanks once again--and congratulations regarding your book. Ian.Dr Ian Ellis-Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13158091959759426208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post-85249348354469068622017-10-19T18:31:26.080+11:002017-10-19T18:31:26.080+11:00Ian, THANK YOU for this post. It is exactly what I...Ian, THANK YOU for this post. It is exactly what I was looking for. I am writing a book on depression, and want to emphasise that mindfulness meditation is as western/Christian as eastern. I will include a link to this page, so please, don't let it disappear!<br />I am a Buddhist (a Christian minister told me this when I was 23. I looked up Buddhism, and found my philosophy there), but also, I do my imperfect best to implement Jesus' message of unconditional love. This is why I am a Professional Grandfather. :)<br />I would be honoured to interview you on my blog https://bobrich18.wordpress.com on a topic of mutual interest. I'll now look around the rest of your site and see what that might be.<br />Have a good life,<br />BobDr Bob Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13905005432340711608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post-45930490996251037942013-05-16T16:06:38.036+10:002013-05-16T16:06:38.036+10:00Thanks for your comments and questions. Much appre...Thanks for your comments and questions. Much appreciated.<br /><br />In my view, there is no evidence to support the assertion that there is a constant, permanent, separate, independent, non-changing entity known variously as the ego-self, transcendental self, or soul. Everything is impermanent and ever-changing, from one moment to the next. Our sense of self is the result of habit, memory, conditioning, and the like. What you are is a person among persons, a person being a mind-body phenomenon. You think thoughts, but you are not those thoughts. You feel feelings, but you are not those feelings. You have a body, but you are not that body. Consciousness is characterised by impermanence in the sense that it arises and passes away at every moment.<br /><br />Buddhist psychology, to which I ascribe, teaches the doctrine that ‘self is illusion,’ and that belief in the existence of some supposedly permanent and substantial ‘self’ or soul is a delusion. Now, the concept of anattā is bedrock to Buddhism. The Pāli [being the main language of Buddhism] word anattā (anātman [Sanskrit]) means ‘not-self’ or ‘non-self’ rather than ‘no-self’. The Buddhist teaching of anattā---of which there are several different (and even discordant) interpretations in Buddhism---affirms that there is no actual ‘self’ at the centre of our conscious---or even unconscious---awareness. The ‘self’ does not exist---at least it does not exist in the sense of possessing a separate, independent, unchangeable, material existence of its own. <br /><br />Our so-called consciousness goes through continuous fluctuations from one moment to the next. As such, there is nothing to constitute, let alone sustain, a separate, transcendent ‘I’ structure or entity. We ‘die’ and are ‘born’ (or ‘reborn’) from one moment to the next. Whence comes our sense of ‘I-ness’? In the words of one leading writer and commentator:<br /><br />Problems arise when we choose, hundreds of times each day, to identify with our ‘false’ (or ‘illusory’) sense of ‘self’ (or ‘I-ness’). We try, ever so hard, to convince ourselves---that is, the person that each of us really is---that we actually are those ever waxing and waning, arising and subsiding, hundreds and thousands of I’s and me’s (‘selves’) that, in a dynamic, ongoing, ever-changing and seemingly endless process of ‘self-ing’, parade before us like 'mental wallpaper,' from one moment to the next. <br /><br />The so-called ‘self’ is the content of its awareness, no more, no less; as this content changes so does the ‘self.’ Now, hundreds of thousands of separate, ever-changing and ever-so-transient mental occurrences (‘selves’) harden into a mental construct of sorts which is no more than a confluence of impermanent components (‘I-moments’)---that is, mental states (cittas)---cleverly synthesized by the mind in a way which appears---note that word, appears---to give them a singularity and a separate, independent, unchangeable and material existence and life of their own. The so-called ‘ego-self’---as well as the so-called ‘mind’---has no separate, independent, permanent existence in the sense of being ‘compact, all of one piece, doing all these different mental functions’ (Vipassana Bhavana, 1988: 3).<br /><br />Having said that, it is a paradox of immense proportions that, for something which has no separate, independent, unchangeable and material reality of its own---and certainly no singularity---the non-existent so-called ‘self’ causes us so much damn trouble---mainly because we let ‘it’.<br /><br />So, in conclusion, I submit that there is no unifying consciousness, and no ultimate ‘self.’ <br /><br />Jesus recognised the 'unreality' and impermanence of the self when he said, 'I of myself can do nothing.'<br /><br />All the very best.<br /><br />IanDr Ian Ellis-Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13158091959759426208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post-81866422806667778862013-05-16T15:26:55.836+10:002013-05-16T15:26:55.836+10:00Hi Dr, I cant find your email so I post my questio...Hi Dr, I cant find your email so I post my questions here instead:<br /><br />1. About non self in mindfulness, it that means that there is always a changing self from moment to moment? Maybe in there present I might see my self as person X, but this is not fixed, in the next moment who knows? I might be person B, however in the present I aware that I am X.<br />But it doesn't mean in our thoughts, we couldn't have any component of "self" right? I mean if I am mindfully think, thought like "Oh, I remember!" arise. Since there is a "I" component there, it that means I am not mindful?<br /><br />About concept of all things are changing, for example, I aware that my computer is computer at present, but who knows it will be degraded in the future, so in a sense that nothing is fixed. But I label it as computer in the present only for mutual understanding and communication, deep down in my heart I know it will change in the future.<br /><br />About conceptualizing, my administrative jobs required me to conceptualize thing, if I am aware that I am conceptualizing during my job, can I consider it Mindfulness. I heard some people conceptualizing is bad. But in my view, I has to conceptualizing things and facts based on what it is the present. But I know this concept can be changed, yes things change. Or else I can't even do my job.<br />It that correct?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04393258078862719799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post-87214475725289279592013-01-22T07:06:33.205+11:002013-01-22T07:06:33.205+11:00Many thanks, Jordan, for your appreciative and ins...Many thanks, Jordan, for your appreciative and insightful comment. I really appreciate your taking the time to publish a helpful, positive comment on my post. And you are very observant---yes, that is Shinjuku JR Station in the background. Although I am based in Sydney, Australia, I have travelled to Japan, and spent some time there, on a couple of occasions in recent years---mainly studying Buddhism in Japan, and meeting with likeminded friends. All the best to you with your studies. We might meet up in Japan when next I'm there. Cheers, Ian.Dr Ian Ellis-Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13158091959759426208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6280685470634875837.post-80878508277655515942013-01-22T03:24:25.075+11:002013-01-22T03:24:25.075+11:00Dr. Jones, I have enjoyed your blog. I Google sear...Dr. Jones, I have enjoyed your blog. I Google searched Bible scriptures on mindfulness and your blow was the first thing that came up. I was reading in the bible from the Epistle of James after a session of meditation and I noticed two scriptures that I thought also were quite related to mindfulness and the four noble truths.<br /><br />The first is 1 James:8<br />A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.<br /><br />I loved this! It helps us to understand the importance of focused attention.<br /><br />The second is 1 James:13-14 which relates to the second noble truth; the cause of suffering.<br /><br />Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing more posts on your blog! By the way are you currently living in Japan? I noticed the JR Station in the background of your first picture. I used to live in Japan and will return to Japan this summer as part of a study abroad program. <br /><br />-Jordan RingAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06297449402591785704noreply@blogger.com