Mindful or Mindless?

Contrary to the popular perception, mindlessness is a step ahead of the mindfulness paradigm and lets you enter the world of pure consciousness, says Charles Shahar

- Charles Shahar

Most people are aware of the French philosopher Descartes’ expression: “I think, therefore I am.” It is one of the cornerstones of Western philosophical thought. His basic premise is that if one has doubts about their existence, then they must obviously first exist — they exist enough to doubt.

Interestingly, from an Eastern philosophical perspective, the opposite proposition is true, which can be summarised as: “I am, therefore I think.” Why is this distinction important? Because it goes to the heart of these basic questions: What is the nature of being? How do we define our existence? Is our mind and personality the true essence of who we are?

In Eastern philosophy, there is a basic premise that the ego-intellect-mind is simply a mechanism that has no awareness of its own and it is considered to be insentient. Behind this mechanism is pure consciousness. Without the animating principle of this consciousness the mind would not have the ability to cognise anything, would lose its cohesion, and actually not exist at all.

One can liken this relationship of pure consciousness and the mind to the light given off by the sun and moon. The sun is self-effulgent, whereas the moon shines with the sun’s reflected light. Without the borrowed light from the sun, the moon would remain cold and dark, and would certainly not be perceptible to our vision.