Conditionally Controlled

Without awareness of the conditioning that’s formed, one is blindly controlled by it. It says jump and the only thing you can do is jump, and if you are really conditioned you will ask how high…

If you want to understand your mind you will need to sit down and observe it. Whatever you think and ponder upon is what becomes the conditioning of the mind and hence this is what becomes your actions. If there is no sitting, there’s very little chance for the mind to settle so it can be observed. As conditioning is formed it becomes second nature, there’s very little observation in this mind activated action. These conditioned actions are different for everyone, but they are common at their root; they all arise in some way to seek pleasure. It matters little what one uses to fulfill this pleasure seeking conditioning and because there’s very little awareness of this, it’s in control. There needs to be an understanding that your actions become conditioned by how you think. This is what determines whether our actions are wholesome (loving) or unwholesome (selfish). Simply put, loving actions should be cultivated so they become your default conditioning.

If there isn’t any sitting to allow the mind to settle, an understanding of this will be difficult and so observing the conditioned patterns will not be recognized. Without recognition of this conditioning, one is blindly controlled by it. It says jump and you ask how high; this is why we do things that aren’t in our best interest without hesitation. Without the ability to observe the thoughts that arise, one is like a puppet on a string. Sitting allows the mind to settle so there can be an observation of this and one by one the strings can be cut. If nothing is in place to allow this settling, the Conditioned Mind puppeteer will continue its control and you will blindly and without hesitation do things that aren’t beneficial to you or others…