December 2024

Thoughts are also an experience. Is that what the Dharma is saying? In Buddhist Dharma teachings the mind is treated as the 6th sense, I am told.

In the physical material world we know that one experience will lead to another, and thus some experiences can be obviously and intuitively cultivated. Throwing the object at the wall will cause it to shatter into a mess of pieces. Not throwing the object at the wall will avoid the unpleasant mess of pieces, and is usually the choice we make.

The same patterns also exist for experiences of the mind, though we often fail to realise it. Emotion. Thought. Fear. Happiness. Unease. Just as we plan and act to produce favourable outcomes in our material world, we can also cultivate favourable outcomes in our mind and in our spiritual existence. Being mindful of how a thought and state of mind will lead to another and learning to cultivate not only a pleasant external life but a pleasant internal one, too.