Bloke
Premium Member
Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
― Mahatma Gandhi
"Your beliefs become your thoughts " ...we sure about that... do our thoughts become our beliefs, or more commonly, is it what we are told and accept, become our beliefs for most of us ?
Some beliefs can be prejudices...
I agree - I'm not too sure about several lines of Gandhi's -especially the first couple, and I think "Your words become your actions," should read "Your words should become your actions" because if you say something, you should do it and always hold yourself to what you say. Not all do. I try to, but a simple enthusiastic statement at a public meeting which I realised was a promise certainly shaped a decade of my life and made it hard. That happened because my values did shape my destiny as I believe you should keep your promises.These two ideas got me thinking, and have led me to disagree with Mr. Gandi's statement. As you said, some beliefs can be prejudices (or lead to prejudices, but that's a different discussion). But a prejudice can be challenged by thought, as can a belief. The statement that 'your beliefs become your thoughts' suggests that this is a linear progression, but we know that's not the case.
Darn Right! Unfortunately, integrity is assumed here and rightfully so. Without integrity, and for that part "authenticity", the entire premise falls apart.I agree - I'm not too sure about several lines of Gandhi's -especially the first couple, and I think "Your words become your actions," should read "Your words should become your actions" because if you say something, you should do it and always hold yourself to what you say. Not all do. I try to, but a simple enthusiastic statement at a public meeting which I realised was a promise certainly shaped a decade of my life and made it hard. That happened because my values did shape my destiny as I believe you should keep your promises.
Agreed! His original words conveyed things in his language that English readers might never receive. However, when we review the spirit of what was said, even when translated into English, we can usually fill in the missing pieces fairly quickly.I think the thought pattern might be more circular - but hopefully not going around in circles... more walking the same road with different perception, experience and perhaps information, perhaps its spiral rather than linear or circular - but I'd take linear over circular any day...... but Gandhi might have said those words in Hindi and they loose something in translation...
Faith is choosing to accept a premise as true and you support it regardless of any external support OR lack of support of the premise....I think belief, as distinct from Faith, should come from our thoughts.
We have faith. ;-)When we are a child, many do not think about what our parents tell us - but even then, we make the choice to believe it...
Emotions come from how we perceive what is before us or what we anticipate will be before us. Our beliefs shape our perceptions....so maybe belief comes from our thoughts and choices about a combination of thoughts, observations and external information, both good and bad..... but that excludes emotions from beliefs and I believe (LOL) emotions play a role, especially in something like prejudice... perhaps emotion is just a constituent ingredient in anything we do and hence is caught up in both our thoughts and choices, but I think it needs to be specifically acknowledged.
So how about this
Beliefs arise from conscious and subconscious decisions based on a combination of thoughts, observations, feelings and external information.
Would not touch it with a ten foot pole Bro.!Now, we could just look this up in a philosophy book, but that's no fun and won't teach us much so... now...over to Coach to rip that apart
...Faith is choosing to accept a premise as true and you support it regardless of any external support OR lack of support of the premise.
Belief is accepting a premise as true because you chose to assume it is supported externally.
...How do paradigms of reality fit into all this?
Yeah, I thought you would...I like it !
Please run with this.More that paradigms - is it not more a question of intellectual capacity to evaluate beliefs ?
One of my favorite quotes is "If the student is not ready the teacher literally does not exist". If a person has not prepared their Psyche (by Psyche I mean the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual self) they will not understand what you are saying. For me, the hardest part of Psyche-logical growth is accepting that those around me are often are unprepared to "become better"; and that often the better I become the more distance there is between me and them.More that paradigms - is it not more a question of intellectual capacity to evaluate beliefs ?
...Please run with this.
Agreed!We're on a theme "the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is illusion of knowledge" Stephen Hawkin. It's basically what Mark Twain said when quoted above.
Agreed!A paradigm can both be a tool and a shackle. What counts is your ability to use a paradigm, to examine an idea, and move in and out of the paradigm to evaluate the idea. In this case, the idea is a belief. So I guess, if you want robust beliefs that have a chance at being correct, the key is critical thought and education to help you shape that thought.
A paradigm can both be a tool and a shackle. What counts is your ability to use a paradigm, to examine an idea, and move in and out of the paradigm to evaluate the idea. In this case, the idea is a belief. So I guess, if you want robust beliefs that have a chance at being correct, the key is critical thought and education to help you shape that thought.
Thanks - I will put that on my reading list...Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" discusses paradigms extensively. It's one of the most important books of modern philosophy and modern history. Should be on the top 50 reading list of non-fiction books to read during your life.
Your statement is one step beyond his lessons. Thanks!
I acknowledge that this statement is a valid paradigm, and that many (if not most) people agree with it. It is simply not my paradigm. For me philosophy, and Freemasonry, are best summed up as "the search for the best way to think about things".I've often said of Freemasonry (but, really, philosophy in general) that the most important word is 'why'.
Kuhn certainly had a very great impact on my view of science, but I have not abandoned Popper's falsification method in my own process even though it is not sufficient in itself.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/pop-sci/
To Know, To Will, To Dare, To Keep SilentIf Freemasonry is a science then there ought to be some doing after the thinking (speculation)