René Descartes, widely regarded as the father of modern philosophy, is responsible for the now famous phrase, “I think, therefore I am.” While this statement was made over 370 years ago, it has become an extremely important idea, helping to shape the logical thinking process of nearly the entire globe. However, despite Descartes’ invaluable contribution to philosophy as we know it, there is now a commonly held belief that he may have gotten it wrong.
The consensus of Descartes and most 17-20th century philosophers was that the human thinking mind was the greatest creation in existence, capable of overcoming any and all obstacles in its path. Many today are awakening to the idea that the thinking mind is limited in its scope of understanding the true nature of human existence.
Master Tim of the Academy of Self-Defense in Twinsburg, Ohio addresses this issue frequently in his classes, as this Northeast Ohio martial arts studio places great emphasis on spiritual and mind development. Providing mental, physical and spiritual coaching, Master Tim unveils the flaws in the philosophical logic of long ago and helps students understand the limitations of our thinking mind.
The main issue with the thinking mind lies in its design. The thinking mind is designed to judge, collate, store, like/dislike, and agree/disagree. It’s purpose is to categorize and separate everything we come into contact with in our daily lives. And as the thinking mind primarily acts as a problem solver, it will actually create problems to solve if none exist. We have negative thoughts about ourselves, others and the world as a whole. We fight over which religion is right, which ethnicity is superior, which country is good/bad, and so on and so forth. As a direct result of all of this judgment, we have had centuries of conflict and war. In fact, it’s gotten to the point that we believe we are isolated beings existing in our own little worlds.
Master Tim often brings up the fact that our thinking mind is often overwhelmed in its own existence! It is a statement of our times that we all feel as if the world were spinning out of control. But it’s not the world that’s causing this imbalance—it’s us! As most of us lack any sort of mental or spiritual awakening, we allow our minds to spiral out of control. And the effects of this powerlessness can be seen in every aspect of our lives. Our overactive minds cause us to sleep poorly and digest improperly, not to mention the fact that our bodies become stiff and inflexible. We allow our high-strung minds to take control of our bodies and we fall ill because of it. It gets to the point in which we’re dissatisfied with our life situation and the world around us.
It’s because of this limited thinking mind and the resulting issues of it that Master Tim believes Descartes got it backwards. A more accurate statement may be, “I am, therefore I can think (but only if I really need to.)” And the most accurate statement of all? Well, that would simply be, “I am.”
There is no blame towards Descartes or his philosophical ideas. Before his time up until the latter part of the 20th century, this was just the level of consciousness that existed on our planet. But after this point, a dawning of consciousness and enlightenment began to take place on Earth. And now? Now a spiritual renaissance is blossoming in which every human being is participating.
“We are bound in our existence by a creation of our consciousness – the mind. But our true nature is pure unbounded awareness.” - Master Tim Loomis
Mind development is not a task that can be performed overnight. And unfortunately, we are still living under a misconception of our mind and its role in our life, as well as our evolutionary development. Western society is consumed with the cultivation of the thinking mind and the learning of facts and figures, along with a complete reliance on the precepts of logic. It is this limited mind that is wholly responsible for the predicament we find ourselves and our world in today.
Master Tim’s teaching focuses on something else instead. This NE Ohio martial arts school offers mental, physical and spiritual coaching whilst teaching students about a much bigger Mind (capital “M”) — one that has been written about in the great spiritual works of all cultures.
Mind is not bound by thinking, concepts, judgments, suffering, or fear. This sort of mind development does not arise from any logic or learning method conceived by the thinking mind. It requires a personal realization on the part of the seeker, along with the opening of oneself to that which is the source of all. This Mind blossoms when the tangles born and perpetuated by the thinking mind begin to unravel and dissolve. And that’s exactly what this martial art school attempts to accomplish with their mental, physical and spiritual training and coaching.
Part 2 next month.
