Is a bad memory a bad thing?

[Unlearner]

I've noticed that, in the more recent times in my life, my memory for certain things seems to have degraded rather noticeably. When I was in school, I had a great memory for remembering pretty much everything, yet I seem to forget certain things rather quickly now.

 

I can't be entirely sure whether this is some quirk that I'm developing (I'm still quite young), or if I may be purging my memory of events myself somehow. I seem to recall data and information with as much accuracy and quickness as I've always been able to. However, when it comes to events, details, and thoughts which I had personally, it seems my mind will suddenly go blank at times and I will forget a significant number of things.

 

Strange enough as it sounds, I don't really mind this all that much. In fact, it seems to have given me a new perspective and allows me to focus more on the present than the past. However, I cannot discern whether it is caused by myself, that I am somehow able to forcefully purge my memories subconsciously, or if it is caused by some other reason.

 

A perfect example of this would be that I was just now in the middle of writing up a new topic which I had titled "The Nature of Seeking". Yet, somehow about halfway through writing this, I suddenly forgot what I was writing about and even why I was writing it in the first place. Reading back through it, I was unable to pick up my original intention (I'm sure that I had one), and had to drop it completely.

 

The only connection I can draw between the things that I've been forgetting are things that have happened to me personally, such as the details of conversations, daily events, etc. Yet, I can recall things that I didn't experience personally quite clearly, such as information or someone else's description of an event.

 

Any thoughts on this? I don't think I'm really looking to fix it so much as I'm just curious if anyone else has had any experience with this.

[C T]

Im also experiencing the same for the past few years!

 

Its wonderful! So much less clutter, so much more present!

 

 

Im at that point now where spontaneity takes over a lot of the time, and this, i think is made all the more accessible when thoughts have developed a natural tendency to simply slide off the memory slope on their own, and clinging to them by willful design is definitely not what spontaneity is about. In fact, this (willful clinging or forceful manipulation of memory) actually dampens presentness if i may say so.

 

Nature speaks, we ought to listen, and then we can observe how preoccupation with triviality and mundane things hold such fascination when in truth it should not.

 

I asked my teacher when i first noticed this pattern developing, and he laughed, saying that my mind is becoming like a teflon-coated wok! It holds stuff, but nothing sticks!

[Apech]

... sorry forgot what I was going to say ...

[Marblehead]

... sorry forgot what I was going to say ...

Wait till you get my age.

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I don't think that is positive, personally. You are more in the present, but it would be better to be in the present while still having the tool of a good memory which allows you to get practical stuff done.

 

Studies have found that meditation tends to improve memory and being in the present. And mindfulness, as originally defined in both the Pali Canon and in Mahayana texts, has connotations of remembering the instructions from the past, remembering to stay focused in the present, and remembering to prevent laxity and excitation in the next moment.

 

If I were you, I'd double-check the instructions of the practices you do, and be especially careful to avoid dead-tree Zen.

[Marblehead]

Hi Seeker,

 

Your point is valid but I would like to offer some alternative considerations.

 

Do you know what "selective hearing" is? This is when two people are constantly in the same environment, most often husband and wife, ane one of the two is constantly bitching about this or that. We listen, occassionally insert a "Yes Dear." picking up on anything that is actually important but allowing the mind to totally ignore what is not important. You have heard everything but will remember only what was important, if there was any of that at all.

 

It works the same with memory in general. We can remember the lessons but we totally forget the negative experience through which the lesson was learned.

 

Our brain is such that if we do not think on something of the past it will simply fade away because it has not been fed.

 

And that reminds me of a little story:

 

A young Indian (NA) boy saw sitting with his grandfather and the grandfater said to the young boy, "inside each of us are two wolves, one good, one bad, constantly fighting for control." The boy asks, "Which one wins?" The grandfather replies, "The one we feed."

 

Same with memories. Those we feed will win and dominate our mind. Without the negative memories (because we do not feed them) all that is left are feel-good memories.

[silent thunder]

I'm at an age now, when I get to play the game...

Why did I walk into this room?>

[Marblehead]

I'm at an age now, when I get to play the game...

Why did I walk into this room?>

Hehehe. Because it is a new game to play?

[thelerner]

Preaching to the choir. I've never had a good memory, though I've compensated with sharper deductive skills (maybe). Glenn Morris wrote (in Pathnotes..) that the advanced spiritual person doesn't have the memory for trivia that the average person does because they grok trivia when they see it, thus filing it appropriately away, whereas it sticks in the memory of others.

Edited September 24, 2013 by thelerner

[Brian]

Preaching to the choir. I've never had a good memory, though I've compensated with sharper deductive skills (maybe). Glenn Morris wrote (in Pathnotes..) that the advanced spiritual person doesn't have the memory for trivia that the average person does because they grok trivia when they see it, thus filing it appropriately away, whereas it sticks in the memory of others.

 

Sounds to me like a guy with a bad memory trying to make a silk purse... (EDIT: I meant Glenn Morris, BTW)

 

 

Personally, I think there is value in memory, and value in not remembering everything.

 

I remember an old science fiction story in which a man had been given an immortality serum (or something) that had the effect of "healing" his brain over and over such that his memory was constantly being refreshed. Not a helpful outcome. On the other hand (as an example), our poor ability to recall pain allows us to "keep trying."

 

Balance in all things, I think.

Edited September 24, 2013 by Brian

[Marblehead]

... our poor ability to recall pain allows us to "keep trying."

Quoted for the truth it contains.

 

(That's why I ended up getting married three times instead of stopping after the first.)

Edited September 24, 2013 by Marblehead

[silent thunder]

I used to have an incredible memory for certain things.

When I was in the acting phase of my life, I would memorize the entire script.

It came without effort. By the time the other actors were off book with their parts, I'd have the whole show in my head.

This was partly a survival instinct on my part, in case anyone else went up on lines, I wanted to be able to get us back on track and not lose information central to the plot in the process.

 

When working at the bank, I would memorize the account numbers for corporate transfers... (this gave my boss nightmares, but I never slipped up).

 

These days, I can recall some quotes and still memorize my bank account and serious numbers.

But my recall for long text is all but gone.

Use it or lose it I guess.

Perhaps it's time to start working this area out again as part of my cultivation and memorizing some monologues.

Or perhaps this is natures' natural path of decreasing what isn't necessary.

[Marblehead]

Or perhaps this is natures' natural path of decreasing what isn't necessary.

Might very well be.

[Aetherous]

Bad memory is definitely not a good thing. But "bad" or "good"...no use in worrying about it. What matters is - can we fix it?

TCM might say it's due to weakened kidneys with imbalanced yin and yang. Or it might say some other things...best to consult with an acupuncturist about the memory issues. They will take your pulse and discover what might be causing it for you.

In modern Western thought, it's probably due to the "if you don't use it, you lose it" phenomenon. So people memorize different things and recall them, as practice. Or they do things like Sudoku or crossword puzzles. Actively rebuilding the pathways in the brain. Studies are sometimes done on monks of various sects...something to keep in mind (haha) is that they'll memorize verses of their sacred texts as a spiritual practice.

Ayurveda has herbs and foods which are "medhya" (strengthening the three powers of the mind, dhi (learning), dritii (retention), and smriti (recall)).

Lifting weights is something I think might help, since it's scientifically proven to increase the density of bones and muscles. Here's a quote from the linked page:

 

If kidney jing is plentiful, both the bone (supporting the body) and the brain (supporting the mind) will be at a level of ideal strength. On the other hand, a deficiency of kidney jing will bring about brittle bones and a listless spirit. As the Neijing puts it: "The kidney is the master of physical strength; it produces exquisite movements/actions."

[Marblehead]

 

In modern Western thought, it's probably due to the "if you don't use it, you lose it" phenomenon.

I just log on to TaoBums. That fixes everything.

[silent thunder]

I just log on to TaoBums. That fixes everything.

You definitely get a good work out here

[Marblehead]

You definitely get a good work out here

Yeah, looks like I'll have 20 grand before too long. I don't talk this much when I'm alone.

[Unlearner]

Well, I am aware that, being someone who invested a lot of time in the pursuit of knowledge, I am able to train my mind to remember things in certain ways, so I think that by using my memory to recall things makes it easier for me to remember things more clearly and concisely. However, I only ever focused on doing this for recalling data, forumlae, etc, rather than for remembering past events. My memory for information works through ordering and numbering, so if I need to recall some specification of an item or whatnot, I still am above average in that. I tend to forget things like having a conversation with someone, things I've done, places I've gone, etc. So, part of me thinks that my bad memory in that aspect is that I don't use it very often, so it's been degrading over time. If this were the case, then it would simply be a natural thing, so there would be no problem really, and could be fixed at any time I like.

 

However, another part of me suspects that I may be subconsciously forcing myself to forget things. Assuming for just a moment that this is true, I don't really feel like it's such a bad thing. I feel like it helps me to clear my mind of bias and over-thinking, and allows me to focus more on the present situation, rather than getting caught up with the past. As for the point Seeker brought up, this isn't really a problem for me, as my memory serves me well enough to perform my job well, so practicality isn't really the issue.

 

I think it would almost be more appropriate, maintaining my previous assumption, to say that I feel like I'm training my ability to forget things more than I am losing my memory out of negligence. This is more of my focus than simply being a forgetful person, I feel like the spontaneous forgetfulness is simply a side-effect of this.