What exactly is "Inner Nature"?

[Veezel]

Benjamin Hoff talked about this in the book The Tao of Pooh. He said that we should listen to our hearts, our "inner nature", as opposed to our erroneous brain.

 

What exactly is this inner nature of ours? Gut instinct?

[Veezel]

I was recently researching about the science behind intuition and found out that there are two parts of the brain: The reptilian brain and the neocortex.

 

According to my research, our reptilian brain is responsible for our intuition while our neocortex is responsible for our analytical thinking.

 

Is our reptilian brain the one we should be listening to?

[RigdzinTrinley]

from the buddhist point of view there is no inner nature - if you like you can call this then your inner nature

 

I am confused and go eat breakfast now

[Veezel]

 if you like you can call this then your inner nature I am confused and go eat breakfast now

 

I don't understand this sentence.

[RigdzinTrinley]

it wasn't posted correctly the whole thing should read:

 

......there is no inner nature, and that you can call your inner nature (backspace)

 

I am confused and go eat breakfast now

 

Edit: didn't do the backspace again

Edited April 24, 2016 by RigdzinTrinley

[Marblehead]

I hold to the concept of "inner nature".

 

And yes, I think that this would be our reptilian nature as opposed to our logical reasoning self.

 

And I also hold to the concept that if we are at peace with our inner essence we will have few to no conflicts with our external world.

 

Being at peace with one's self.  That is what inner nature is talking about.

[Karl]

Ah well, it depends how something is meant and there can be several interpretations of 'inner nature'.

 

The intrincisist holds that our true nature is innate. That we need only listen and we will hear the underlying message. This is the form of religion that believes in revelation. I would suggest this is the most likely interpretation.

 

This is Neo platonic in form: Plato tells us that the memory of perfect forms (entitities), which men knew in a previous life, will gradually return. In the end he thinks that the mind need only remain motionless, passive, receptive, and the light of truth will be revealed in the form of perfect intuition.

 

Inner nature then is divine knowledge, that comes when the mind is still as perfected intuition. Eventually this belief in the form of Kants 'duty' has come to dominate Western society. God has been ousted along with reason. What is left is a collectivist subjectivism. A belief in the worker bee that need not bother with reason, nor God, but to carry out his intuitive duty according to the inner nature of the entire collective.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Karl

[doc benway]

Benjamin Hoff talked about this in the book The Tao of Pooh. He said that we should listen to our hearts, our "inner nature", as opposed to our erroneous brain.

 

What exactly is this inner nature of ours? Gut instinct?

 

 

I was recently researching about the science behind intuition and found out that there are two parts of the brain: The reptilian brain and the neocortex.

 

According to my research, our reptilian brain is responsible for our intuition while our neocortex is responsible for our analytical thinking.

 

Is our reptilian brain the one we should be listening to?

 

It's interesting to watch this process. It is suggested that we listen to "our hearts, our inner nature."

So the brain responds to this by asking, what is this inner nature? Is it intuition, is it gut instinct, is it reptilian brain?

The mind is always looking for something it already knows to substitute, to answer the question - and it's always offering another label, always offering something that it already knows. It can never offer anything new because it doesn't contain the new.

 

If one is interested in something new, like inner nature, then the way to find out what that is, is to actually listen - not to simply fill that space with ideas and words.

Listening requires less distraction which is why most people do this listening in solitude, in a quiet place, and in the absence of other activity. 

 

That listening is meditation. 

[Aetherous]

from the buddhist point of view there is no inner nature

 

I think "inner nature" is just a term describing the Buddha nature.

[Jonesboy]

When I think of inner nature I think of the Buddhist concept of universal mind.

 

Here is an excellent sutra explaining this.

 

Lankavatara Sutra

 

http://zen-ua.org/wp-content/uploads/lankavatara_sutra_english.pdf

[ralis]

What one experiences as so called inner or outer appears as a division/abstraction. My experience being that space appears as a continuum, internally/externally with no perceived limit.

 

The obsession with the 'isness' of things and the addiction of one needing an absolute one truth, only exists as an abstraction of the mind.

Edited April 24, 2016 by ralis

[Wells]

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Edited May 10, 2016 by Wells

[Songtsan]

how does that work? That we are some type of radiance or emanation? We must be more than the emanation....that's just a show of sorts....is there any way to be more clear about what it is?

[noonespecial]

It is that which works in silence and naught but silence can express. 

 

 

[dawei]

https://zendictive.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/the-ripple-effect/

 

The Master was walking through the fields one day when a young man, a troubled look upon his face, approached him. “On such a beautiful day, it must be difficult to stay so serious,” the Master said.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed,” the young man said, turning to look around and notice his surroundings. His eyes scanned the landscape, but nothing seemed to register; his mind elsewhere.

Watching intently, the Master continued to walk. “Join me if you like.” The Master walked to the edge of a still pond, framed by sycamore trees, their leaves golden orange and about to fall. “Please sit down,” the Master invited, patting the ground next to him.

Looking carefully before sitting, the young man brushed the ground to clear a space for himself. “Now, find a small stone, please,” the Master instructed.

“What?”

“A stone. Please find a small stone and throw it in the pond.” Searching around him, the young man grabbed a pebble and threw it as far as he could. “Tell me what you see,” the Master instructed. Straining his eyes to not miss a single detail, the man looked at the water’s surface.

“I see ripples.”

“Where did the ripples come from?”

“From the pebble I threw in the pond, Master.”

“Please reach your hand into the water and stop the ripples,” the Master asked. Not understanding, the young man stuck his hand in the water as a ripple neared, only to cause more ripples. The young man was now completely baffled. Where was this going? Had he made a mistake in seeking out the Master? After all he was not a student, perhaps he could not be helped?

Puzzled, the young man waited. “Were you able to stop the ripples with your hands?” the Master asked.

“No, of course not.”

“Could you have stopped the ripples, then?”

“No, Master. I told you I only caused more ripples.”

“What if you had stopped the pebble from entering the water to begin with?” The Master smiled such a beautiful smile; the young man could not be upset. “Next time you are unhappy with your life, catch the stone before it hits the water. Do not spend time trying to undo what you have done. Rather, change what you are going to do before you do it.” The Master looked kindly upon the young man.

“But Master, how will I know what I am going to do before I do it?”

“Take the responsibility for living your own life. If you’re working with a doctor to treat an illness, then ask the doctor to help you understand what caused the illness. Do not just treat the ripples. Keep asking questions.” The young man stopped, his mind reeling.

“But I came to you to ask you for answers. Are you saying that I know the answers?”

“You may not know the answers right now, but if you ask the right questions, then you shall discover the answers.”

“But what are the right questions, Master?”

 

“There are no wrong questions, only unasked ones. We must ask, for without asking, we cannot receive answers. But it is your responsibility to ask. No one else can do that for you.”

 

[Bindi]

Perhaps inner nature could be related to the chakra level or dantian level at which you routinely operate from - the three sections of the brain could be loosely mapped onto the 7 chakras and the 3 dantians, the reptilian or instinctive brain to the LDT and the lowest 3 chakras which would be related to fear, anger and desire, the Limbic section with the MDT and the heart chakra, concerned with feelings and emotions, and the neo-cortex section with the UDT and the upper chakras, concerned with higher order thinking, creation, manifestation, imagination, awareness, development, objectivity, empathy and consciousness.

[Marblehead]

“But what are the right questions, Master?”

 

“There are no wrong questions, only unasked ones. We must ask, for without asking, we cannot receive answers. But it is your responsibility to ask. No one else can do that for you.”

Therefore, "Question everything".

[Karl]

Therefore, "Question everything".

 

I question, questioning everything. :-)

[Marblehead]

I question, questioning everything. :-)

That is because while everything matters, nothing really matters.

[Karl]

That is because while everything matters, nothing really matters.

 

Bohemian Rhapsody ?

[Marblehead]

 

 

[Wells]

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Edited May 10, 2016 by Wells

[Songtsan]

In Dzogchen Thogal, you in fact look backwards into your heart and see with your eye vision what is there.

 

 

The best way to be clear about it is through direct experience.

In Thogal, you see directly what you are.

 

Is this similar to looking backwards in the reversing the light practice, where you follow the light pathways back to where the visual pathways merge, and then into the thalamus region, and then down the functional channel to the heart area?

 

The reason I questioned whether we are just an emanation at heart is that an emanation suggests an emanator....

[Wells]

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Edited May 10, 2016 by Wells

[Songtsan]

That's the version I have (Thomas Cleary)...I usually get his translations if I'm buying a book