Sorry, I should think before I speak - I was being rash - I mean : There must be something about this (overly powerful/dangerous) human brain that can solve the problem of animal fear/desire, or else we’re doomed.
I’m saying this brain is dangerous and powerful, but something about it must be part of the solution or we’re done for.
Yes. The awakening of intelligence…?
I see it differently in this way: I am Buddha like and my mind is like a still, silent pond. You come along and say ‘why don’t you stop acting like such a phony baloney’? Your words are like pebbles dropped onto the surface and cause tiny ripples; a disturbance…I hear your words and ask myself ‘am I a phony baloney?’ And when the answer arises, ‘of course not!’ The ripples fade, negated, and the perfect calm returns! 
Adeen, I don’t believe Douglas was defending the killing of other people here (although he will have to reply for himself).
Unfortunately he didn’t catch your meaning about the army general. You were saying (by using this example) that what some people may call practical thought is completely impractical (i.e. if it leads to the killing of other people). K sometimes asked “armaments; is it practical?”
Putting aside the controversial example of an army general - a surgeon, a doctor, a house-builder or architect, all use practical thought, and we need that practical thought in order to make a living, and to create the right physical conditions for people to live happily. I think that’s the main point.
Killing other human beings is wrong.
I was just going to give that conversation a pass - some subjects are very emotionally difficult and confusing.
Sorry if anyone was hurt.
Yes, that is why we have the art of listening .
In fact the teaching teaches you how to listen . That is the beauty of it.
But unfortunately we have some rigid people in K’s forums that mechanically claim that there is no “how” and mislead others.
If you know the “how” you’re either doing it or you’ve done it. Please tell us all about it.
Sorry if I misunderstood
To me, all thought is desire, all thought is suffering, all thought is fear. It is wrong to divide it as practical and psychological. It is wrong to divide thought into categories. It is just thought. To divide thought is to continue with it.
If you see all thought is fear, all thought is suffering, all thought is desire, you will not move into that field.
As long as there is continuity of thought, there will be fear, there will be sorrow, there will be division, there will be suffering.
Try as you may by dividing thought and in doing so give continuity to it, you will give continuity to fear, desire, suffering, conflict.
If you want to continue along that, ok, then continue with the consequences both inside and outside.
You will never ever be able to solve fear, desire, suffering through thought as they are one and the same
Tell it to Krishnamurti. He’s the one who talked about practical and psychological thought and the difference thereof. Look it up.
The ‘wrong turn’ happens all the time, one must be alert all the time, from moment to moment. It is wrong to divide thought as much as not to do so. Of course thought is thought, the use we make of it makes the difference. Thought is something absolutely precious, it makes us human beings. One has the responsibility to make good use of it. Krishnamurti speaks of thinking rationally and sanely, he clearly is distinguished for thinking rationally and sanely (he uses these words all the time). Give intelligence a chance!
But you are using thought to write this!?
For some reason Adeen you are just bouldering on with your rejection of the obvious… is it because you are constitutionally unwilling to accept that in this case you might be mistaken?
“All thought is desire” - well stop using it then to write all this on Kinfonet?
As Jess says,
Silence can use thought, but it is not thought.
Anyway I think each person has to find out what silence of mind is.
If you are convinced there is only thought and nothing as silence of mind, there is not much I can say in words.
Whatever I am writing, I am testing and writing.
But are you reading too Adeen? Do you actually take the time to read other people’s comments, or are you only interested in pursuing your own line of thinking?
You have been given evidence that children think, that practical thought is necessary for communication, skilled work, etc; and that K said we need practical thought, as well as the capacity to think rationally, logically, sanely.
Do you read these sentences and just ignore them? Is this what silence does? Does silence ignore the statements of others?
If I strongly believe that my beliefs are the truth, and the simple hearing of different ideas that seem to contradict my beliefs disturbs my sense of security, then I am the victim of psychological thought.
If I can listen without fear, then I am at least slightly free from thought - all thought - no thought can disturb my silence - I have no fear of being corrupted by unpure ideas - my heart is open because I do not constantly strive to exist as I imagine I should .
Sorry for the lack of poetry and the terrible prose.
To me the difference between thought and silence is the difference between insanity and sanity.
I do ignore intellectual discussions. It does not interest me as I try to explore practically directly by testing in my mind and my daily life.
How do you do that? What form does this take? Can you describe this testing? Give an example?
nb. for example, do you see the movement of your self in relationship - like how you react on this forum? Are you in conflict with the words on this screen?
I see that a mind that is silent is without conflict.
A mind operating in thought is in conflict.
Say someone tries to insult you. If the mind is silent, there is no reaction, it does not leave a mark. Otherwise if there is reaction of thought it leaves a mark and that comes back.
Silent mind is also working mind. Working mind which works, does action is one that is silent mind.
Occupied mind is a paralysed mind. It cannot act in the world.
Silent mind is also a listening mind. Without some silence you cannot directly understand.
A mind which is occupied in thought is a selfish mind.
All this I have seen in myself.
I have also seen that I can only listen to Krishnamurti if my mind is silent