RELIGIOUS, AGNOSTIC AND ATHEIST ( Archived) (134)

The mystery of believing is to do so without the proof. Sorry, but it is not possible to define what you want to hear from others without adding in the element of "faith", because to believe intuitively, that is without the concrete proof that non-believers so strongly demand, is to, in fact, believe because of faith, not the lack thereof. The story of "Doubting Thomas" illustrates this part of the Christian belief. Just info, folks. Not wanting to get into an argument!

The way we live and think everything is dedicated to material pleasure. We consider sense objects to be of utmost importance and materialistically devote ourselves to whatever makes us happy, famous and popular.
Even though all this comes from our mind, we are so totally preoccupied by the external objects themselves that we never look within, we never question what makes them so interesting. However, this mind is an inseparable part of us; as long as we exist our mind is there within us. Thus we are always up and down. It is not our body that goes up and down, it is our mind—the mind whose way of functioning we do not understand. Therefore, sometimes you have to examine yourself; not just your body but your mind, which is the thing that is telling you what to do. You have to know your own psychology, or, in religious terminology, perhaps, your inner nature. But no matter what you call it, you have to know your own mind.
Don't think that examining and knowing the nature of your mind is only an Eastern trip. That's a wrong conception; it's not an Eastern trip, it's your trip. How can you separate your body, or the picture you have of your self, from your mind? You can't say, "I have the material power to separate my body from my mind."
That's impossible. You think you are a free person in the world, enjoying everything. That's what you think, but you are not free. I'm not saying that you are under the control of someone else; it's your own attachment, your own uncontrolled mind that you are oppressed by. If you can discover how it oppresses you, the uncontrolled mind will disappear automatically. Thus knowing your own mind is the solution for your mental problems.
One day the world is so beautiful; the next day it is so bad. How can you say that! Scientifically it's impossible for the world to change radically like that. It's simply your mind that makes this happen. Don't think that this is religious dogma; our going up and down is not religious dogma. I'm not talking about religion; I'm talking about the way you lead your life, which is what sends you up down. The people and the environment don't change radically; the changes are in your own mind. Surely you can understand that—it's so simple.
Similarly, one person thinks that the world is beautiful and people are wonderful and kind, but another thinks that everything and everyone are horrible. Who is right? How do you explain that scientifically? It's just their individual mind's projection of the sense world. Hence you feel, "Today is like this, tomorrow is like that; this man is like this; that woman is like that." But where is the absolutely fixed, forever-beautiful woman? Who is the absolutely forever-handsome man? They are non-existent; they are simply creations of your mind.
Also, you should not expect material objects to satisfy you and make your life perfect; that too is impossible.
How can you be satisfied by even vast amounts of material objects? How can you be satisfied by sleeping with hundreds of different people? It's impossible. Satisfaction comes from the mind. Your dissatisfied mind wanting to keep changing from one person to another, from one trip to another, can never satisfy you. This is just your mind.

The way we live and think everything is dedicated to material pleasure.

You should write a book if you haven't already. There are so many, many things we do not consider. Are you familiar with the genius savant? (an individual who is perfect in one art or another, many times it is music. Sadly, they are often severely mentally challenged in most other areas. No one seems able to figure this one out. For example, a woman who can play the piano like Liberace. But she had absolutely zero exposure to music of any kind. Now, what do you make of THAT? Fascinating, yes? )

na i've copied that into here because i think its useful information, I can copy the rest if you like, its not just dogma it comes from:-
By Lama Thubten Yeshe at Melbourne , Australia (Archive # 329 003, Last Updated Apr 3, 2009)
Lama Thubten Yeshe gave this teaching at Assembly Hall, Melbourne, Australia in April 1975. Edited by
Nicholas Ribush. Read more talks from this teaching tour in the book Becoming Your Own Therapist.