Open mindedness

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Cittasanto
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Open mindedness

Post by Cittasanto »

What do you think open mindedness is

do you dismiss alternatives or consider them and find it worthy to question your theories through various means?
Last edited by Cittasanto on Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
Yana
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by Yana »

Hi Cittasanto,

I think open mindness is keeping an open mind to other things besides our belief.It's not that we go just accepting everything.But atleast we can consider testing these various different theories.

:hug:
Life is preparing for Death
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mirco
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by mirco »

Well, I can't watch that video in my country due to copyright protection.

I think open mindedness is to accept everything that is going on in mind, without resisting or pushing anything away.

These processes in mind are just dependent arisen and impersonal, but if we start to take them personal and clinging starts, closed mind already happens. My two cents.

Regards :-)
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ground
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by ground »

Open mindedness is often advocated by those who want to put forward their beliefs, i.e. as a means of persuasion.

Not believing anything while accepting that others believe regardless of what they believe is perfect open mind. Such an open mind may be the result of mindfulness. :sage:
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tiltbillings
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by tiltbillings »

ground wrote:Open mindedness is often advocated by those who want to put forward their beliefs, i.e. as a means of persuasion.

Not believing anything while accepting that others believe regardless of what they believe is perfect open mind. Such an open mind may be the result of mindfulness.
Thank you for sharing what you believe.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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ground
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by ground »

tiltbillings wrote:
ground wrote:Open mindedness is often advocated by those who want to put forward their beliefs, i.e. as a means of persuasion.

Not believing anything while accepting that others believe regardless of what they believe is perfect open mind. Such an open mind may be the result of mindfulness.
Thank you for sharing what you believe.
You cannot know whether there is belief. All you see is just words. If there would be belief then the words would not be the belief but just a means of expression. Meaning of words arises depending on eye contacting words qua forms. :sage:
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tiltbillings
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by tiltbillings »

ground wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:
ground wrote:Open mindedness is often advocated by those who want to put forward their beliefs, i.e. as a means of persuasion.

Not believing anything while accepting that others believe regardless of what they believe is perfect open mind. Such an open mind may be the result of mindfulness.
Thank you for sharing what you believe.
You cannot know whether there is belief. All you see is just words. If there would be belief then the words would not be the belief but just a means of expression. Meaning of words arises depending on eye contacting words qua forms.
Said Ground, expressing his belief. Thank you for sharing your expression of belief.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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ground
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by ground »

tiltbillings wrote:
ground wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:Thank you for sharing what you believe.
You cannot know whether there is belief. All you see is just words. If there would be belief then the words would not be the belief but just a means of expression. Meaning of words arises depending on eye contacting words qua forms.
Said Ground, expressing his belief. Thank you for sharing your expression of belief.
Remember: You cannot know. :sage:
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tiltbillings
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by tiltbillings »

ground wrote: Remember: You cannot know.
Thank you, again, for sharing your belief.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Cittasanto
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by Cittasanto »

mirco wrote:Well, I can't watch that video in my country due to copyright protection.

I think open mindedness is to accept everything that is going on in mind, without resisting or pushing anything away.

These processes in mind are just dependent arisen and impersonal, but if we start to take them personal and clinging starts, closed mind already happens. My two cents.

Regards :-)
unfortunate, it is an interesting video. (watch this space I'll mirror it for a short time.

If the Buddha didn't resist... (fourth Noble truth) and wasn't open to a life without Dukkha (third noble truth) the extent he saw dukkha being present (the second noble truth) would not of been undermined and uprooted.

these four Noble Truths are to some degree an expression of open mindedness. a receptivity to new ideas (what has not been heard before) and seeing whether they fit reality. not necessarily an acceptance of anything, but an understanding of everything.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
Spiny Norman
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by Spiny Norman »

Cittasanto wrote:What do you think open mindedness is
I don't take my opinions as seriously as I used to, I mean they are just opinions and it's OK not to know the answers. ;)
Buddha save me from new-agers!
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Cittasanto
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by Cittasanto »

porpoise wrote:
Cittasanto wrote:What do you think open mindedness is
I don't take my opinions as seriously as I used to, I mean they are just opinions and it's OK not to know the answers. ;)
:toast:
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
nibbuti
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by nibbuti »

Hi cittasanta
Cittasanto wrote:What do you think open mindedness is
do you dismiss alternatives or consider them and find it worthy to question your theories through various means?
I think this is a perfect example of open mindedness by Ven. Sariputta:
"Friends, just as the footprints of all legged animals are encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is reckoned the foremost among them in terms of size; in the same way, all skillful qualities are gathered under the four noble truths. Under which four?
Under the noble truth of stress,
under the noble truth of the origination of stress,
under the noble truth of the cessation of stress,
and under the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress. - MN 28
But, as others suggested, 'open' mind can be ambiguous, as to what is to be dismissed and what is acceptable.

So a big-mind may be a better term, in accord with the big elephant footprint.

:meditate:
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by Spiny Norman »

nibbuti wrote:But, as others suggested, 'open' mind can be ambiguous, as to what is to be dismissed and what is acceptable.
For me an open mind is less caught up in grasping and rejecting views, therefore less opinionated and more open to possibilites.
Possibly. :tongue:
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nibbuti
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Re: Open mindedness

Post by nibbuti »

porpoise wrote:For me an open mind is less caught up in grasping and rejecting views, therefore less opinionated and more open to possibilites.
Possibly. :tongue:
Possibly. But some views are necessary in conventional life to plan ahead and not starve. The Buddha taught wise view rather than no view.

:popcorn:
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