We all suffer from broken thinking. It’s another term that can be applied to the destructive mindset. Broken thinking is irrational and illogical, and yet we are guilty of it.
We have a number of sensory organs. Whatever our sensory organs detect, our brains are designed to piece it together into something we form a relationship with. For example, sight. Our cerebral cortex associates the various points of light and lines we detect into recognizable forms, such as faces for which we also identify names. Or types of trees, cars, birds, etc. Our brain pieces the identifiers in a logical, rational fashion.
We form a relationship with what we hear. We may hear a siren and link it with a police car or fire truck. We may detect the sound of a bird and our brain relates the sound with the name of the bird, and possibly with a visual representation of what the bird looks like. This is also rational and logical.
Our emotions are also sensory organs. They do not detect material phenomena like our eyes and ears do; rather they detect social (spiritual) dynamics. I use the terms social or spiritual in the sense that they detect relationship dynamics. If someone relates with you in a way that is benevolent, that is, the “other” acknowledges you, respects you, and has a friendly attitude with you, then you are likely to detect this by experiencing a positive emotion. The dynamic detected is a positive ‘potato.’
On the other hand, if someone relates with you in a way that is malevolent, that is, the “other” does not acknowledge you, respect you, or may be acting with the attitude of a foe towards you, then you are likely to detect this by experiencing a negative emotion. The dynamic detected is a negative ‘potato.’
Our emotions detect the potatoes, positive or negative. It is the people, self and other, who relate with one another and are responsible for the potatoes, both positive and negative. Let’s focus on the negative potatoes for now. When our emotions detect the potatoes, we form a relationship with them, just like we do with what we see or hear. Our brains help us to identify what our emotions detect. The potato, however, represents a social (spiritual) dynamic. For example, if you detect that someone has lied to you, they have related with you in an adversarial way, as if your existence does not matter to them. Your negative emotion(s) detect this dynamic.
Since our brain is highly developed to the visual, it is common for us to relate first with what we see. In the above case, the “other” has lied to you, but you do not visually “see” the lie (the potato). You do, however, see the person. It is therefore very easy for us to relate first with the person that we see, in a manner as if they are the potato. This is broken thinking. It is irrational and illogical to relate with a person as if they are a potato. This applies to others as well as to the self. NO person is a potato!
Broken thinking is destructive thinking. There is a tremendous cost to the world we live in as a result of broken thinking. When we relate our emotions first with the potato that they detect, then we are able to understand our emotions logically. The above problem is the lie, and not the person responsible for the lie. When we understand our emotions logically, we can form the constructive mindset and relate with the person responsible secondarily, in the context of the lie. This is rational and constructive. We have the ability to piece the situation together in a logical fashion, and explore collaborative ways to resolve the problem, rather than confrontational ways.
As well, since negative emotions are unpleasant, we may consider them to be potatoes. Unfortunately, if we do, we have defaulted into the destructive mindset, making ourselves to be the problem. This is also broken thinking. Your own potato detector is not the problem. Our vision has its limits too. It is dangerous to look straight into the sun, for it is too bright and can damage our eyes. But bright light does not make our vision to be the problem. Rather, we are thankful for our vision and train ourselves to use our vision responsibly. The same is true for hearing, when there is a loud noise. Emotions also fall into this category. Sometimes emotions are experienced intensely, such as raging anger, anxiousness/anxiety, or intense sadness, but this does not mean the emotions are the problem. Rather, the potatoes that the emotions detect are the problem.
It is true that we can spend a lifetime of meditation and training ourselves to calm down, and become successful at it. However, if we achieve this within the destructive mindset, it is broken thinking, and there is a price to pay. Rather, we can learn to accept and use our emotions responsibly. To do so gets us to understand our emotions logically and adjust our broken thinking. May you have much success as you learn to use your emotions and to put your potatoes on the desktop!