I want to relate an observation made during meditation. It seems that I'm observing thoughts develop through several steps: a process. Here's the best way I can describe it:

a. I sense a flash of thought which occurs so fast I cannot interpret it. I call it thought, but as I stated, I can't get any information from the flash - I just sense it happening.
b. The flash produces a feeling.
c. The feeling initiates an image.
d. The image develops, or morphs, until my conscious mind observes it, or recognises it (don't know which is correct). It almost seems like the image is not sure what it will be until my conscious mind recognises it. I sense it taking a shape before my conscious mind determines what it is.

Does anyone else experience this?

So, why am I asking this? Well, it just seems that the "flash" is entering my mind from elsewhere (not my conscious mind). I am curious as to what "elsewhere" might be. And I'm curious as to whether I am observing a genuine process used by the mind, which I'm just not normally observing when in the daily, waking state.

Roland,

A guess:

1 The flash is the communication
2 The feeling represents a sense of the relation of the content to you
3 The image slowly forming is your awareness system trying to find a metaphor for the content
4 The image clears when your find, within your current experience data, an acceptable pattern match to express the metaphor

3 and 4 constitute an iterative process that churns until an acceptable solution is found. If no solution is found you end up a vague sense of something you can't quite put your finger on.

Tom C

Yes. Nicely paraphrased. However, the image(s) don't always make sense. Sometimes, if I concentrate on the feeling, then I may interpret the images.

This whole process seems to parallel dreams, actually. Perhaps it is a dream process, but the dream doesn't develop in full because my conscious mind steps in and tries to interpret the images immediately.

Roland:
Does anyone else experience this?

Lena:
Before I see a mental image, most of the time I see a globe or a ball or a sphere. It can be one or many of them, clear, milky, golden. Sometimes I ‘go' through a tunnel, where I see many doors. I have learned do not expect anything, it helps a lot. Usually they disappear and I can see a scene, people, sea or nothing at all. Instead a voice (somebody's thoughts) talks to me and I can ask my questions. It took awhile for me to be patient and realize that it is not my own unusual thoughts. I was never afraid of it, quite opposite; I was very happy and surprised to have this great ability to learn, to talk, and to listen.

Lena

_________________
'Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance.' Confucius.

Lena,

That's interesting; and interesting that you realised the source. I suspect the same. I can't say that any expectations are present in me. I do get the sense that the conscious mind is the end point though. Perhaps a deeper state is required to preempt the overlay.

I have these same flashes, and have attributed them to the difference in clock frequency between PMR and NPMR. Tom's answer seems more likely correct. It is interesting how they slowly coalesce over time into a more complete idea or understanding as we digest them. One way or another, its clear that they come from outside our conscious mind. My guess is that they come from our NPMR self, our guides, teachers, or from a subconscious database query. Or any and all of the above. They don't always make sense to me either. If analyzed and kept in memory, they eventually will fit into some other insight like a puzzle piece.

_________________
always, John

Stroker,

Thank you for the reply.
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"One way or another, its clear that they come from outside our conscious mind."
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That clarity hasn't become apparent to me, yet. Besides, I am unsure of the divisional aspect of consciousness, at this point. I am aware of how it appears to be, yet I seem to encounter information that runs contra to the norm. But that seems to be true for everything with consciousness. IOW, there are rules that are followed - mostly. There is the way things appear - mostly. There is knowledge of this or that - mostly. Etc.
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I don't know about the clock metaphor is the best fit. This would seem to be making too much of a mechanical metaphor. I think process fits more closely, as in a series of translations, e.g., a set of information in Greek translated to Latin, translated to Old English, translated to American.

This would seem to be the case - maybe. Or maybe not. =)

I guess a little clarity comes from long practice and many failures for me. I still only get mostly correct 75% of the time in my understanding of the insight. Thats a large margin of error to me, it was worse than chance when I first started following my intuition and investigating the results. Its been a long slow learning process. Believe me, I understand the "mostly" part. :)

I think the idea of a process probably does fit better. The clock metaphor comes from seeming to receive a large chunk of information that takes time to decompress, decode (process?) or just plain assimilate. Might be any or all of the above.

When you get impressions that are later verified as accurate, think if there was any way it might have been deduced from previous knowledge. If not, and it was good impression remember how it felt when you recieved it. I have found subtle differences that point out probability of veracity. That is how it has worked for me. Slow progress and a stubborn streak to keep me going.

_________________
always, John