(October 1, 2016 at 1:46 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:(October 1, 2016 at 12:05 am)Emjay Wrote: What do you mean?
(October 1, 2016 at 12:10 am)robvalue Wrote: There's a problem with his dictionary I think
Nah. The difference is, introspection is self-examination with an eye to learning something about oneself, for whatever reason -- self-improvement, belly-button-gazing, whatever. You learn something new about yourself and move forward with it. But rumination, from the standpoint of the mindful person, is the continued regurgitation of feelings for more chewing. And especially when those feelings are of regret, guilt, and so on, such a practice makes it much easier to feast on the past even as you try to escape it.
The reason why that line is thin is clear -- because in order to be honest with ourselves, we have to examine events where we've wronged others, or where we were ourselves wronged. The introspective person will do that, get to the lesson, absorb it and move forward. The ruminant, on the other hand, will re-experience those feelings, and then swallow them again, thinking that they're done with them ... until the next bout of rumination.
Right... well I don't think I'm a particularly ruminating person by that description... so I would say I do fit the definition of introspective you've given. I don't constantly relive my past because when I analyse myself I do it as objectively as possible... even when I have to face harsh truths I still do it objectively rather emotionally. But I kind of understand what you mean... I am aware that in the past I thought I was making progress for many years but in hindsight I really wasn't... I was analysing but not growing... more interested in understanding myself than actually changing. So by analysing under that mindset all it really served was to keep my delusions alive... to keep them topped up and well fed. In fact that's kind of one of the delusions I feel I've debunked... leading to the knowledge now that all that work was for nought and I'd probably have been better off if I hadn't bothered. The difference now is that I'm outside of that... I'm no longer inside-looking-out, self-centred analysis... with its attendant blame focused outwards and unwillingness to face unpleasant truths about myself... now it's looking down on the big picture, giving all sides equal weight. Basically now all that drives me is wanting to understand the truth... not a comfortable truth (ie delusion)... but the full truth. And unlike before, I am willing and trying to change... putting whatever I learn to good use and really feeling like I'm growing, perhaps for the first time in my life, as a result.