Memory is nothing but a reservoir of past responses, actions, implications ,traditions customs . An idea is nothing but the outcome of a thought process. One is to understand the thought process itself before one comes to understand its product which is the idea. Thought is nothing but the result of a response either neurological or psychological. It is an immediate response of the sense to a sensation or psychology or a response to an accumulated memory. The response of the memory to any challenge brings the thought process. Operating on one self one can test the truth of it directly. The response of the memory , which is the thought process ,creates an idea and this idea is always conditioned which is very important to be understood in discussing this question.
So thought process is always the result of the memory which is always conditioned. Memory is always of the past and the memory in the given life at present is a challenge. Memory has no life itself. It comes to life in the present when confronted by a challenge.
Belief comes out of the conditioned mind. It is a question as to why do we accept beliefs? When one sincerely tries to understand it , one is certainly free of it. One may have different types of beliefs, may be political ,religious, national. Could these beliefs reach us the Truth? It is sure that beliefs separate people ,creates conflicts ,confusions and antagonism which is obvious but one is unwilling to give it up.Why?Is it possible to live in this world without beliefs not substituting one for the other but be free from all beliefs? This after all is the truth, the capacity of meeting everything new from moment to moment without conditioning reaction of the past memory that acts as a barrier between oneself and what is.
One reason to accept belief is but fear. One is always frightened of what might happen. If one has no pattern of action based on belief ,even in god, one shall be utterly lost. That is the fear ,the fear of being empty. But ,actually a pot is useful when it is empty, a mind is useful when it is empty and a mind which is full of dogma ,ideas ,thoughts assertions, questions is really an uncreative mind. So to escape from the fear that is the fear of emptiness, the fear of loneliness, stagnation of not arriving not acting ,not succeeding not becoming something one accepts the beliefs covetously. Certainly does one understands oneself by accepting beliefs and can one look at oneself without beliefs? If one removes all beliefs, certainly, one has nothing left to look at. That is the beginning of understanding of oneself.
Actually, for convenience one believes in certain things for a psychological security. The problem is not what one believes or how much one believes. The problem is the inward craving to be secure psychologically to be certain about something when everything is so uncertain in this world.
Now the approach to life is quite different because one is to find out for one self inwardly whether one is acting out of an idea is there any of his action without any idea? One could ask a question whether there is an action which is not the result of experience. An action based on the experience is a hindrance and an action which is not outcome of an idea is spontaneous . When the mind is not controlling the action, that action is independent of experience. That is the only state in which the thought based on experience is not shaping action. Can at all be action when there is no thought process? All ideas ceases when there is love as love is not the outcome of any experience, of a practiced discipline. When the truth of this is seen that one cannot think about, it comes into being.
Certainly idea is not the truth whatever idea it may be. It is only when the mind is free from idea, the solution comes. this is the only solution to all our problems and anything other than this is but the pseudo-solution. Truth is not an experience and if one tries to name it an experience then it is a sensation .Then again the problem starts. Only when one goes beyond the bundle of ideas, when the thought is completely silent one can know what is.
Dr Sudhansu Dash