Please feel free to listen to my music while you read. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!
It's your brain against my mind.
- Q-Tip, Buggin' Out, Low End Theory, 1991
I remember the first time I heard Buggin' Out. In all fairness I wasn't the first one around my way to have the now iconic Low End Theory cassette with the sexy woman in red, black and green stripes. That award goes to my man Christopher Leon Brown.
Aside from being a fun, dope track with strong lyrics from both Tip and Phife, it also contained a moment of ontological depth.
At the end of Tip's second verse he says:
"I go out with the strongest and I separate the evils. It's your brain against my mind."
At first glance the verse could be seen as a shout to those in Tip's circle with strong wills and a dis to those with weak constitutions; the evils. It's the second part of the verse that got me. "It's your brain against my mind".
I was only 15 at the time but I remember thinking, "what's the difference between the brain and the mind"? Aren't they the same thing? But they couldn't be. Not only did my then idol Mr. Jonathan Davis (now Kamaal Ibn Fareed) say it wasn't, but I couldn't ignore that I related differently to the ideas of my "brain" and my "mind". I knew what my brain was (no matter how often I proved to my parents that I wasn't using it), but if there is a brain (that soft ball of neural connections in my skull) and something separate called a mind (whatever the hell that is), then what is the mind and where is it? And why did Q-Tip seem to favor the brain (YOUR brain vs. MY mind) over the mind?
In 1991 my idea of the mind was as the events that went on in my head. It was my sense of an "I" or a "self", my identity, my story, what I liked, disliked or didn't give a damn about. MY mind that existed as an independent entity that would proclaim its difference from YOUR mind at the drop of a hat.
91' was the year I learned how to meditate. As a part of a Judo class I took 4 days a week at the local rec center, we sat zazen, the style of meditation practiced by Zen Buddhists. The instruction was to kneel and sit with our butts on our heels (called seiza position), place the back of my left hand on top of my right hand and let my thumbs touch lightly (sometimes called the concentration or meditation mudra, or hand position), to keep our eyes half open and focus our attention solely on silence; to try to experience on the most subtle experience and don't move from it. Those moments were the first time that I encountered anything resembling something other than my normal mind. We would only sit for 5 minutes but it was enough to make me curious about what would happen if I practiced more. I would go home and practice meditation for longer periods in my room and allow everything to get very quiet until everything started to disappear. I remember feeling frightened because there was nothing there; it was like getting lost on purpose and then being expected to enjoy it, so I would let it go. I would focus my attention, let everything fade away, get scared and just drop the technique. But if there were anything that I could call the mind it was that; simply seeing that although there seems to be something called a mind i.e. the contents-memories, associations, ideas, concepts etc. all things that seem to change- there was nothing there when I looked besides looking and nothing else. That looking didn't shift even thought the contents did.
So when Tip said "it's your brain against my mind" he may have been saying "you're using the limited, shifting experience as your weapon" while "i'm using the unlimited static experience as mine". That mind is powerful, where the brain (although necessary and powerful in it's own right) at the most is a device for channeling and directing that power. As he says on the song "1, 2 Shit" found on the B-Side to the excellent 1994 12" single "Oh My God", "My lyrics is the bullet and the mic is the tool". The truth is that one is not useful without the other. A gun is a powerful machine but the energy of destruction (or creation depending on your stance) comes from the ammo. Contemplation practice involves using the physical brain (neural connections and various lobes with their individual functions and interdependent abilities) and its contents (concepts, perceptions etc.), to access the non-conceptual (awareness, wisdom, clarity). When we use the brain to experience the mind, what newfound insights and abilities do we discover?
Contemplate it for yourself. What is the difference or similarity between the brain and the mind? Don't think about it. Sit in an upright and comfortable position (on a cushion or chair) with your hands in the meditation mudra that I spoke about earlier. Allow the question to arise in your mind without seeking the answer and when the question fades, say it gently again. Allow whatever to arise to arise and when something that feels real, that may be quiet or loud to rest in your mind and place your attention on it. When your mind starts to wander, bring your attention back to what arose for you. Practice contemplation for 10 minutes and then allow yourself to sit in the silence I spoke of earlier for 5 minutes. Focus only on the most subtle of experience. After 5 minutes carry whatever arose for you in contemplation practice into your everyday life.
If there's a verse you think should be contemplated or think I should discuss, let me know in the comment section below.
Hiphop Alive
Justin F. Miles is the founder of Hiphop Alive and pioneering practitioner, theorist and educator at the intersection of Hiphop culture, mindfulness and contemplative studies. He is the leading voice championing the use of Hiphop infused contemplative modalities to foster resilience, emotional intelligence, and community empowerment.