Couple of days ago I was watching some YouTube videos regarding the truth; reality. One of the talks was about meditation. My friend has not stopped her thinking yet. She claims to want to, but like it was for me, it will be a journey for her. Like me she is going to need all the help she can get. Luckily for her I know a thing or two about it. What is fortunate though is that when trying to explain it to her it creates in me a need to say it in such a way just for her, which means a new way of saying something. Maybe this way could help you too.
Thinking is obviously complicated. It must be for so many to not have their minds wrapped around it. The issue is, you cannot use your thinking to stop thinking, so naturally if all someone has ever done is think, stopping doing so seems quite absurd. If you are thinking in your head that you need to stop thinking; you are obviously thinking, and that will never bring about stopping your thinking. You will just go on the rest of your life thinking about it with no end in sight. Stopping thinking is a surrender. It is a giving up. It cannot be willed, or forced, or intended, and obviously it cannot be brought about by thoughts. All one can do is pray for the experiences that will bring about the cessation of thought and live life accordingly. Be wary of praying for the truth; if you have attachments pain will ensue.
The truth is, there are countless ways to stop thinking. There are as many ways as there are people. Just get lost in something. Athletes, musicians, artist, all those so engrossed in what they are doing they cease to think. That is a form of meditation. If you were to delve into your own mind you would find that you have all kinds of different ways of thinking, different kinds of thoughts, so it is with meditation, there are many kinds.
Think of yourself as one who has thoughts, you are not your thoughts. Maybe think of it as you being a soul that has thoughts. The soul is aware of much more than the thinking is. So now think of these two specific kinds of thoughts. The ones you use, and the ones that come to you. The ones you use means those thoughts which you are directing. These are thoughts that you would be using when trying to figure out what to do about your spouse or children. The ones that come to you are the ones you have when you are searching your memory, or when you are trying to figure something out and have exhausted all of your own ideas. Artists rely on this type of thought to create their works.
It’s not that the thinking cannot be creative, but that that creativity comes from much deeper. If the thinking is only one percent of total brain activity then how much more powerful are those thoughts which come from the total mind?
A good baby step towards becoming a meditator is to just stop the willful thoughts. One can be meditating and still have a stream of thoughts going through the mind; one just stops listening to that stream. Turn the volume down so to speak. In your mind separate the gap between the thoughts. Step out of your thoughts. Step away from them, let them drop away, cease to care about that silly stream of thoughts.
So there is the gap. Krishnamurti’s way of bridging the gap was to go into it. The gap between the thoughts. He sought the gap.
I prefer to attempt to be aware of everything at once when I wish to completely stop the train of thoughts. Just by trying to use all my senses simultaneously it is impossible to think. Sight, sound, touch, taste, feelings, emotions, thoughts, intuitions. It’s all happening at once, always. There is just too much going on so it leaves no room for thoughts.
To be clear though, I use all that is available to me. There are times, like at work, where I can’t stand still, and I must focus. This is when I use the athletic meditation; so focused on the task at hand the stream of thoughts are lost, silenced, they just don’t matter when I am cutting potatoes. They would just be causing me problems. I need those fries to be perfect.
Another way to meditate is when you have problems in life and don’t know what to do. Just sit quietly somewhere beautiful. Anywhere beautiful to you. Focus on it and relax at the same time. Stop your directed thoughts and let thoughts just come to you. Be aware of the thoughts coming to you, be aware which ones you directed, which ones just come to you. The ones that just come to you will be like a dream. Do you always know what your dreams mean? In the same way you won’t always understand the thoughts the unconscious mind drops through into thinking.
So if your thoughts are constant, which for most people this is true, and you have never really tried to meditate before, just try to become aware of your different kinds of thoughts. By wishing to stop thinking completely right off the bat is like thinking you can run ten miles the very first time you go for a run. Instead, begin to analyze your thoughts. Begin to decipher the different thoughts you have; Intuitional ones, directed ones, psychic ones, influenced ones; did you know you get thoughts from others? There are a great many lines of thought going on in the typical person's mind besides the directed ones. They, like you, simply have not learned to look within yet. Those directed thoughts are more ego than anything.
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