We normally believe that through thinking that we understand. This is only partially true. Through thought, we can interpret specific areas of life. Also, we can forecast how decisions will effect circumstances, as well as attempt to come to grips with what has already occurred in our life.
The problem is that thought is often very subjective. In other words, the way we think is often corrupted or polluted by our personal and subjective agendas. For example, we can think that we need a new car and then apply our thought process to anticipate the cost and other criteria that not only involve the purchase, but how this would effect our lifestyle.
However, other subjective factors often enter our thinking process, which have the effect of complicating our minds, rendering the whole process confusing and conflicting. In the above example, we begin to think about status, worries about what the neighbor thinks and other types of matters that have little to do with what is actually needed to buy a car (on a practical level).
What happens when we attempt to suspend thought? Of course, we need to think constructively; however, we do not normally see that there is a hidden treasure of Wisdom which is beyond thought that truly understands our own experience. Partially, this inherent belief in thought stems from our prejudice that only conceptualization brings understanding. We believe that if we stop thought, it would make us dump or stupid. Just the opposite, actually.
Why would the absence of thought bring any understanding? There are at least two answers to this.
First of all, finding the Space between thoughts brings us to a deeper area of the mind that is detached. When we can be detached, be can see things more clearly.
Secondly, and this may seem hard to fathom, but this deeper area of the mind is Wise. It is as if there is a wise man or woman underneath all the thinking that we normally do. It is not that our normal thinking is wrong or impractical. It is just that we often do not know what to do, how to interpret our experience clearly, or where we are going. This deeper and detached aspect of the mind can not only understand experience better, but work with the functioning intellect to establish clear perception and decision making.
We need thought, but we need the absence of thought to truly understand experience. To encounter this treasure trove of understanding we need to learn how to temporarily side-step our normal ways of thinking, and this takes a specific training.
What we will discover is that through this inherent Space of the mind that transcends thought, we can discover deeper Qualities that are inherently wise and intelligent, such as Automomy, Clarity, Freedom, Order and Love. These are easily assimilated and realized when we enter the inner Space and temporarily suspend (not eliminate) the many ideas that are often running in our heads in an almost compelling and mechanical manner.
This internal material will be seen, though this intelligent Space of the mind, as narcissistic, subjective and not real. Thought can be linked to undersatnding only when it is purged of subjectivity; then thought can be linked to Understanding. This is the origin of the Greek philosophical notion of ”Reason”. The opposite of this is “opinion”, which does not just refer to our common understanding of the word, which implies a kind of non-professional attempt at solving some sort of dilemma, but to the way we normally think, which is highly personal and subjective.
Most of our thinking is influenced by emotion, and this emotion refers to aspects of our self and mind which relates to our own image and worth. This often renders our conclusions, assumptions and positions non-objective or without Reason. The manner is which we transform this is not through repression or trying to eliminate emotion through the idealization of Pure Intellect, but through the process of Self-Observation.
Self-observation is the means by which we can look squarely at our feelings and how they not only pertain to narcissistic perceptions and thus, distortions of self-and world, but how they connect and form our normal thinking and conclusions. By learning to doubt what we think and feel and adopting an “experimental” approach to our mind, we can realize how much we base our conclusions on feelings which are unfounded. For example, we “think” this person is ridiculous, but when we enquire into our minds, we realize that she just hurt our feelings, which prompted me to label her as such.
Whenever there is lack of internal objectivity, we tend to distort self and world. This brings mis-understanding and leads to all the conflicts, confusions and complications of our daily lives.
William Edwards
Author, Trainer
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