When Thoughts Are Seen as Thoughts
Cuando los pensamientos son vistos como pensamientos
A student describes watching fearful thoughts arise, followed by judgmental thoughts criticizing the fearful ones, and how seeing their nature causes them all to dissolve.
When Thoughts Are Seen as Thoughts
A student describes watching fearful thoughts arise, followed by judgmental thoughts criticizing the fearful ones, and how seeing their nature causes them all to dissolve.
There is a stream of thoughts coming out of fear, and attention gets drawn into it. Then other thoughts come in as well, criticizing how nonsensical the fearful thoughts are, pointing out that they have no basis and are total fabrication. After this, there is a recognition that these judgmental thoughts are themselves coming from a position, a stance rooted in the belief of being a person in time and space. Suddenly, because of this seeing of what the nature of these thoughts actually is, all the thoughts simply disappear. That has been my experience of seeing thought.
Yes. The more we see thought as thought, the more it will dissolve.
Thought that is attuned with reality
If the thought that comes as a criticism of another thought, or the fear that arises from thoughts, is in some sense attuned with reality, then it will be clear what direction is useful. And in a sense, that direction, that decision, will happen on its own.
It is like learning to ride a bicycle. At first there is a lot of figuring out, a lot of active exploring. Then the movement just becomes so natural that there is no longer any thought around it. We are doing the same thing here. The problem is that we believe we need to be thinking about everything all the time in order for action to happen.
I actually do get to these points where, seeing what these thoughts are and where they are coming from, once that is seen, they immediately lose their grip on attention.
Yes, that's good.