The Space Between Thoughts
El espacio entre pensamientos
A student describes a fleeting moment of recognition: the instant after being lost in thought and before the next thought arises, a formless taste of something that cannot be described.
The Space Between Thoughts
A student describes a fleeting moment of recognition: the instant after being lost in thought and before the next thought arises, a formless taste of something that cannot be described.
I want to refer to this moment when I am suddenly out of thinking. It is just a second, until I realize I was lost in thought. But that second before the thought telling me I was lost in thought: there is a taste of something. I am trying to refer to that second. I feel like I have more and more notice of it, but I cannot put anything onto it. That second, that familiar quality of the experience, is with me always. But I don't have a description for it.
No, and you can't describe it, because it is formless.
Yes, I felt it. And I can only describe it by what I see in front of me right now, by what I get in this moment. Like this second, I am out of thinking.
The taste before interpretation
Yes. Before the mind comes in and says, "Oh, I was thinking," there is just that second before. It is a taste of reality: stepping out of thought. Then you can refer to thought to interpret and describe. But the "out of thought" part, just by itself, hanging out, suddenly comes out of thought by itself without any doing. You could say it is a choice, but it is a choice without a doing, without anybody or anything doing it. That is where it is a paradox.
I feel that second. I feel the second of coming out of thought and before the other thought comes in. I am trying to refer to it, because in that second of experience, I just wasn't there thinking.
The sky behind the clouds
Exactly. Metaphorically, it is the space between thoughts. It is the sky between the clouds. And what can happen is you start to realize the sky is there even when the clouds are there.
Yes, and I can feel it all the time. It is not really a question. But it just feels like it is felt. It feels like it is felt.
Yes, it is felt. It is a taste of our true nature.
Even right now, talking, it is felt. So when I want to describe it, it turns into something.
Disidentification and the trap of naming
Yes, because it is a moment of disidentification. If you try to then identify it as something, that is not it.
But it is tasty. It brings a lot of calm to me.
Yes, it is the taste of true nature, the nature of what you are. And it is not by doing anything. It is just there. You could think of it as the opposite: it is a momentary stopping of doing. And it is always here.
Even as we are talking, it is there. No significance, just there.
It is just the deeper, truer nature. And it is always here, because it is what is real.
I don't quite get "reality."
That is perfect. That is fine.