Day 15: Thought

Congratulations on completing your second week.  By now you should have used the three step technique of Emo Trance many times on several different emotions so you are begining to realize just how easily these blockages can be released.

Now we will be shifting from the emotional realm into the mental realm.  Ask yourself a simple question: What is a thought?…

At first you might hesitate because it sounds like a trick question but it isn’t.  The reason it is not is because any answer you give to this question will be a thought and will inherently answer the question, no matter what the contents are.  Any answer you give will be a thought and therefore correct, and if you don’t give an answer then you might be a zen master!  But for practical purposes we need more than riddles and zen koans, we need a definition.

Thought

Thought is the categorization and processing of information. Thought is a linear process of shuffling data.  Thought is always referencing the past or the future, and cannot exist inside the present moment.  Thought is not the information, but rather the containers for the information.  The containers that divide bits of data into managable components. Thoughts are not sentient, a thought cannot think itself. Thought requires a separate awareness to percieve it’s own existence.  The awareness behind thought is distinctly different from the thoughts themselves.  How does one discover this background awareness?

Mindfulness

Mindfullness is the ability to see one’s own mind clearly as it is operating.  Mindfulness is an extremely powerful ability which allows one to create emotional stability, focused attention, empathy, and acceptance. The average mind tends to be unaware of itself.  The unconsicous mind is pulled along on trains of thought without any awareness of the relationship between these thoughts or the circumstances surrounding them.  This mind often mistakes itself for the thoughts it finds itself following, and has little if any control over these hypnotic patterns.

Mindfulness, on the other hand, is the ability to see one’s thoughts as they arise from a third person perspective allowing a much greater awareness of the nature, relationship, and quality of these thought forms.  Mindfulness also allows one to see physical events from a third perspective as well as allowing a broader understanding of any given situation.

My favorite analogy is that the unconsicous mind is like an actor on a stage absorbed in the lines of his particular role.  The actor must believe his words in order to elicit a believable performance and after enough time, often has trouble distinguishing between himself and his character.  Mindfulness is like switching our perspective to that of the director at the back of the hall.  The director understands the motives behind the actors words and actions, but he also is aware of the other motives in the scene as well as the lighting, the music, the stage hands, and the audiences reaction. The director is aware of all of these elements at once so he has a much more rounded perspective than the actor on stage immersed in his lines.

Mindfulness is simply stepping out of the role of our personality and watching our thoughts and actions unfold from a neutral perspective.  This simple shift has the effect of lowering blood pressure and heart rate, increasing mental focus, emotional stability, empathy, intuition, and general happiness.

The Process

Thought has a direct and measureable effect on reality. Raise your right hand…what made your hand move?  It started with a thought but it wasn’t the thought that created the movement and here’s why,  think about raising your hand but don’t actually raise it.  Notice how you can think about it vividly without actually moving, so there is something in between the thought and the action.  Feeling, feeling is what creates the action.  You can think a thought, but it is the feeling that transforms into an action.

Exercise:

Take a moment and explore the difference between thinking about moving certain parts of your body and the sensation of actually moving them.  Notice the difference between a thought and an action.  After a minute or two of this begin to let yourself search for the similarities between thought and sensation.  Notice how if you imagine warm syrup pouring over the top of your head and slowly dripping down the sides of your head you actually begin to feel sensations. Notice how the more this imaginary warm liquid coats your body the more warm and relaxed you become.

This is the nature of thought. It is a subtle manipulation of information which ultimately creates a feeling that turns into an action.  All thought is always traveling, shuffling from here to there.  This is why they call it a train of thought.  If a thought were to be still for even a second it’s boundaries would instantly vanish.  Try to hold one thought in the center of your mind and notice what happens. The mind begins shooting everywhere, looking for things to to do with it or things to add to it.  If you are able to hold one thought still in your mind for more than five seconds the entire thought will vanish.  Do not believe me, try this for yourself.

Because a thought cannot be still, thinking is impossible in the present moment.  Thinking is always reflection on the past or projection of the future.  Feeling, on the other hand, always takes place in the present.  Feeling is the doorway to the present. Even if one is remembering something from the past the feeling is experienced in the present moment.

The Tools

We are going to use the techniques of mindfulness to be aware of our mental processes while at the same time focusing on the sensations that are associated with each thought pattern.  Once we can synchronize our thoughts with our feelings we can create very precise actions and affect change in profound ways at every level of being.

Thought is not wrong or bad and neither is the “monkey mind” created by it’s patterns.  Thought is merely a tool.  Thought is very effective at calculations, organization, cataloging, dividing, separating, etc.  But a thought without a feeling is like a flower without a seed.

Where does it go from here?

Assignment:

In the comment section below tell me what your experience was when experimenting with thought and feeling. What was the difference for you?  What happened when you imagined the warm syrup? What do you think this means?

Now, jump into the first session of week 3 by clicking the play button below!

Stay in your center, and free yourself!

SaTek