Thoughts Aren’t…Real!

Do your thoughts ever stress you out?

Do you find that, even though they might not be based on what’s actually happening, your thoughts can send you into a state of fear or anxiety?

Well, you’re not alone.

Recently I received an email from one of my readers who wrote, “One question that I have about thoughts is, if they’re not real, how do you know if they’re ‘true’ or not…The way I’ve always viewed my thoughts is, well if I thought of them then they MUST be true.” Do you ever wonder the same thing?

The amazing thing about your thoughts is this; when you begin to look at your thoughts, you find out that they’re quite fragile, nonexistent, and fleeting. You find that what you’ve taken to be so real is very unreal. And you begin to realize that you’ve become stressed and distracted by phenomena that are, quite essentially, unreal!

Awareness Without Thought

In the book “Zen and the Brain,” author James Austin, MD, writes:

“Meditators discover a surprising fact when they finally arrive at moments of “no-thought”: they do not have to think to be conscious. For consciousness starts with being aware. The awareness has a receptive flavor, its normal landscape is not a level plateau. Instead, it rises and falls as a series of peaks and valleys.” (i)

When you learn to meditate and to work with your mind, you’ll come to realize that if you follow after your thoughts less and return repeatedly to the awareness of the present moment, you’ll find a quieter and more stable nature of your mind.

The consciousness or awareness that exists outside of your thinking mind is what’s real, while the thoughts that arise within that mind are fleeting and impermanent.

How to Experience Thoughts as Unreal

Would you like to be able to observe your thoughts and thinking without getting hooked and pulled in my them?

Would you like to be freed from the pain and suffering that can accompany the endless stream of thoughts that come and go in your mind all of the time?

As long as you stay within your thinking mind and believe that that’s what your mind is, you’ll never be able to recognize your consciousness without thought, or the “…moments of no-thought…” that James Austin writes about.

The key to keeping from getting pulled into your thoughts and your stories is your awareness. When you rest your mind in your awareness, even for short periods of time, even for only seconds, you begin to get a glimpse of your mind, the mind that doesn’t need to think to be conscious. And you begin to see thoughts as less real.

Learning how to use your awareness is a skill and, like any  other skill, you need to know how to rest in your awareness and how to support the practice of resting there. Resting in your awareness begins with learning how to meditate.

Here’s an exercise that I’ve shared before (and that I’ll probably continue to use because it works so well!) It’s a very short exercise that you can use anytime and anywhere to bring your awareness to mind. Try it.

Right now, without thinking about it, you’re breathing. Simply watch your breathing. Watch the breath as it comes into your body and as it leaves. Whenever you notice that you’ve become distracted, gently bring your attention back to the breath, without commenting on being distracted, without giving yourself a hard time. Use your awareness to bring yourself back to your breath. And…relax.

Now all you need to do is…do this. Continue your practice. Bring your awareness to your mind. And, if you need some support in learning how to do this…as always….drop me a note! 😉