I’ve had a couple of important conversations recently, with people I really care about and it has highlighted a point - that at the centre of many of the troubles we face is a pervading and convincing belief that we are entirely responsible for what we think.
It’s very easy to think that we are. What do you think?
It is my experience that we are and we aren’t. It may be what Einstein is pointing to in his quote. There are levels of thinking.
Firstly, thinking itself is an amazing tool, we can create, invent, solve, imagine, all with the faculty of thinking, the possibilities are endless. With intention and focus we can point our thoughts in a certain direction and cultivate our best chances of a creative response, in whatever field or arena.
However there are other types of thinking.
If I asked you to not think, just for one minute, could you do it?
Why not try... set a timer now and don’t think for one minute…
One minute later
What did you notice? You may have noticed the mind wander. This is quite normal.
You may have noticed some stillness, but it usually doesn’t last for long. These thoughts are totally expected and normal.
Thinking HAPPENS. In mindfulness we call it the undercurrent. This constant flow of thoughts that arise and fall away in the mind. Although this is continuous, we’re not often aware that it is happening. So we’re often pulled along for the ride.
So what is driving this level of thinking? Most of this thinking is a by-product of our past experiences, our past conditioning and beliefs - tracing all the way back to our conception - interacting with the contents of this moment. So we see the world through the filter of these thoughts. And the contents of this moment may consist of thoughts too, so our experience is sometimes thoughts interacting with thoughts. It's no wonder we get tired and confused at times.
It is rare to have a moment that is free from this activity, a moment of peace.
In our mindfulness practice we learn from experience that this flow of the undercurrent is pretty constant. Some thoughts are pleasant, and some aren’t. (In fact, most aren't as the undercurrent is biased toward negativity due to our survival brains preference for threat.)
As our practice deepens we become less bothered about the content of the undercurrent and more familiar with its nature.
The nature of the undercurrent is self-arising, self-displaying and self-dissolving. This means thoughts will arise, display and then dissolve, all by themselves, much like a wave on the shore.
Our mindfulness teaches us not to stifle or suppress thoughts, but simply to refrain from getting too involved in it whenever we can, in doing so create space around the thoughts which enables us to move.
Its helpful to remember the even the most experienced mediators will have thoughts, and the more you practice the more thoughts you will notice, it can feel like we're becoming more distracted but we're actually becoming more aware.
So what was Einstein on about?
Well applying it to this model of thinking. Thoughts (usually negative) arise from the undercurrent, so we experience some form of negativity or insecurity or doubt, then without realising it we’re then judging ourselves for feeling it. We say “I’m this kind of person or that kind of person because I had this thought”. Or we distract ourselves from ever having to face the undercurrent. We always have to be doing something. This distraction can form the habits for addictions and dysfunctional behaviours.
With mindfulness we learn to be more selective about the thoughts we invest our attention in. We see that thoughts are just thoughts and they're no more powerful than the energy we place in them.
So in this sense we’re responsible for our thinking, but not on the level that created it.