Do or Do Not, The Philosophy of Enlightenment
Day 9 of feeling alive
Thoughts create problems, and even this thought will create problems.
That is the nature of thought. Thought will always create problems because it isn’t reality. It isn’t what is. It’s rather something of the mind. That is there and loves to separate itself from everything else. This separation by thought creates problems.
It is why the moment we say “I want to be peaceful” we are not, because wanting to be peaceful is thought.
It is why the moment we say “I don’t want to be angry” we are still angry because wanting to not be angry is thought.
It is why the moment we say “I want to be free of thought, and be empty of mind” we are not free of thought, neither empty of mind, because the very thought of wanting to be free of thought is thought.
It is an endless loop, that can’t be broken by thought itself. There is a way, yet this way is not a how-to, it’s not something you can do or change. There is nothing to get rid of or improve. All of this is yet again thought and I’ll explain why.
The Things Thought Creates
In our lives, there are a lot of problems. From problems with people like arguments to worldwide problems like war and climate change. These problems found origin in our relationship with either people or the world. Yet all of these outside problems start inside of you. Because problems are created within you.
Inside of yourself, you face problems. Conflicts. Fights.
Inside of yourself, you face problems. Conflicts. Fights. Things like feeling stressed and wanting to get rid of that stress. This is a problem. This is a conflict. Even understanding stress to calm it down and not feel it anymore is a problem.
That last one might feel like a good thing to do, to understand it, and then find peace with it so that it will leave. Yet you’ll see that by thinking about this, that peace and understanding won’t come. Because thinking about how to understand your inner problems is itself creating a problem.
Let me explain that. If, let’s say, inside you, you feel angry. You are very angry with someone for stealing your cookie. This is a very silly example, but it shows perfectly what it is we should come to terms with.
You are angry with someone stealing your cookie, and you don’t want to be angry with him, or her. That creates an inner conflict. You are angry, and now you don’t want to be angry.
Anger is happening right now, the separation between anger and you that is thought. It is an idea that you and the anger are separate from one another. As well as your desire to not be angry, this is something of the future and therefore thought. Again a separation between what is right now, and what is in the future.
Thought creates all these separations, all these divisions between the idea of you and what you feel, but also between what is, and the future, or between you and another. All of these are separations, divisions between two or multiple things.
Thought creates all these separations, all these divisions between the idea of you and what you feel, but also between what is, and the future, or between you and another.
This is what creates problems. The division. The separation. Because separation creates friction. Just like one stone cannot be rubbed against itself, therefore there is no friction, no problem. Whereas two stones can be rubbed against one another, therefore there is friction, which results in a problem.
Thought does exactly this, every thought we have creates separation between what is, and what was, and will be. It constantly creates division.
Even the very thought of it creating division is creating division, between division and no division. Even the thought of a ‘thought being a problem’, is in itself a thought and therefore a problem.
Freeing Ourselves of Thought
All of this might feel complicated. Yet it is the very reason we can’t free ourselves of thought. Because the moment we want to be free of thought, we are thinking. We are thinking the thought of being free of thought.
Now that’s a mind-bender, so read it again if you don’t understand this. I am trying to make this as clear as possible for you.
I hope you see that thought creates division and separation, which creates friction and problems. Now our logical response would be to get rid of thoughts, to stop our train of thoughts. To be free of them.
Getting rid of thoughts is yet again division. The division between non-thought, and having thought.
Yet getting rid of thoughts is yet again division. The division between non-thought, and having thought. Therefore, it only creates more tension.
Trying to get rid of thoughts is impossible, freeing ourselves of thought is impossible. Because the very thought of trying, and freeing, is a thought.
Therefore, the only way to free ourselves of thought is to be free of thought. Which sounds very illogical. Yet there is no other option. To be free of thought means to be free of thought. You don’t be free of thought. You don’t get rid of the thought. Neither do you think of being free of thought.
None of that. All of that creates only more friction, more division. All we can understand is that thoughts will happen. And that only by an awareness of these thoughts we soon after will be free of that thought again. Yet me saying this is, yet again, a thought. Which makes it hard for you to understand this.
Me telling you you, awareness of your thoughts, will free you of thoughts, is a thought.
Me telling you that by awareness of your thoughts, you will be free of thoughts, is a thought. This can make you believe that awareness is a practice that will bring you an achievement, a specific outcome. Which is to be free of thought, making it, therefore, something to do. This again creates division between not doing anything and having thought, and being aware and having no thought.
Awareness of thought should be in itself something to cultivate, not for a specific result like freeing ourselves of thoughts.
If awareness became a practice for the goal of being free of thoughts you still desire to be free of thought, which is a thought. That makes this topic so delicate.
Therefore there is only one thing for you to do. To be aware. No goals, or desires attached to that. Which means no thoughts over it. You just observe what is happening. And all of it comes down to one thing.
Do or Do Not
Just live and be.
I’ve said this before. It’s the entire message of today I lived, and these series I am doing on feeling alive. But to be free of thought we just are free of thought.
This reminds me of the Yoda saying that goes a little like this:
Do or do not. There is no try.
This is exactly what thought is. We either have thought, or we don’t. There is no trying to get rid of thoughts. If I tell you to think you are most likely not able to think, and if I tell you to be free of thought you are similarly likely to think instead of being free of thought.
Therefore, Yoda said to Luke Skywalker do or do not. There is no try. It all finally makes sense. If we want to feel alive, if we want to experience life fully, we can only be alive. We cannot think of being alive because that means we aren’t fully alive. We are still in thought.
To fully be alive there is no how-to, no way to get there. It can only be realized by seeing that it is now. That if you want to feel excited in life, you can only be excited about life. You cannot think of it, otherwise, you aren’t excited.
This being alive means. To just be. To live.
This being alive means. To just be. To live. Which means to go about your life as it is. Only without thought of it. And if a thought arises, then that is happening. Trying to be free of the thought, or trying to observe it, is yet again trying instead of doing.
I found I can only turn my attention to right here, right now, the moment I notice I am thinking. Now I just do this, there is no thinking about shifting my attention or trying to understand it. I just do it, or I do not do it.
You are alive, or you are not alive. You either end your day and say today I Lived! Or you don’t. There is no trying, no searching for a state of being in which you’ll be able to say it. There is no way to feel more alive. You are alive right now. Which should be enough for you.
If not, then you are thinking. If just being right here, with your aliveness is happening you don’t think of it. It just happens in an eternal moment that goes on and on. Which results in you making the most of every second. So live. Be alive. Do it, or do not do it. There is no try.
