Why ignoring thought is not the answer

We’ve had a couple of Daily Reminders recently, about how some feelings that are perceived as unpleasant—like anxiety—are not to be shied away from. We had:

• There’s nothing wrong with that (where we established these feelings are not a problem), and
• Resistance is futile (where we learned that to push away these feelings is just going to make them stick around for longer).

As a way of reassuring you that acceptance is not denial, and that to stop resisting these things will, paradoxically, make them go away, I finished that last one with a great quote from some wise Yogi-type, who said:

“An ignored guest quickly leaves”

…which, incidentally, is so good, someone got back to me to suggest it should be turned into ‘merch’ for my business, by putting it on a t-shirt or a mug!

😆

And today I want to pick that apart a little bit more, because while it’s good, it might actually give you the wrong impression. Because there’s a very subtle, but really powerful difference between ignoring the mind, and being generally disinterested by it.

Ignoring thought

This is how minds sometimes interpret what I’m pointing to, here in the Daily Reminders.

We’ve been so schooled in cognitive science-speak by society, and notions of mindfulness, and in the practice of meditation (and look, even in quotes like this one, above!) that it looks like what’s required to experience peace—what’s required to experience our True Nature—is to ignore thought.

And why do we feel we have to ignore it?

Take a moment, right now, to consider that question.

I’ll wait.

🤔

That’s right, 9 times out of 10 it’s because it still seems like it has some power.

It’s because it looks like there’s something about the nature of thought that is affecting us negatively, and we therefore have to get away from it.

Now, at the risk of introducing more paradoxes, I’m going to say that getting distance from the mind is no bad thing. I’ve even recommended it myself, as a tool of sorts.

And it's the reason that mindfulness meditation is a huge industry – because it helps (to a degree).

But mindfulness—as a way of dealing with harmful-looking thoughts—is not going to improve things for you in the long run. It’s not going to bring about any meaningful change in your life.

It’s just going to be another band aid; an unsustainable avoidance technique.

To avoid thought is just another coping mechanism, cut from the same cloth as your ‘favourite’ harmful habit you find yourself helplessly engaged in.

🛍🎰🍷🍪💰🚬🍔💉🍺🍩🏇🏻

Being disinterested by thought

Now, this is a completely different ball game, and it is what I’m actually pointing to, here in the Daily Reminders.

What we’re doing here is not making any assumptions about the nature of thought – we’re getting our own evidence for what it actually is, where it comes from and what consequences arise from the kind of relationship we therefore have with it.

So every 3 Principles, or Innate Health teacher will point you towards this one same thing:

“Thought, in and of itself, is harmless” ~ Richard Carlson

• Because you don’t have to ignore something that is harmless
• It requires no effort to be disinterested by something that is harmless
• It is impossible to be freaked out by something that is harmless

You see the difference?

Highlighting the fact that you don’t even have to disengage from thought, I heard one of my mentors put it like this:

“If you engaged with a thought that you considered ridiculous, it wouldn’t have a harmful effect.”

😳

When this one ‘little’, life-changing, thing is deeply seen, we find ourself having pretty much the same reaction (that reaction being: 🤷🏻‍♂️) to any of the following thoughts:

• The word bananas has more a’s than n’s in it
• Wouldn’t it be funny if we got paid in chocolate
• I wonder who’s going to win next year’s Tour de France
• Cats are well cute
• I’d like to rob a bank
• Everybody thinks I’m weird, I’m going to stay in
• I hate all people who believe in [x, y, z] and think they should go to jail or die
• I should get a divorce. Things would be much better then.
• I am a useless shit, the world would be a better place without me and I should find out the least inconvenient way of killing myself.

And I’ve been deliberately provocative here to show you the true depth of that Richard Carlson quote.

Seeing that thoughts arise in consciousness, pass on through and don’t mean a damn thing (unless we ascribe meaning to them) is the total game-changer that will bring about meaningful change in your life.

And that’s what I want for you, with all my heart.

💗

Giles

Related

The ‘insert topic here’ thought

Minds are creatures of habit, so we *all* get ‘bad’ thoughts that tend to reoccur. You’re not alone 💞

The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft