@rookie54
No.
"Stop thinking" is merely to permit the mind do its thing, but to not indulge into its thing. An illustration: You can permit your eye to see, but you should not indulge into the object of the seeing. Mind you, the mind and the other 5 senses of yours are termed in the Buddhist tradition as "Thieves" simply because they impose your mind over your true nature, the so called "Clear Light".
So, to simply permit your ideas to pass on like the waves of a shallow rough river, will do; permit each wave to pass through your mind, and do not permit your mind to feed them. You are the master of your mind, the mind should not be the master of you. This is known as "Thinking not, sitting quietly, doing nothing".
@black-beetle saida fair perspective, thank you...
@rookie54
No.
"Stop thinking" is merely to permit the mind do its thing, but to not indulge into its thing.
The bait is the means
To get the fish where you want it;
Catch the fish and you discard the bait.
Words are the means to get the idea
Where you want it;
Catch onto the idea
And you forget about the words.
- Zhuangzi
@moonbus saidlose the words to understand even better. They'll still be there if you need to come back to them
On the one hand, it's all about mindfulness. But on the other hand, you're not who you think you are. Westerners especially tend to over-rationalize and over-explain things. At some level you have to stop thinking and just experience who you are. J. Krishnamurti's "Commentaries on Living" (3 vols.) offer good insights into this.
@black-beetle saidSomeone once said that we cannot know the highest highs without also experiencing the lowest lows. Years before the events in my post, I was very near the lowest low, far worse than these two events. It all joins together to produce perspective, and this is what enables my "more abundant" life now. There is purpose to be found to almost every event in one's life if one bothers to look.
@Suzianne
Too hard. I am very sorry, Suzianne.
Thank you for your empathy.
@suzianne saidIn what ways does this "more abundant life now" manifest itself or influence your demeanour and behaviour here in a positive way, according to your way of thinking and the way you perceive yourself?
It all joins together to produce perspective, and this is what enables my "more abundant" life now.
@Suzianne
Your experience is very heavy. It reminds me of the author of the a poem which became a popular Hymn What A Friend We Have In Jesus.
The songs came out of a man who twice lost women to whom he was just about to be married. Once died in an fall off of a horse shortly before the wedding. And years latter the second one died of sickness before they were about to marry.
He penned a poem which was published in a news paper, I believe. And latter someone turned it into a song.
Twice having lost the loves of his life he was driven for comfort to get to know his Lord Jesus very intimately. Your tragic experience soon reminded me of this person's experience.
Thankyou for sharing this personal story and giving many of us a reason to remember to be thankful.
The Story behind 'What A Friend We Have in Jesus' the story of Joseph Scriven's poem -
( I wanted to find the version minus the performers at the end, but couldn't)
Fir, bamboo, and pure shadow merge;
I move unnoticed where my thoughts incline.
Chill springs up before the rain.
Silence ends; a monk suddenly returns.
Bug tracks bore into obscure holes;
Moss roots join broken ridgepoles.
My reflections turn to a hidden place, deep,
Then down from the top of the peak,
Step by step.
- Pao T’an
Hard rain, our gathered firewood scant;
Lamp frozen, glimmers not at night.
In the cave, wind blows stones and mud.
Moss engravings weatherstrip rickety door.
Brooks in torrent untiring;
People’s words more and more rare.
What schemes calm heart?
Sitting in the lotus,
Wrapped in robes of Zen.
- Hsu Yun (1840-1958)