WHAT IS A THOUGHT

What is a thought? Is thought the words in our head, or the act of interpretation itself? And what does it mean to be present? Do words alone remove us from the present? Or only words that interpret? Or only certain types of interpretation?

The definition of meditation often explicitly notes the slowing of thoughts and the increase of space between thoughts. But, this is intentional non-doing. If we choose to be present we will lean in and experience everything around us. When we meditate, we try to let go of all this. Thoughts. It is different from being present. Somehow being present is closer to meditation than having racing thoughts about the past or the future. But, meditation is not the same as being present. Meditation is the intentional cessation (or rather release for it is something that can not be forced - for the only thing that can force it is the very thing you’re trying to silence) of interpreted experience.

Do animals think? They can be trained so they must. Or is it pure conditioning? A dog learning head tilts left to right. We associate that with thinking. But is it mainly words that are our “problem”.

What if I’m a chimp then how would I think through tool making? What if I am a dog guarding my food? Then I am placing myself in a state other than now for I am reaching to a future. So is a thought merely a deportation from the present? When we look at the dog example, we have to realize that again there is a difference between a thought to solve an immediate issue versus a thought that brings us outside of that.

Is it not the stilling of thoughts we seek but just a whole and complete turn to the present? In meditation turning to the present would mean cessation of thought. The purpose is to do and think about nothing. I think there is a difference between being present and the act of meditation and that these two states of being have gotten muddled up in modern interpretation. This also leads me to believe that guided meditation - unless it provides the space for complete cessation of an experience, is not meditation at all.

What would it be like to lack thought for a day. Does not seem possible to imagine. But unnecessary thought. This would be the experience of being wholly present. No distractions. The experience of writing this piece and not thinking that my dogs need to eat and I have an appointment in 4 hours. That is in the flow. Being lost in the flow. The flow of the present. Which is different than meditation. 

So a thought is definitely not just words. Poets, song-writers, all would balk at the idea that their creations were wholly uninspired and created by ego. So, again, what is thought? Unnecessary narration?

Think of a task you learn. Maybe a new exercise. You think as you learn it following along. At some point it becomes effortless. The first requires thought. The latter doesn’t. When you’re learning, if the task is challenging enough it requires you to release unnecessary thought. You must be wholly immersed in the task to even accomplish it. This would be the act of being fully present.

If you were to combine the act of being wholly present along with the act of doing, this would be channeling your spirit within. You are fully bringing forth that piece of you that needs no words or felt experience. You are surrendering into the moment and just allowing it to happen. Time passes without awareness because you are lacking the experience. If you are wholly present you are fully immersed and experiencing it. 

For me, the need to wholly immerse myself in some activities is cathartic and one reason I like dance and group exercise. The requirement of thought (or perhaps the inability to think about anything I’m doing due to the complexity of a thought) makes the immersion in the present moment effortless.

So someone who is not a master of their mind will be able to master the world the most if the tasks they approach require a level of challenge that is just slightly higher than the pull of the ego. Once mastered in the flow there becomes space for thought. If space occupies this thought it reduces mastery. Therefore the depth of mastery is directly related to the ability to master the mind when there is less challenge. Paradoxically, the removal of the challenge of mastery increases the challenge of keeping the mind still and present. 

So as part of the mastery one must tune in tighter and tighter and tighter to all that is happening. Resulting in even more mastery. Perhaps a well-equipped mind in this way hinders mastery because it has the capacity to do much at once. People of high intelligence are often bored of repetitive tasks because of the mind space that is inserted between the tasks. Perhaps this is not intelligence, but the opposite of such - an inability to master the mind in a way that keeps it operating for the system’s overall good, advancement, and optimized experience - when facing that space. 

Scientists say we are consistently bombarded by far much more than we can possibly take in and so maybe it is just training the brain to dial in further and further and further for it is limitless. Perhaps it is becoming present in the space. Tuning in. Regardless of the gap in the space, and our capacity to accomplish, just dialing in. Deeper and deeper. Perhaps that is why there is shallow usage of our overall brain and how we tap in. For if we dial more and more and more to every nuance of every moment with every sense. The opportunities feel … limitless.