How to stop thinking in three stages.
Let's start with stage one.
Since you have found this meditation,
You already know to a large extent that thoughts are often problematic and that you are not only your thoughts.
Indeed,
You have figured out,
Consciously or unconsciously,
That everything is okay in the present moment if it weren't for your thoughts.
Maybe you have worked on trying to observe them,
Control them,
Change them,
Tried a whole lot of practices that didn't really work,
And are feeling a bit stuck in life.
That's perfect,
It is exactly where you are meant to be.
Stage one is the stage that you will understand most fully.
It is the stage that you can remember and apply.
Notice now that you are thinking.
It does not matter what you are thinking about,
Just notice that there are thoughts appearing in your mind.
Maybe it seems to be a seamless and endless stream of thoughts going through your mind.
That's okay,
Just keep noticing.
Now choose a thought that you have just had and repeat it in your mind as a sentence.
For example,
Let's take the thought,
The sky is,
In essence,
Free from clouds.
Slow it down.
Notice the space in which the thought appears.
Notice that the space is also between the words.
Slow it down further,
Expanding the space between the words.
The sky is,
In essence,
Free from clouds.
From clouds.
Gradually you will be able to rest into the space.
In stage one,
This is your practice.
Make not thinking your highest priority,
More important than anything else.
Anytime you have a minute in which thinking is not required,
Focus on expanding the space between the words appearing in your mind.
The amount of thoughts you initially have does not matter.
It may be difficult to start with,
But over time you will only notice one word pop up before it fades back into space.
Be the spaciousness,
Not the words.
You will begin to notice that the words appear in you and not you in the words.
This is the true meaning of you are not your thoughts.
Stage two is resting in the spaciousness.
It no longer makes sense to the mind.
There is nothing to understand,
To remember or to try.
Just do it.
Just stop thinking.
While being the spaciousness,
Notice the world around you.
Isn't it peaceful?
Isn't it effortless?
Isn't it free from suffering?
Notice also that no one is ever thinking.
Without thought,
What is actually seen is forms that are either static or moving.
Here there is no thought,
No mind,
Nothing other than what you see and experience.
It is not OK or perfect or beautiful.
It just is.
Be that isness.
In stage two,
We move from trying to do to simply being.
Be here now,
Without thought.
It is easy,
Isn't it?
If you do find yourself thinking,
Don't worry,
It does not mean that you have failed.
On the contrary,
It means that you have noticed that you are not thinking and you have also noticed that a thought has appeared.
Just go back to not thinking.
It is very important to say at this point that there is nothing wrong with thinking.
If it happens,
That's OK.
Your essential self is not affected by it in any positive or negative way.
In fact,
Thoughts have no inherent meaning.
They are just private sounds appearing in the mind.
Thinking is then superimposed on those symbols and often identified with.
We are aiming to stop thinking,
Not to suppress our suffering,
But out of curiosity about what is beyond thought.
By accepting and loving thinking,
It can stop.
Embracing thinking for its usefulness and not usefulness is what creates the space for it to drop completely.
Press it and it will keep happening.
Feeling guilty around thinking and therefore adding thoughts to thoughts is what keeps thinking alive.
It is what is constantly creating the dualities of good and bad,
Right and wrong,
Beautiful when ugly,
Peaceful and stressful,
Etc.
Blaming yourself by labeling something as a failure is a big part of the problem.
You cannot fail.
You are inherently not thinking.
The natural state of your mind is to be quiet and empty of content.
It is only because of this emptiness that thoughts can appear.
Do not engage with thoughts.
Simply stop thinking.
Stage 3 is knowing yourself to be the spaciousness.
Notice that no matter how much your world shifts and changes,
You remain aware.
Awareness itself is not bound by any thought.
Since it is all-encompassing,
Thoughts appear and disappear in it,
And are made of it.
Again this does not make sense to the mind.
I Am is far beyond what the mind can understand.
Resting as this I Am-ness,
Thought is no longer required.
The I Am-ness is pure peace,
Pure happiness,
Pure love,
Pure acceptance.
It is the essence of all things.
The true purpose of thought is to make this consciously known to you.
Once this purpose has been completed,
It is only required rarely for practical reasons.
Be the I Am-ness and ask yourself,
Have I ever had a thought?
Has the spaciousness ever become limited?
Or am I just as aware as I always am,
Independent of what is experienced?
There is no doer here.
You are aware,
And that's a fact.
Awareness is not created,
It does not have a beginning and an end.
Just like thoughts and feelings appear in awareness without anyone doing anything,
In the same way the whole world moves.
You cannot stop thinking.
Since the you that is pretending to stop is non-existent in the first place,
And the you that you actually are is not thinking,
It simply is.
This is what is meant by true thinkers don't think.
Thank you.
