The last post was pretty hard on thoughts, wasn’t it? Are all thoughts bad or destructive? Do they all cause pain? I would argue that most of them do.
But then, don’t listen to me, because all this writing is just thoughts, isn’t it?
But perhaps not all thoughts are created equal.
After all, we need our mind to function in this world. We need to think to get anything done, to make decisions, to create change in the world, to dodge speeding cars and not die. But those thoughts are a tiny fraction of what occupies our mind throughout the day. The rest are useless and wasteful and do not serve us well. They are not productive and take us out of the moment.
But then there are thoughts, perhaps of a higher order, that help us to build good mental habits. (Maybe the type of thinking that is happening as you read this, for example. Or, in a moment when you feel caught up in a loop of compulsive or distressing thinking, the thought that reminds you to let go, to come back here, to the experience of this moment.) Thoughts that help us think less, if you will. Or, more precisely, thoughts that help us identify less with mental content and more with that awareness behind it all, where freedom and peace and love reside. That awareness, or source, or pure consciousness. That some might call our true self.
The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre, it will itself be burnt up in the end. Then, there will be Self-realization.-Sri Ramana Maharshi