Thoughts And Thinking

These are my days of very unsteady recovery from my first surgery. It’s also the reason why I am very irregular on WP and unable to read and comment on all my co-bloggers’ posts. I owe you all an apology. Also I wish to convey my heartfelt gratitude to all my fellow bloggers’ who have wished me well and speedy recovery.

This is the time when my brain is clouded with worries and what ifs most of the time. To divert the mind I have tried watching movies/series, read the newspaper/books, listen to enriching podcasts, play word games and even write blog posts. But no activity has given sustainable relief. Nevertheless, I still continue to do all these activities just to maintain a semblance of normalcy.

However, I do not intend this post to be a drone about my physical and mental sufferings. It is more about sailing through the situation.

One of the books I started reading while in hospital was Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen. As I said I did not have the mental focus to read it at a stretch. But whenever I picked up the book it’s every page, every para, every sentence, every word gave me an alternate perspective. As is with such books, they say what we have already read or learnt through varied sources or media but as usual forgotten those learnings with time. So these books are reminders of those forgotten gems with invaluable add-ons.

Nguyen begins with distinguishing between thought and thinking.  Thoughts, he says, are neutral but thinking gives them colour. Human brain’s function is to produce thoughts. No thought is good or bad. It’s our thinking, rather  overthinking, that renders them negative or positive. A lot of energy is consumed in overthinking which is enervating. Overthinking also leads us to set goals out of desperation. Such goals are not end-goals by themselves but means to achieve further goals. Goals set out of desperation are heavy and burdensome.

For example, when the medical counselor told me to build my body nutritionally stronger in two months’ time to sustain the second surgery, I set a goal out of desperation to do so. But on the contrary, even after regular diet, medication and exercise, when I underwent weight loss, I panicked.

Soon I realised that instead of panicking I should let the process of healing take its own course. I am at peace now leaving the outcome in the hands of the Universe and the Divine. This does not mean I have stopped making my own endeavours but I persuade myself not to be overwrought with worries if the end result is delayed or is not according to  plan or expected timeline. This new goal is  set out of inspiration. Nguyen says that goals set out of inspiration are expansive as its source is the Universe.

Nguyen says we achieve the most in a state of non-thinking. The Japanese word for this state is Mushin. How to attain this state is to constantly tutor our minds not to think too much on a thought. This does not mean thoughts will not come. They should float by like clouds. Focussing on a particular thought leads to continued toying with the thought or thinking which hampers mental peace and energy. The next most natural question is then should we stop reflecting ? Should we stop aspiring or having ambition ? What do we do if we do not think because it comes so naturally to us ?

Nguyen says rationalising and overanalyzing do not always pave the path to the best of achievements. It’s the state of non-thinking that keeps us connected to the Infinite Intelligence.

This Infinite Intelligence guides us and gives us direction in life. We worry and over think because we want to figure out and control the next best course of action for ourselves. Nguyen says let life be guided by intuitions which are directly sourced from the Universe or the Infinite Intelligence or God. As soon as we start thinking we get disconnected from this immensely powerful, omniscient and omnipresent inner wisdom or  our intuition. And that is when we falter in self doubt.

The state of non thinking is thus a state of absolute submission to a greater , deeper and vaster source of supreme, all encompassing and ever present Intelligence or Knowledge. This , of course, does not mean we stop making efforts. We should keep doing our work without figuring out or deciding how our efforts will bear fruits. Life has  infinite possibilities, ways and means of achieving desired results. Let the orchestration of how our efforts are going to bear fruit rest with the Universe/Infinite Intelligence/God.  As soon as we start thinking about the ways and means to achieve the end result we limit the possibilities of achieving it. It’s not in our hands. So stop thinking about it.

I have tried to give very briefly the essence of what Nguyen has to offer in Don’t Believe Everything You Think with live illustration. This post is what I have understood of the discourse in the book. It is not a review.

This is a book which explains in great details  to the readers not only what but also why and how to ensure unhindered joy, peace and freedom in life. This is a book to which one has to go back again and again so as not to stray from the path of happiness and abundance in the chaotic whirlpool of life.

A highly recommended read in times of need and even otherwise.