Harmonious thoughts.

[Honza]

Thoughts can be very beautiful in my experience. They do not necessarily need to be our 'enemy' which get in the way of higher consciousness. Thoughts are often called the 'bad guy' in spiritual discussions. However in my experience they can also be very creative and harmonious.

Which is your experience? Do you have beautiful thoughts sometimes that you want to keep, or do you want to be free of all thoughts?

I usually go around with no thoughts at all, been this way my whole life. When in bad circumstances, i naturally think bad thoughts most of the time. i prefer nice ones though. sometimes i can remain silent in the storm. since my twins came along, they seem to be able to know what i am thinking, so when my emotions are in the negative, i really have to watch what i think cause they go around repeating what i am saying to myself in my head.

What type of thoughts one should experience depends on what one wants to do.

One can think whatever one wants - so what is it you want to do? Relaxation? Strategy? Intellectual analysis? Revenge? Transcendence? Sex? Art? What?

Sometimes I have thoughts I wish would not go away, but to hold onto them would be to step out of life's flow, so I move on. Sometimes I have disturbing thoughts that leave me wondering where they came from.

Sometimes I do indulge, but mostly I try to be present in whatever I am actually doing.

[Honza]

Originally Posted by Gracey

so when my emotions are in the negative, i really have to watch what i think cause they go around repeating what i am saying to myself in my head.

LOL, that is quite funny in a peculiar way.....

[athribiristan]

Originally Posted by Honza

Thoughts can be very beautiful in my experience. They do not necessarily need to be our 'enemy' which get in the way of higher consciousness. Thoughts are often called the 'bad guy' in spiritual discussions. However in my experience they can also be very creative and harmonious.

Which is your experience? Do you have beautiful thoughts sometimes that you want to keep, or do you want to be free of all thoughts?

I allow the thought to exist, but I don't identify with it. I observe, sometimes I pick it up and play with it, but it is not me and I am not it. In the clear blue sky that is my consciousness the thoughts drift by like clouds.

[Seawolf]

In my experience thought is influenced by unconscious memory, so for example if you've had a difficult life it will replay negative things. Working on that memory changes the present, conscious thoughts from negative to positive. Who I am on the inside determines my outward thoughts and actions.

I don't want to be free of thoughts, I want to free my mind from replaying memory in the unconscious that manifests as problems in my life. I can't just ignore my mind, because it's a part of me. If it's free then all kinds of wonderful things can spring from it.

[Tanemon]

Thoughts are needed by virtually all humans. Harmonious thoughts are good.

A lot of people respect the Zen Buddhist tradition. 'Zen' is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Ch'an (meditation). The Chan Buddhists in sixth-century China had imported a meditative/spiritual practice and tradition from India - but in a few generations, they found that the Chinese populace were not inclined support the 'holy beggar' lifestyle of India. So these spiritual seekers kept their spiritual focus but became farmers, carpenters, architects, healers... they developed a practial, sharing, self-supportive way of life. You have to think in order to be a farmer, carpenter, or architect. There have been countless other spiritual movements down through history that in one way or another have been similar to the Chan Buddhists, in this way.

To personalize it... Thoughts and emotions fade away when I meditate. But, in order to be self-responsible at all, I have to think during a large portion of every day. That's my experience.