Can one think themselves to death?

Originally Posted by ketzer

Thanks for the replies. Many good things to think about. What I tend to be thinking about lately is just how important all this thinking, meditating, practicing, etc...is. How much time does it take away from just being? Or then again is it all just another part of just being?......alive? Part of that pathless path that only the fool does not try to follow. Maybe the path is only in our minds, yet it is good to try follow it nonetheless..? Certainly it leads somewhere, but then so does walking about aimlessly. Maybe they lead to the same place anyway. IDK, maybe I should think about it a bit more... or maybe not?

"What I have learned up to this day with the shramanas, this, o Govinda, I could have learned more quickly and more simply: In any tavern in a brothel district, my friend, among men who haul freight and play at dice I could have learned it."
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse

I suppose what it ultimately comes down to is something deep inside. A burning passion that might initially seem beyond reason and benefit though it can't be ignored or put aside. I went through most of life without it and then was consumed with understanding consciousness. I wasn't sure where it would ultimately lead, however I couldn't leave it be, at least not for long.

Perhaps some time away from active pursuit might help sort it out? Sometimes distance brings clarity to value or lack thereof. If you let it go for a time will it pull you back or let you be? That's probably as good a test as any.