What is Thinking?
The act of thinking is something that we all take for granted as something that we do all the time we are awake. But what is thinking? How many of us really do think?
That's a question that stops a lot of people in their tracks, because it's a given thing that we all think and we're doing it all the time. But are we? Is what goes on inside our heads all day long true thinking?
The answer is that it is not! Let's take a look at why this is and what we need to really do to be actually thinking as opposed to what we think we are doing with our minds.
True Thought
We are constantly bombarded by all manner of external stimuli that is coming at us from every direction.
That stimulus is by and large created by what is happening around us. Our five senses register an incredible amount of information every waking minute of every day and all that information is entered into our brains for processing.
Our brains are kept busy by filtering out all the information that we don't need and identifying, cataloguing and storing that which we do need. All that mental activity is what we mistake for thinking, when in reality it is just keeping our minds occupied with all that busy stuff going on.
We mistake that hectic activity for thinking, when it's really just externally generated activity.
True thought on the other hand is that creative, deep level of thought that comes to us when all the noise of the outside world is shut off. It is the act of mental creation that can't happen while so much external noise is present.
Filtering Out the Noise
In actuality, it is very difficult to filter out external noise when it's going on all around us.
It takes a great deal of effort to mentally disassociate ourselves from disturbances in the home such as the blaring television; screaming, arguing kids; a washing machine spinning in the next room or the sound of running water when someone has a faucet open. Likewise it is difficult to ignore the sounds of the outdoors, such as heavy traffic; noisy machines; the hubbub of many people talking or shouting or aircraft flying low overhead.
The best way to literally close ourselves off from the noise, hustle and bustle of the outside world is to shut ourselves away in a quiet place where we will not be disturbed. Then we can train our minds to start thinking for real.
Meditation
The way that we do that is by using the technique of meditation. This is simply where we mentally shut down all thoughts inside our heads and experience a mental quietness that can be both profound and exhilarating.
To reach this deep state of inner quiet, it is necessary to train ourselves to stop thinking about the occurrences that are or have been happening around us. We have to literally shut down that internal conversation we are all having with ourselves and let our minds go completely blank.
It sounds easy but at first it can be frustratingly difficult to stop our usually busy mental processes from reverting back to the inner conversation coupled with trying to solve a particular problem or internally arguing with someone else. All these acts are surplus mental activity that needs to stop.
A state of complete mental quiet can be achieved through frequent practice and once it is achieved, then the creative thought processes can begin to manifest. It is in this state that we are able to mentally touch the energy vibrations that are floating around us.
Using Mental Quietness
In this mental calmness come the information leeched from other minds and from the infinite intelligence that we believe exists all around us. These wisps of energy are the sources of hunches, brief glimpses of possible solutions to problems or plans for improving in some way.
They come and go; fleeting glimpses of ideas that can grow in strength the more this technique is practiced. The hunches provide possible ways forward that we should take notice of and act upon even when our logical mind says not to.
When we do act on hunches, we find that hidden, often very craftily in their often vague messages can be the way forward we had been seeking unsuccessfully with our intellect. It seems that while we put all our faith in our intellectual ability to solve problems, we are limited by that very intellect.
We often remain in the intellectual darkness when the veiled messages in those unscientific and illogical hunches contain the very information that we need to move forward.
So true thinking, is the process of pure thought that is unblemished by the external noise and interruptions that keep our intellectual minds busy and virtually crippled in comparison to what they are capable of. True thinking happens when everything else has become still and quiet and the mental force that we all possess has free reign to imagine, idealize and create.