Is It Possible To Stop Thinking?

[CroMagna]

I'm interested in Do Nothing Meditation, just letting the monkey mind do whatever it wants, letting go of control.  I'm wondering if eventually, my brain will get bored of the obsessive, scary thoughts and just be mindful?

[Rilles]

Why do you want to stop thinking? 

[EvilAngel]

Even when you are 'not thinking', you are thinking the thought "I am not thinking" , or "I am aware"

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by EvilAngel

[Leo Gura]

@CroMagna Yes it is. But it takes years of rigorous meditation.

[WelcometoReality]

@CroMagna Yes do nothing meditation is a way to let go of control.

The desire to quiet the mind is the will to control.

[who chit]

Quote

Is It Possible To Stop Thinking?

Abide in the place where thinking is not. 

[Gabriel Antonio]

Not really. The mind secretes thoughts, just like the mouth salivates. 

There are ways to calm down the mind though.

2 hours ago, CroMagna said:

I'm wondering if eventually, my brain will get bored of the obsessive, scary thoughts and just be mindful?

Probably not. In your case, I think the Do Nothing technique will only make the monkey mind go even crazier. I speak from personal experience.

[Nahm]

@CroMagna Absolutely. This appears to be a combination of meditation and or seeing/accepting truth, to the extent the mind has far less to attempt to ‘auto resolve’ day after day. When this happens, reality is seen as it is, “through the eyes of source”, every person’s value and inherent worth radiates like stars and the reality of love is palpable, obvious, and overwhelming. The subtlety involved in terms of sensitivity & awareness to thought, it’s roots, as well as acceptance of Self, are paramount. 

[Arthur]

In my opinion, it is impossible to stop thinking.

The notion of thinking itself is a grey area because you could say emotions, perceptions, sensations are a type of thought as well. Even beyond that, the subconscious mind itself can be viewed as a collection of thoughts and notions under the surface.

But even if we talk about the recurring surface level thoughts. Stopping them will mean a regression in one's Evolution. You can't suddenly go back to an animal state prior to thoughts. Likewise, transcending thought would mean being in continues state of Samadhi, where one can't function in this world. 

Thoughts come and go out of nowhere and are outside of your control (like weather or your body's metabolism). Trying to stop your mind can be a powerful ascetic practice since you will quickly realize that it is impossible. I think Enlightenment definitely does not mean secession of thoughts, emotions or even moods. All of that will still be there, just your relationship to it will change.

[Victor Mgazi]

Yeah it's definitely possible. And the fucked up part is that you won't know that you've stopped - until you start thinking again. 

It's a moment were 'you' are no more, along with the rest of...what we call existence. 

The sad part is that you won't be able to enlighten your folks about it because you won't be able to communicate such.  

[who chit]

Speaking from experience,you don't become a mute vegetable from cessation of thought. When mind thought is needed,it's there.
There's a  greater intelligence at work in this silence, far greater than the fact collecting intellect.  And it expresses itself as such. It is the knowing prior to knowledge.


If you really want to know,get to know it. You won't be disappointed.
 

[Jack River]

28 minutes ago, who chit said:

When mind thought is needed,it's there.

Yep. 

The thought that stops moving is the psychological thought. Thought will still move to solve practical problems. To control certain aspects of environmental or to meet physical needs. But thought is not psychologically in motion. As in there is no striving to achieve, attain, control psychologically. Which means no desire/attachment/identification/registration/recollection psychologically..There is a total break down between subject/object as in the experiencer and experienced and it's almost at a point of unconciousness. 

There is a very deep unconsciousness/nonbeing “state”. At times it comes about now when I am floating out in the sea. Or when I am just sitting in a quiet place. 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Jack River

[Hellspeed]

Yes. By making attention on breath second nature.

[DrewNows]

@HellspeedWouldn't you agree to focus on the breath is, in a sense, a "trained" quietness of the mind? To control the thinking is not dissolving the conditioning

[Forestluv]

@CroMagna Permanently or temporary?

I think permanently would be some type of vegetative state. 

Plenty of people have stretches without thought. At first they are small gaps between thoughts. Then the gaps get longer. I’ve had stretches of 5-10min without thought.

Perhaps more important is one’s relationship with thought. A mind that is attached to thought and identifies with thought is a mind at dis-ease. A mind that doesn’t attach or identify with thoughts can be at rest in the prescence of thought impulses. Similiar to heartbeat, colon contractions or blinking eyelids. Those impulses are not generally bothersome because we don’t attach/identify with them.

[Jack River]

1 hour ago, Serotoninluv said:

A mind that doesn’t attach or identify with thoughts can be at rest in the prescence of thought impulses.

Fosho. But attachment and identification is actually one movement of fear escaping itself. And the thoughts that arise and are observed(presence) are still the the response of identification/attachment. But I agree..in presence or awareness there is no problem, the only problem is the fact that we had those thoughts/impulses in the first place is because we have already reacted and identified. We tend to fall in and out of awareness. We identify then dis-identify with what has already been identified with, such as the content of thought. It’s like continually pruning a tree as opposed to ripping the tree or at the root, as in not actually not identifying in the first place. In this ending of identification there should not arise these impulses/reactions in the first place. This seems to how some can go longer without thought than others. This is what could be considered as an expression of the movement of division in action or psychological time in movement. 

Pretty crazy how thought moves fosho. 

Edited November 1, 2018 by Jack River

[EvilAngel]

43 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

@CroMagnaI’ve had stretches of 5-10min without thought.

 

Are you sure you weren't thinking during those 5-10 minutes, "this is wonderful, I'm not thinking any thoughts"? ?

How is it possible to remember an experience without having the thoughts to "record" the experience? 

Edited October 31, 2018 by EvilAngel
Wording

[EvilAngel]

12 minutes ago, Shiva said:

 

12 minutes ago, Shiva said:

A wise man once said "people who don't think are stupid"

A stupid man once said "people who don't think are wise" 

[Hellspeed]

7 hours ago, DrewNows said:

@HellspeedWouldn't you agree to focus on the breath is, in a sense, a "trained" quietness of the mind? To control the thinking is not dissolving the conditioning

No.

[DrewNows]

@HellspeedFocusing on the breath may be a good starting point or temporary solution to ending the stream of thoughts but as we begin to understand the nature of thought, simply directing attention no longer becomes necessary. However, i do really enjoy focusing on the breath, as well as the whole body, during yoga and weight lifting activities