"Oh, it is just a thought, it doesn't really exist"

[RedLine]

Over the last year or so these idea/insight comes to my mind a lot of times over the day when I am thinking about something. For example, I am thinking about a friend but then what happens is I realize that my friend doesn't exist and what is actually happening is that I am having a thought about my friend rn.

 

Recently I been thinking that that "insight" is also a thought and therefore as false as thinking with my non-solipisitic previous mode; so probably all this time I have just been being a moron and hurting my mental health.

 

Is it something good for my spiritual path or is it hurting me and I would have to try to stop it?

 

It is actually very similar to vipassana noting technique so I am not sure if it is legit self-awareness or mental masturbation.

Edited April 1, 2021 by RedLine

[soularlight]

You say your friend does not exist, but who are you? Do you exist? And if only you exist, and we don't, why do you write on a forum asking questions? Seems like a contradiction. It is true that we do not exist as persons. But as Consciousness, We Are One. Your limited thinking mind is not All There Is. Consciousness Is. 

You say you are thinking that the insight is also a thought. Is this not a thought? 

Insight (notice the word sight) is seeing. Thinking is thinking. An insight might be translated into thought, which is then a thought that put words to an insight. Which is beautiful in its own way.

What you experience is not all that exists. Experiencing is all that exists. 

[James123]

@RedLine dont forget, “oh it is just a thought, it doesn’t really exist” is a thought itself, as these so called sentences. 

[WaveInTheOcean]

If the insights feel intuitively self-empowering, trust them.

[mandyjw]

17 hours ago, RedLine said:

Is it something good for my spiritual path or is it hurting me and I would have to try to stop it?

When you leave the "now" everything is a thought, so if the thought is hurting now, drop it, if it feels good, enjoy. Becoming conscious/getting good at this requires connecting with feeling and becoming very aware and present, same thing really. We have a lot of patterns and beliefs that tell us there's a reason to hold onto thoughts that don't feel good, disregarding and seeing through these is what we're interested in. If spirituality becomes a new pattern and belief that we use to give ourselves some reason to continue with thoughts that don't feel good, it's likely an old tendency or belief that has just been renovated. You gotta knock that house down. New tile in the bathroom ain't gonna fix a house that's got toxic mold and is falling down around you. 

[Forestluv]

20 hours ago, RedLine said:

Recently I been thinking that that "insight" is also a thought and therefore as false as thinking with my non-solipisitic previous mode; so probably all this time I have just been being a moron and hurting my mental health.

I try to be aware of insights and stories I create about those insights. For example, "this is real", "that is false" etc. Creating stories and constructs can be helpful in some contexts, yet they can also be troublesome.

You describe a profound insight, yet then seem to make up a big story about it. The insight you describe is seen in a simple hand exercise. If I look at my hand and feel it - that is a form of actuality. If I put my hand behind my back and imagine it, that is a very different form of actuality. If I am having a conversation with my friend - that is a form of actuality. If I imagine my friend - that is another form of actuality.

Realizing that distinction is a profound insight. It seems so simple and obvious, yet 99% of people regularly conflate the two forms without being aware of it.

We could also take that insight and then create an elaborate story about what is true and false, what exists, solipsism etc. 

[Nahm]

Your friend’s as existent & nonexistent as you & everyone & everything. If you’re going the mode route, casually shift the focus on breathing from the stomach. After a while there’s no more thought, yet everything just keeps aright on happnin apparently. Instead of thought sorting for truth in the literal ‘which thoughts’ are true sense, feel the truth of any thought. 

[Breakingthewall]

21 hours ago, RedLine said:

For example, I am thinking about a friend but then what happens is I realize that my friend doesn't exist

The next realization should be that you are not thinking of your friend. if you take the perspective that your friend does not exist, nothing exists, and you are not thinking about anything. It is the void creating patterns. the issue is not to think this, it is to perceive it