Lesson 4: These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room.
When I was a kid I fully believed that, tucked within the confines of that 8-track player (yes, I’m that many years old) was a tiny live band and the brown strip of tape contained the music they needed to reproduce the sound of any band that they were required to play.
A fantastical thought, right? I had it down to a science – imagining the tiny band members punching the clock and hanging out until someone inserted the tape and they got to work.
It’s not a weird thought for a kid – but even as adults we tend to entertain strange thoughts in the face of science and facts. Some deny climate change, others use their thoughts to imagine a flat earth or a heaven above and a hell below.
Our thoughts are powerful things. They can result in great feats of imagination – like flying to the moon – or they can result in the taking up of arms – nation against nation in a bloodthirsty and deadly war.
With this in mind, the Course asks us to question our thoughts and see that, ultimately, they – like the objects in the room – only have the meaning we give them.
Thoughts drive us to do good deeds and bad, be indifferent to suffering and walk a mile in another’s shoes. Inherently, though, they mean nothing and by realizing this, we can live more intentionally – more fully – into the present moment without being taken on Mister Toad’s Wild Ride by every passing thought.
Byron Katie, who developed a thought-questioning technique called The Work has remarked: “Don’t believe everything you think.”
“A thought is harmless unless we believe it,” Katie says. “It’s not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it’s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we’ve been attaching to, often for years.”
I don’t know about you but I’ve caused myself undue suffering whenever I believe my thoughts. Because I believe my thoughts about others who have hurt me, I have hurt them. Because I believe my thoughts about how I should, or should not, live my life, I have hurt myself.
I spent many years believing thoughts that told me I was a mistake because of my sexual orientation. I believed the thought that God hated me and wished me to be either dead or “cured.” The moment I was able to release these thoughts – after many, many years of inquiry and study – my suffering disappeared. Joy returned.
The lesson for today, however, is very clear that it’s not just the “bad” thoughts we must release, but those we deem “good” as well. Author Michael Singer talks about when we get attached to any thought – be it deemed “good” or “bad” – we block ourselves from experiencing the present moment.
He gives an example of going to a restaurant. Your first time there, you had the best meal imaginable – the service was phenomenal and perhaps you even left a great Yelp review. It was so good, you told all your friends about it and arranged an evening where you could all go and have this amazing experience together.
Only this time was different. The food was subpar, the waitstaff inattentive and you all had a terrible evening. “I swear, last time was different!” you protest to your nonplussed friends.
Getting stuck in “good” thoughts can hinder us from living life to the fullest just as “bad” thoughts can. Often those who talk about the “glory days” of their past are stuck in their “good” thoughts – reliving that amazing meal or that turning point event in their lives.
It’s not that we are to wipe our minds clean of thoughts. That would be impossible – thoughts come to us unbidden. But, what this lesson encourages us to do is develop a habit of examining those thoughts and realizing they are like clouds passing by – appearing and disappearing – but the clear, blue sky of our divine consciousness remains – even on thought-cloudy days.
By not attaching to our thoughts we can move those clouds around at will – allowing them to pass by without becoming part of the stories we tell ourselves that cause suffering or even unrealistic happiness.
I highly recommend taking a look at The Work and using it in conjunction with this lesson on examining our thoughts and releasing our attachment to any thought that can make us obsess on either “good” or “bad” things in our lives.
Perhaps, though, Hafiz has the best answer – just put a sign on your back to ward off unwanted “sales pitches” from the thoughts that assault you in every moment.
I once
walked around with a sign on my back.
The reason for this was
that upon analysis I came to the conclusion
that about 90% of what any had to say
was some kind of sales pitch.
So whenever anyone would start to talk to me
I would just turn around and let them read
my written reply, my sign, which said …
Nothing Doing