“Faces in the crowd” by Elvert Barnes, CC-BY 2.0

In my experience thinking has been a nuisance. Ever since I wanted to know the meaning of life, my thinking was a hindrance to me so much that I wanted to get rid of it.

This is why meditation is so popular: it is a try to get rid of thinking. I always thought that the truth is beyond thinking, that thinking is just preventing me from realizing the truth.

But everything changed when I started to shift my underlying convictions. What I found out is this: that the thinking can never come to a rest when there is no stable foundation.

And the only solution then is to turn against thinking: this is what many teachers advice, because they themselves have not found any other solution.

In my opinion the reason for this is that their worldview is not right. When the worldview is not right the thinking cannot find something to hold on to, it is confused and goes in circles, never being able make any sense.

When one's views are aligned with the truth, then the thinking supports those views. It deepens one's understanding and the insight into the truth.

So if you want to know if you're on the right the track, just ask yourself, “does my thinking make any sense or is it more like a problem I would like to get rid of?”

#philosophy #thinking #worldview #meditation