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In other words, pain is unavoidable, but how we react to that pain is up to us, and that reaction will dictate whether or not we suffer.
Reality is what is happening right now. It is the objective circumstance that is occurring without any meaning or judgment attached to it. And so what we experience is not reality itself but our perception of reality. Any meaning or thinking we give something is self-created and our choice.
Our feelings come not from external events but from our own thinking about the events.
The root cause of our suffering is our own thinking.
Here is a more visual way to understand how our thinking can change our experience of an event through a simple equation: Event + Same thinking = Same experience Event + New thinking = New experience What this equation means is that when we go through an event and think about it the same way we always have, it will always produce the same experience and therefore the same emotion. But if we change our thinking about that same event, we can alter our experience of it and create a new emotional response. When you change your thinking, you change your experience of life—without needing to change
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The boat had probably come untied and drifted along in the breeze until it had bumped into the monk’s boat. It was just an empty boat! The monk found his anger dissipating, for there was no one to get angry at. At that moment, he remembered his mentor’s question: “Do you know what is really making you angry?” Now he knew he had his answer. “It’s not other people, situations, or circumstances. It’s not the empty boat but my reaction to it that causes my anger. All the people or situations that upset me are like the empty boat. Without my reaction, they don’t have the power to make me angry.”
true freedom isn’t in having complete control of our minds but in the ability to be unattached to whatever happens in it
the question isn’t whether we will survive but whether we are happy with the time we are alive. Our quality of life is determined by the peace, fulfillment, and joy we feel on a daily basis.
Our mind’s duty is to keep us alive. Our consciousness’s duty is to help us feel fulfilled. Our soul is the reason why we’re even on this journey in the first place—to find peace within ourselves.
If you want to be free and at peace, then you will need to let go of only listening to your mind’s fight-or-flight thinking. You are not just a product of your environment but a co-creator of it.
the path to self-actualization isn’t to try to improve ourselves because we think we’re not enough but to let go of the illusion that we’re not already enough as we are
A simple way to recall the distinction between thoughts and thinking is to remember that thought is a noun and isn’t something that we do but something we have. Thinking, on the other hand, is a verb and is something we do. It is the act of engaging with our thoughts.
The good news is that it is not necessary to think about our thoughts or judge them. We may believe that thinking is useful, but it’s an illusion that causes us to experience negative, unwanted emotions.
Thoughts create. Thinking destroys. As soon as we begin to think about our thoughts, we cast our own limiting beliefs, judgments, criticisms, programming, and conditioning onto them.
As soon as you begin thinking about your thoughts, you’ll immediately feel heavy, restricted, and limited, along with a cascade of negative emotions. This is how you’ll know you’re thinking.
questioning your own thinking creates s p a c e for new thoughts to change your life
Our most natural state is joy. It is the foundation for love, compassion, healing, and the desire to alleviate suffering.
dwelling in a state of fear or negativity when there is no immediate threat to our survival is more harmful than helpful. The goal is to decrease the amount of time it takes for us to regulate our emotions and return to a state of peace when we experience something stressful. This will enable us to decrease the suffering caused by thinking as much as possible.
The truth is that you do not have to have thoughts or think to feel positive emotions. Positive emotions are not a byproduct of thinking but the organic result of being fully in the present moment and connected to life rather than thinking about it.
most of us are chasing external things so that we can feel something inside innocently forgetting that all feelings are generated within us what is external is only a reminder that we can create the internal emotion we desire what you most want to experience can only be found within you don’t wait for something outside of you to give you permission to feel how you want inside
The goal is to minimize the time we spend thinking about our thoughts so that eventually, we can get to the point where we spend most of our day not caught up in our thinking and live in a harmonious state more often.
we don’t have to do anything to minimize our thinking; we only have to become aware of it and choose to let it go rather than hold on to it.
What we resist persists. What we accept and let be will inevitably leave.
If life begins to feel unclear, disorganized, and stressful, and you’re not sure what to do next, it’s only because your thinking is stirring up the dirt, making your mind cloudy and making it difficult to see ahead. When you sense this cloudiness, see it as an indicator that you’re thinking too much. Then allow your thinking to settle by acknowledging it and giving it space to pass without judgment, and slowly, the mind will clear again.
We are only ever one moment away from remembering that we always have in our possession an infinite well of clarity, love, joy, and peace.
If we find ourselves overthinking and ruminating again, all we have to do is remember that this is just our temporary thinking and find solace in knowing that the sun will rise again soon enough.
thoughts are transient they come and go but You always stay if you want to know who you are look beyond your thoughts to experience your true nature
Your body’s job is to regulate the resulting emotions. Everything has a role. When you let your body feel and process emotions fully without the interference of your judgmental thinking, emotions will naturally pass more easily and quickly than you realize. The mind and body will always restore balance and harmony naturally when we get out of the way.
P—Pause and take deep breaths to calm your nervous system and ground yourself in the present. Become aware that you are thinking, but do not judge it. A—Ask yourself, “Is this thinking making me feel the way I want?” or “Do I want to keep suffering?” If not, you always have the choice to let your thinking go in order to find peace. U—Understand that you have the choice to stop and let go of it. S—Say and repeat the mantra “Thinking is the root cause of suffering” to help quiet the mind from thinking until it subsides and passes. E—Experience your emotions fully without judgment, resistance, or
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Anxiety is thought without control. Flow is control without thought. —James Clear
We function and perform our best and embody our full potential when we enter a state of non-thinking.
Thinking blocks this connection we have with the divine, causing us to feel stress, frustration, anger, resentment, depression, and all of these negative emotions many of us feel daily. This is why some religions describe hell as a complete separation from God.
Only in the present moment can the truth be found. This is why mindfulness instructors, spiritual masters, and even therapists share the importance of meditation, breathing, and being in the present moment. In the Bible, when Moses asks God His name, He replies, “I am.” God doesn’t say He was or will be, because those don’t exist in the now. He simply says, “I am.” God, truth, the Universe, freedom, peace, joy, and love (these terms are all synonymous) can only be found, and therefore experienced, in the present.
you cannot think your way into flow just as much as you cannot think your way into love both are a natural occurrence when we let go and allow the full authentic expression of ourselves to come forth they are a byproduct of surrender and trust
There are two sources of goals: goals created out of inspiration and goals created out of desperation.
Imagine your inspiration is a river, and thinking is a dam. If a dam is built to block the river, it leads to the death of fish, the disappearance of wildlife, flooding, and the destruction of forests. Our thinking creates a dam that blocks the river of inspiration within our minds, leading to self-doubt, self-sabotage, and anxiety. But once the dam is removed, the ecosystem will heal and return to its natural state. The same is true for our minds.
To a mind without the limits of thinking, anything is possible.
if you want to stay alive nourish your body if you want to feel alive nourish your soul
Instead of looking for right or wrong, good or bad, look for truth without judgment.
an intelligent person is constantly learning a wise person is always unlearning
Fear keeps us where we are. Intuition leads us to who we want to be.
While we can’t control everything that happens, we can always control our reactions and therefore our emotions. This is how we can choose to be happy—by choosing to let go of our thinking. Isn’t that what ultimately matters at the end of the day? It’s not what we have but how we feel inside that is the true measure of success, joy, and fulfillment.
Our intuition speaks to us through thoughts and feelings. But remember that there’s a stark difference between thoughts and thinking. Thinking is the negative judgment of our intuition, the worry that blocks us from following our hearts.
Your intuition is the choice that feels most expansive, aligned, and unknown. It is always calm, clear, direct, and unattached.
are you making decisions to feel safe or to feel free?
what we do not question controls us what we question frees us
An activation ritual is a morning routine that helps them get into a state of non-thinking and flow. It can be any activity or routine that helps you feel grounded and allows you to practice getting into a state of non-thinking. Examples might be exercising, meditating, performing breathwork, praying, journaling, or making tea. It does not matter what the activity is as long as it helps you feel centered.
to the person who is at peace with the feeling of fear the whole Universe yields
Her love for me is not based on my mood or what I do; her love for me goes beyond all “reasons” and does not come from a place of reciprocity. She does not love me because I love her, nor is she loving me because of what I can do for her. She experiences an abundance of love that she gifts me unconditionally.
courage is not the absence of fear but the presence of love in the midst of fear
