The Practice of Not Thinking: A Guide to Mindful Living

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Jeg finner meditativ praksis - på tvers av alle religioner og livssyn - svært interessant. Hvilke innsikter/betraktninger gjør man gjennom år med målrettet introspeksjon? Vi må derimot alltid ha i bakhodet et meditasjon er en ferdighet, en aktivitet, som igjen er preget av språket og det teoretiske rammeverket man velger som kontekst for introspeksjonen. Det er ikke en kongevei til sannhet. Dette er tydligere i for eksempel kristen meditasjonspaksis hvor målet ofte er å komme nærmere Gud, eller komme nærmere Guds sanne natur; de bruker ofte veldig like teknikker som i østlige religioner og livssyn. When you’re immersed in discursive thinking, it’s easy to forget that there are five experiences that are available outside your analytical mind: what you’re seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling physically. Try letting your attention rest on what’s coming in at these five sense doors. You’ll find a rich and fascinating world right at your fingertips—with that last sense door, literally at your fingertips, perhaps in the feel of soft material against your body. The Practice of Not Thinking’ by former monk Ryunosuke Koike is an exploration of the power and potential of clearing one's mind and embracing a state of non-thinking. In this engaging book, the author invites us to look at the way we perceive and engage with our own thoughts. Mindfulness

At the end of the book, there was an interview with the neuroscientist Yuji Ikegaya that was just splendid. Discussions about the intersection of the brain and the mind, the relationship between the philosophy of Buddhism and science, what neuroscience thinks of free will [Hint: doesn’t exist as even our movements are predetermined by our brain but the self gets to veto], how meditation can be quantified [Hint: GAMMA WAVES] and why neuroscientists are no longer allowed to examine Tibetan monks [Hint: Master monk’s gammas weren’t showing, THUS home boy wasn’t meditating at all, he was faking it unlike his pupils], a scientific experiment to prove that the conscious mind controls stress and that the pre-existing knowledge and awareness of a PROVEN stress relief outlet can enormously reduce the induction of physical stress, Empathy is real in more subtle ways than we can imagine and that we are a walking set of reflexes, no more, no less, to the frightening point that we will act based on the MOST RECENT information we have received, regardless of our best interest, the self is essentially PLASTIC, SO YIKES, the search for WHO YOU REALLY ARE IS most likely: TRIVIAL, POINTLESS, AN EMPTY FEAT, essentially. Dependant Arising’: every event occurs due to connections that exist beyond the flow of time, making every individual event interdependent Selective Data: we constantly rewrite our own history, our brain makes up stories and believes them. We need to remember that we cannot trust the fractions of information that have been curated to construct a memory from our past, as it will never be an accurate account. This can destabilise us or empower us to fine tune our ability to let go, be unbounded by our ever regenerating selves. I strongly recommend continuing to read beyond his book (Part I & II) onto Part III: a conversation in 2021 between him and Ikegaya, neuroscientist. This more clearly explains his meaning behind the practice of not thinking as translating to observing your thoughts and relegating ones that are not useful. This is a meaningful closing section to his overall treatise, and as undertaken recently does better contextualise the content to become topical and relevant.I imagine all my trivial concerns and opinions just blowing right out of my mind, leaving me free to experience the world without the burden of analyzing every moment of my experience. When I do this, I can feel my mind relax and, just like Ayya Khema said would happen, a feeling of contentment arises. 5. Let the world speak for itself. Klesha in Buddhist philosophy means poison, the most damaging of all are: anger, desire, arrogance and uncertainty In a section entitled ‘How to control your body and your mind’, Ryunosuke looks at everyday activities that we all engage in. Speaking, listening, seeing, reading and writing, eating, discarding, touching and nurturing.

So we don’t want to—nor are we able to–put an end to thinking. That said, there are benefits to intentionally practicing what I call “Not-Thinking.” Discursive thinking—the constant stream of one thought after another—is a deeply ingrained habit. It’s so ingrained that we often start thinking just to occupy our minds! But even during our waking hours, the mind needs to rest now and then. The practice of Not-Thinking is restful, calming, and restorative. According to Buddhist teacher, Ayya Khema: Buddha: A person who listens to a voice and produces impulsive energy like anger or desire will lose subjective control. His mind will be preoccupied and obsessed with the story.’ og det fortsetter. Han har ulike teorier om hvordan hjernen og sinnet fungerer, han sier at sløve kniver ødelegger næringsstoffene i grønnsaker. Han kommer med råd for hvordan man skal oppdra barn og hvordan snakke til partneren sin om overvekt:

About this book

Utover dette er mye av det Koike snakker om rett og slett tåpelig og, eller feil. Her er noen eksempler:

In ‘The Practice of Not Thinking’ He introduces various techniques, ranging from meditation to mindfulness exercises, to help you detach yourself from ‘thinking disease’ and reconnect with the present moment. It offers plenty of advice on how to bring mindfulness into your life by examining your actions and behaviour as you go about your day. How to control your body and your mind Ryunosuke talks a lot about Klesha’s which are something I haven’t heard of before. It’s basically a disturbing emotion, such as a fear or ignorance, which clouds our minds, and leads to unhealthy actions. As a vegetarian, I’ve noticed that the smells of my own body – my breath, body odour and the pungency of my stools – are becoming less and less strong, which is one reason why I suggest considering a vegetarian diet. You can still eat meat but dilute the smells of your body by reducing your intake and balancing it with more vegetables. (s.44) Differentiate between the passive state and the active state of: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching May be this is a good opportunity to not overthink the experience of reading the book, but instead simply vocalise the thoughts that find their way to my mind and allow this review to take its natural course, without resistance, selective thought processing or harsh judgement of my own opinions, thus silencing my klesha of anger that thinks I should have chosen a better book as my 100th registered book in goodreads, an honour one might think, or my klesha of arrogance that thinks it knows what its talking about.

Problemet med dette utsagnet er at det legger ansvaret på offeret av en alvorlig sykdom. De tenkte ikke riktig mens de var yngre. Hvordan vil slike holdninger kunne legge føringer for hvordan vi behandler gamle? Zen teacher Kosho Uchiyama wrote a book titled, Opening the Hand of Thought. I use this phrase to practice Not-Thinking. Sometimes I’ll even open my hand and lightly blow on my palm as if I’m dispersing thoughts into the air like they’re dandelion seeds. If we’re truly sorry about something, we should think about the best way to ease the burden on the other person rather than merely apologizing or making an excuse for our own comfort.” Then immediately direct your attention to whatever is most prominent in your sensory experience. It could be the sight of an art print on a wall. It could be the murmur of a conversation nearby. It could be the smell and taste of an apple you’re eating. It could be the physical sensation of the breath coming in and going out of your body.

Former Buddhist monk Koike shares his thoughts on ways we can stop thinking (or, I’d argue, stop overthinking, as his suggestions do require a fair bit of though) and ultimately live more peacefully. B]egin by being considerate, thinking of our listener, so we don’t cause unnecessary stimulation or stress for the other person.” A sense of superiority from making fun of the mistakes made by others, or greed (wanting more for ourselves). A few of my reading choices this year have been inspired by Kpop; this was inspired by an actual Kpop singer, Ten from WayV/NCT who chose this book for a What's In My Bag challenge. If I had my career and talent as mismanaged as him, I might need to think less too. Emergence: the self is not there to be discovered and explored, the self emerges from the system and routine we put in place. The avenues of exploration we allow to subject our bodies through using any form that stimulates our senses actually starts shaping our preferences, beliefs, decisions and modes of thinking. I have been struggling with the question of whether there is a master algorithm that controls our brain or whether that algorithm is an illusion, whether it can be replaced rather than refined and updated, the data doesn’t conform to it, it BUILDS it and the amount of data we process is immeasurable so we become in a CONSTANT STATE OF FLUX with no fundamental engine to control us. HOW UNSETTLING ?!

1. Open the five sense doors to whatever is happening around you.

It is written for a Japanese audience, so there were parts and language that just didn’t resonate with me. But that’s ok, because I was able to get the overall message and ideas. Ryunosuke’s writing style throughout is engaging and thought-provoking. If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know that I have a strong interest in books on meditation and mindfulness, so a lot of the book was covering familiar ground. It’s difficult to read any new perspectives on the subject, but I think applying techniques to modern living, as this book does, is the way to go. Men om vi legger dette til side så presenterer Koike hvertfall metoden for å komme dit, dessverre blir han forrådt av språket. "Not thinking" handler ikke om å ikke tenke, det handler om å tenke på en hvis måte. "silence" handler ikke om stillhet, men hvordan man forholder seg til støy, og slik fortsetter det. Buzzwords blir erstattet av forbehold og forklaringer. Koike har blant annet et intervju med en hjerneforsker på slutten av boken og da blir han rett og slett fortalt at hans utsagn er tvilsomme, om man tar dem bokstavlig, er tvilsomme, men hjerneforskeren er ikke nødvendigvis uenig etter Koike kommer med en omstendelig forklaring på hva han egentlig mener. It’s all about the stimuli: controlling the stimuli we are exposed to, having an active choice, as much as we possibly can, in the information we let in is the most critical skill of the twenty first century, I think. Even though the book argues that concentration isn’t necessarily natural, it’s actually detrimental to our survival to enter a sacred state of flow - THIS IS WHY EVERYTHING THAT REQUIRES FOCUS TODAY IS DIFFICULT - it goes against our best instincts to actually stay focused but we live in the modern world and that’s the new survival mechanism, so we must adapt accordingly. Extreme measures from time to time such as a silence vow for example to shut down all the extroverts may come in handy in this department, believe me, IT WORKS. Consider, though, these words from the Platform Sutra of the Seventh Century Chinese Chan (Zen) master, Hui Neng: