On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 7:15 PM, Bill! <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I can will myself to think about the things I want to think about. There
> are also a lot of times I think about things spontaneously and even
> involuntarily. I can halt my thinking. That's what zazen/shikantaza is.
>
Perhaps my distinction is silly, but I'm not talking about the subject of
the thought ("I need to think about tomorrow's schedule now -- ok go....")
but about the thought itself - "Oh god, I have to talk to X, can't stand
them."
As far as stopping your thinking, I will take your word for it. When I
sit, my thinking can halt, but it is not me stopping it, it is me relaxing
and the natural quiet coming to the fore. Trying to will myself into
no-thinking isn't too useful.
> I agree that thoughts are perceptions, but then again in my terminology
> perceptions and illusions are pretty much the same thing.
>
Thanks,
--Chris
[email protected]
+1-301-270-6524
