“Thought creates our world, and then says ‘I didn’t do it’ ” David Bohm
Syd Banks rightly noted that the missing link that people all over the world are looking for is thought. Depending on your level of awareness, thought may seem completely irrelevant to your experience…nothing more than a by-product. After all, you get angry because people say and do stupid things and that’s that. You get stressed because you have endless tasks to accomplish and the deadlines are fast approaching. The list could go on and on depicting how our individual circumstances directly impact our experience of life. It would take us to really slow down to observe how the fine pattern of thoughts are interwoven in all these experiences. It’s like, say, wanting a butterfly to land in the middle of your palm. For that to happen, you need to be still. Any form of aggression on your path may probably scare it off. So take a few deep breaths. First, in… hold it… and now out. Let’s repeat that one more time, in… hold… and out. In that stillness created by the deep breaths, let’s go on to identify the principle of thought in our experience.
Let’s start with when someone does something to make you angry. That’s quite common to all human experiences. The first impression (which is usually wrong) we have is that their actions brought about our fury. If they hadn’t done what they did, then we wouldn’t have been angry. But can I ask that you consider another possibility? Could it be possible that they did whatever it is that they did yet you wouldn’t get angry? Or are you saying that in all the world there can be only one reaction to their actions, which is anger? I bet in your own life, there may have been times when others have done worse things but didn’t even evoke the slightest rage in you (if that’s not true about you, it’s okay).
In between the action and reaction is always the layer of thought.
The truth is that as thinking beings, we humans do not directly perceive anything without it going through our filter of thoughts. We literally have thoughts about everything. We have words and actions we label as offensive and disrespectful and we feel offended and disrespected when people use those words on us, not just because they said those words but because of the meaning we have attached to them. In between the action and reaction is always the layer of thought. When you see this, you cease to become fixated and the immeasurable possibilities of life become open to you where you can actually choose how you want to respond. Maybe, you like to respond with empathy “oh, that fellow is hurting and is unconsciously hurting others by words or actions” or you could be tolerant and understanding “all this person is saying and doing has nothing to do with me. They’re just having a hard time.” Whatever response you choose will determine your experience irrespective of what is done or said to you. So actually, no one wields the control over your experience in life but you.
If you’re anything like the rest of us, then you sometimes innocently use the principle of thought against yourself by creating experiences of hostility, strife, jealousy and self-pity. The truth is right under our noses but we so often miss it. That’s why this ought to be a practice, not because it is difficult. On the contrary, it’s the most natural thing to do. But we need to have that stillness to observe the principle of thought that underlies all human experience.
Restpiration 