It is time to stop thinking

Exhibit A

Observe exhibit A: Rodin’s The Thinker. In some ways the very image of our modern ideal. Our intellect has solved and will continue to solve many problems, from life-saving medicine to life enhancing technology. We are living in an age where a great many people have access to longer safer lives in comparison to our ancestors. To be The Thinker requires a certain concentration. Whilst we engage with thinking, unknown to us our body begins a tightening, leaning forwards, head down, toes curled, a furrowed brow, the ability to shut off the distractions around us, and to dampen down the feelings that stir within us. Maybe our cup of tea goes cold, an opportunity for play gets pushed to one side, our friends and family are momentarily dismissed, all in the quest to untangle the latest problem within our mind. However not all problems have intellectual solutions.

To live in the world of thought has an alluring appeal. We still live within the shadow of Descartes words “I think therefore I am”. We all want to live a life where we are seen and heard, matter and belong. If, as Descartes says, thinking allows us to bring ourselves into a meaningful existence, then it makes perfect sense to be the best Thinker that we can be.

To paraphrase the poet Averi Patel from Dear You, our thinking mind is "....spinning like fan blades at high speed at high speed always a blur because you're never still" later he asks "What if you closed your eyes? Would the world fall apart without you? or become the open sky.

Time for a change:

Credit: A A Milne

Edward Bear, whilst bumping down the stairs is slowly forming a deeper awareness that can only come from waking up to the bumps.

Exhibit B - A seated Buddha or Bodhisattva

Now consider exhibit B. Sculptures and art showing postures similar to this have been a mainstay across much of Asia for over the last 2000 years, when we view them they can encourage us to reflect that there is another way to experience our life.

The face shows ease and softness, the body shows symmetry, it is upright and yet not uptight. The crossed legs in the lotus position allow for stability and balance*. The hands are turned upward, soft, resting on the lap.

This is not a figure that is wrestling with thought, nor engaged in physical effort.

It is sitting with balance, ease, dignity. If I could hazard a guess, the mind is attending to the present moment, the comings and goings of the outer and inner world, with no need to alter or change a thing. A person at peace with who they are and where they are, not dampening down or ignoring sensations, whilst fixating on others, but instead allowing everything to be just as it is.

Now, intellect is a wonderful tool, and with the ability to cooperate globally, humans have the incredible ability to bring our minds together to create and innovate for our well being, and long may this continue. However many and most emotional problems cannot be solved by thinking our way out of them. A constant thinking comes at the cost of ignoring the opportunities around us, and the emotions and signals coming from inside of us. We can become constricted, tense and out of balance.

Our society puts a great emphasis on thinking, and assumes that feeling, peace and ease are either freak occurrences, or something that is reached once we have climbed to the top of the ladder, and yet we rarely stop to consider what we have decided to lean our ladder against.

But what about letting go of the illusion that we need to think to solve all of our problems?

A great many of us have not been taught how to find balance, stability, peace, ease and calm in the present moment, and even more importantly, we have almost never heard the phrase “I am, therefore I am”. This is the idea that “I am enough” even when I am sitting still and not making waves in the consciousness of others. That I do not need to grind the gears of my thinking in order to be validated, but instead just breathing, and sensing the inner and outer world is enough. As Charlie Chaplin says in his incredible speech from his film The Great Dictator “We think too much and feel too little.”

It is harder at first to see the fruit of our efforts when we begin to practice postures of stability and balance through yoga or seated meditation, and it is harder still to learn not to be rushed and compelled by what feels like urgent and important thoughts, driving us to do more and be better. It is a frightening thought to switch off the 'fan blades' of the mind for fear that we might dissapear. Overtime though we can learn that by letting go of the desire to think all the time and just to settle down and 'be', we can find friendship with our own 'self' and wake up to a world of everyday beauty, peace and joy that accepts us just as we are.

Maybe it is time to stop bumping down the stairs backwards and instead learn how to stop, and notice that you are enough and perfectly alive, even when you are still, soft and quiet.

*The cross legged or lotus posture is not the only way to find stability peace and ease. We can find similar benefits from lying down, sitting on a chair or in standing postures. We are all capable of creating more ease and physical capacity by working with our body and posture in time and by being sensitive and patient.