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Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen

by Parker · 180 things on NewTwos

Why Your Thinking is the Beginning & End of Suffering
Introduction
The only constant is change.
“We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” - Sheryl Sanberg
To find everything you're looking for in life, you must look inside yourself and discover the wisdom that already exists within you. All the answers lie deep within your soul.
The truth lies within everyone and in everything.
You must look beyond the form (the physical) to see and experience the truth (the spiritual).
Truth cannot be intellectualized; it can only be experienced.
The truth lies within a feeling, which is why it cannot be formulated into a word.
If you want to find truth, look beyond the words, and look for a feeling.
Truth is always simple.
If you want to find the truth, look for simplicity.
Chapter 1: The journey to finding the root cause of suffering
"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
There is a way in which, no matter what happens in your life, you do not have to suffer emotionally and psychologically.
Although we experience a lot of pain in our lives, suffering is optional.
Pain is unavoidable, but how we react to the events and circumstances that happen in our lives is up to us, and that will dictate whether we suffer or not.
Buddhists say that anytime we experience a negative event in our lives, two arrows fly our way. Being physically struck by an arrow is painful. Being struck by a second emotional arrow is even more painful (suffering).
The Buddha explained, “In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.”
Chapter 2: The root cause of all suffering
“One who looks around him is intelligent, one who looks within him is wise.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo
We live in a world of thought, not reality.
“Thought is not reality; yet it is through thought that our realities are created.” - Sydney Banks
Each of us lives through our own perceptions of the world, which are vastly different from the person right next to us.
Reality is that the event happened, with no meaning, thinking, or interpretation of it.
Any meaning or thinking we give the event is on us and that is how our perception of reality is created. This is how our experience of life is created from the inside out.
It's not about the events that happen in our lives, but our interpretation of them, which causes us to feel good or bad about something.
Our feelings do not come from external events, but from our own thinking about the events.
The root cause of our suffering is our own thinking.
If we know that we can only ever feel what we are thinking, then we know that we can change our feelings by changing our thinking. Thus, we can change our experience of life by knowing that it comes from our own thinking. And if that is true, then we are ever only one thought away from experiencing something different and transforming our entire lives at any moment — through a state of no thought.
The moment we stop thinking is when our happiness begins.
All the people or situations that make me upset and angry are just like the empty boat. They don’t have the power to make me angry without my own reaction.
Chapter 3: Why do we even think?
“I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.” — Jonathan Safran Foer
Our minds do an incredible job to keep us alive, but it does not help us thrive. It is concerned solely with our safety and survival, but not our fulfillment or joy.
When we don’t understand that our minds only duty is to help us survive, then we will get angry and frustrated with it.
If we keep using our minds, we will constantly stay in a state of fight or flight, anxiety, fear, frustration, depression, anger, resentment, and all negative emotions because the mind thinks everything is a threat to our very existence.
If you want to be free, happy, peaceful, and full of love, then you will need to let go of listening only to your mind and go beyond it by tuning into something much greater that will help you not just to survive, but to thrive.
Chapter 4: Thoughts vs. thinking
“Stop thinking and end your problems.” ― Lao Tzu
Thoughts are the energetic, mental raw materials from which we use to create everything in the world. We can’t experience anything without thought.
Thoughts are a noun and aren’t something that we do, but something we have.
A thought takes no effort or force on our end, and it is something that just happens. We also cannot control what thoughts pop into our minds. The source of thoughts comes from something that is beyond our minds — the Universe, if you will.
Thinking, on the other hand, is the act of thinking about our thoughts.
Thinking is actively engaging with the thoughts in your mind.
You don’t have to engage with each thought in your mind, but when you do, that is thinking.
Thinking is the root cause of all our psychological suffering.
Positive thoughts, or thoughts that feel good, are not a result of thinking. They are, instead, generated by our natural state of peace, love, and joy. They are a byproduct of a state of being, not a state of thinking.
When we think about our thoughts, we begin to judge and criticize the thoughts and experience all sorts of internal emotional turmoil.
It is not necessary to think about our thoughts or to judge them. It does us no good to do so.
We may think that thinking is helping us, but all it’s really doing is causing us to feel all of these negative, unwanted emotions and making us create reasons as to why we can’t do it or why we shouldn’t want it.
Thoughts create. Thinking destroys.
The reason thinking destroys is because as soon as we begin to think about the thoughts, we cast our own limiting beliefs, judgements, criticisms, programming, and conditioning onto the thought, thinking of infinite reasons as to why we can’t do it and why we can’t have it.
Thoughts are inherently infinite, expansive, and energetically positive.
You’ll know you are having thoughts from the divine when you feel positive emotions, feel lighter, and alive.
Thoughts come from the universe, feel light, are expansive, infinite, creative, positive, divine, alive, love, infinite possibilities, wholeness, effortless
Thinking comes from the ego, feel heavy, are restrictive, limited, destructive, negative, mortal, stressful, fear, confining, separateness, laborious
Chapter 5: If we can only feel what we're thinking, don't we need to think positively to feel that way?
“We are ever only one thought away from peace, love, and joy — which come from a state of no thought.” — Dicken Bettinger
We can only ever feel negative emotions when we are thinking.
You do not have to have thoughts or think to feel positive emotions.
Our natural state of being IS joy, love, ecstasy, freedom, and gratitude.
Our natural state of being is joy, love, and peace. Therefore, any thinking that we do will only take us away from those natural states of being, which is why whenever we feel extremely stressed, we are having a LOT of thinking going on. The strength of the negative emotion we feel is in direct proportion to how much thinking we are doing in the moment.
The amount of thinking we have going on is directly correlated to the magnitude of stress and negative emotions we are experiencing at any given moment. When you're experiencing a lot of frustration, stress, anxiety, or any negative emotions, just know that it is because you're thinking, and the intensity of those emotions is directly correlated to how much thinking is going on.
It's not WHAT we're thinking about that is causing us suffering, but THAT we are thinking.
We do not have to try to "think positive" to experience love, joy, bliss, and any positive emotions we want because it is our natural state to feel those emotions.
The less thinking we have, the more space we create for positive emotions to naturally surface.
Chapter 6: How the human experience is created - the three principles
“If the only thing people learned was not to be afraid of their experience, that alone would change the world.” — Sydney Banks
At its fundamental level, the human experience is created by these three principles: Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought.
Universal Mind
Universal Mind is the Intelligence behind all living things. It is the life force and energy that is in all things.
Many people call this God, Infinite Intelligence, the Quantum Field, Source, and other names.
It is only when we begin thinking (believing the illusion or ego) that we block this flow of Universal Mind and begin to feel separated, frustrated, lonely, angry, resentful, sad, depressed, and fearful.
Universal Consciousness
Universal Consciousness is the collective consciousness of all things. It is what allows us to be aware that we exist and aware of our thoughts.
Universal Thought
Universal Thought is the raw material of the Universe from which we can create from. It is our ability to think and create form from the energy of the Universal Mind.
Chapter 7: If thinking is the root cause of our suffering, how do we stop thinking?
“A crowded mind leaves no space for a peaceful heart.” — Christine Evangelou
We are working on allowing thoughts to come and flow through us while we minimize the thinking about those thoughts that emerge.
By us becoming aware that we are thinking and that it is the root cause of all our suffering, it automatically makes us conscious to that fact and we become detached to it, allowing it to settle and pass. This takes almost no effort and is done through pure presence in the moment.
The natural state of water is clear, and the natural state of our minds is also clear, if we do not disturb it.
If life begins to feel unclear, disorganized, stressful and you're not sure what to do next, you now know that it's only because your thinking is stirring up the dirt, making your mind cloudy and difficult to see ahead. You can use this as an indicator to help you realize that you're thinking way too much.
We cannot control or prevent the oscillation between thinking and non-thinking, but we can minimize the time spent in thinking and thus creating more moments where we do feel joyful, peaceful, passionate, and full of love.
Chapter 8: How can we possibly thrive in the world without thinking?
“Anxiety is thought without control. Flow is control without thought.” — James Clear
The state of peak performance for humans can be described as the state of non-thinking.
We do our best work when we aren't thinking.
“Mushin is achieved when [the] mind is free of random thoughts, free of anger, free of fear, and particularly free of ego. It applies during combat, and or other facets of life. When mushin is achieved during combat there is an absence of loose or rambling thoughts. It leaves the practitioner free to act and react without hesitation. He reacts according to all of the study and training that has brought the karateka to this point. Relying on, not what you think should be your next move, but on what your trained, instinctive, subconscious reaction directs you to do.” - Shotokantimes
We only hesitate, are reluctant, have doubts, insecurities, and fears only when we begin thinking and over-analyzing. We function and perform our best and embody our full potential the moment we enter a state of non-thinking. Without thinking, we are free from limitations of the ego and are able to create the most incredible things in the world.
Chapter 9: If we stop thinking, what do we do about our goals, dreams & ambitions?
“There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.” — Napoleon Hill
I think, therefore I suffer.
There is nothing inherently good or bad, only our thinking makes it so.
There are two sources of goals: goals created out of inspiration and goals created out of desperation.
When we create goals out of inspiration versus desperation, we are creating because we feel deeply moved, inspired, and expansive. It feels like a calling rather than an obligation. It is like there's a powerful force of life coming from within us, wanting to be expressed through us to be made manifested into the physical world.
We don't create because we feel like we HAVE to. We create because we simply want to and there's no other reason.
We aren't creating these goals so that we can do something else or use it as a means to get something else we want. This creating comes from a place of wholeness and abundance. It's an overflowing of love and joy for life.
We want to have kids because we want to share the abundance of what we have with them, and it comes from a place of sharing what we have lots of versus trying to get something out of them.
As soon as we begin to think about the thought of us wanting to create, it completely shuts off the source of that inspiration and we go back to living life as usual. When we cut off that source, we also cut off the feelings of abundance, exuberance, ecstasy, joy, pure unconditional love, and go back to the feelings of doubt, anxiety, frustration, sadness, and feel confined, stuck, and frustrated with our lives.
When we stop thinking, we don't stop having goals and dreams, we actually fall back into our true nature and begin to create goals and dreams out of inspiration versus desperation. We begin to allow thoughts from the Universe to come into our mind that lead us to divine inspiration to create something that has never been created before in the world. When we follow divine inspiration, we feel alive, whole, joy, love, peace, and fulfillment.
Goals and dreams that come in the form of thought are created out of inspiration. Goals and dreams that come from thinking are created out of desperation.
"If I had infinite money, already traveled the world, had no fear, and didn't receive any recognition for what I do, what would I do or what would I create?"
Whenever we ask questions, answers always arise. It is impossible for our brains to hear a question and not come up with a response.
To a mind without the limits of thinking, anything is possible.
Chapter 10: Unconditional love & creation
“The greatest power that mankind could ever achieve is the power of unconditional love. This is when people love with no limitations, conditions or boundaries.” — Tony Green
We are all connected to this pure, unconditional love, which is God, the Universe, or whichever name you choose to use. The only thing that gets in the way of this is our own thinking, which separates and cuts us off from that unconditional love.
Unconditional creation is always innovative, unique, new, captivating, bold, different, revolutionary in its own way. Very few people operate in this space because we always put conditions around what we do or make.
Unconditional creation is creating something without it being for another purpose, but purely to create it because we just want to create it. It's not for money, fame, love, or anything else. We create it simply because we want to create it.
As soon as we do things for no other reason, we step into the realm of living our life unconditionally. This is when we experience flow, oneness, and a direct connection to the Universe/God.
Chapter 11: What do you do next after experiencing peace, joy, love & fulfillment in the present?
"Don't think. It complicates things. Just feel, and if it feels like home then follow its path.” — R.M. Drake.
The reason why we feel worried, anxiety, and doubt after we’ve experienced peace is because we have just let go of everything we thought we knew in the world. What actually happened was the death of the personal ego. A natural consequence is that once the personal ego is threatened, it will do everything in its power to regain control over your life again.
Chapter 12: Nothing is either good or bad
"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." — William Shakespeare
Instead of looking for right or wrong, good or bad in the world, look for truth. Instead of trying to prove we are right and they are wrong, or how they're better and we're worse, look for the truth in what's in front of you.
For the most part, without this deeper understanding of life, most of what we think is not truth, even though it may seem like it.
Negative emotions are an indication of misunderstanding. When we are gripped by negative emotions, it means that we believe what we are thinking.
Chapter 13: How do you know what to do without thinking?
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein
Only you can know what you want to do. No one else can tell you this. There will be mentors and coaches that can guide you to help you along the way, but the best ones will tell you to listen to your intuition and look within yourself for the answer (the truth is only ever within you).
Society will almost never confirm our intuition until it's mainstream already. For this reason, if you try to look outside for confirmation on what you know to be true for you, you'll almost always get backlash and differing opinions on what next steps you should take. Avoid looking externally for answers. Follow your intuition, your gut feeling, your inner wisdom, and the Universe/God.
Those who have the faith and courage to do this, will discover the true joy, peace, and love they have been looking for while enjoying the miracle of life.
The truth is most of us know what to do, but we are just afraid to do it.
For anything in life, you most likely already know deep down what to do, but are afraid of doing it or don’t believe that you are good enough to do it.
“Whether you think that you can or can’t, you’re right.” - Henry Ford
If we walk around our lives thinking we can’t, then we immediately block ourselves from the limitless possibilities of what we can do in any given moment in time. But when we release the brake in our mind and realize that it’s just our thinking holding us back, we automatically return to our natural state of abundance and unlimited possibilities and in that moment, we can receive any answer we need on what to do.
Know that you already know and if you don’t know, know that you can know what you need to know.
Chapter 14: How to follow your intuition
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” — Steve Jobs
The only time we can really be in a state of non-thinking is in the present moment. We can only see reality in the present moment and when we are actively thinking, it means we are either in the past or future (which don’t exist). Only in the present moment can the truth be found.
When you’re following your intuition, it means you are trusting yourself and having faith that you always have the inner wisdom necessary to help guide you through everything in life. This is a state of non-thinking or flow.
It is when we begin thinking that we lose this power of creating miracle-like events and circumstances.
It is only when we think we know more than God that we run into problems.
We can decide to change our experience of life whenever we want and how we feel at any moment. This is how we can choose to be happy — by choosing to let go of our thinking.
It’s not about what we have, but how we feel inside that is the true measure of success, joy, and fulfillment.
Our job is to come up with what we want, not how to get it. The how is really up to the Universe. This is the best-case scenario anyway because there are an infinite number of ways to bring about what you want in life, so for our little finite brains to figure it out would be futile, nonetheless.
We only suffer when we try to figure it all out, but we don’t have to. This is when we want to rely on our intuition and inner wisdom to help show us exactly what we need to do in real time to manifest what we want. There’s no need to try to figure it all out in advance.
Our part is to hold in our minds what we want and get into a state of non-thinking. This enables us to access our Infinite Intelligence (God) so that the answers are revealed to us exactly when we need it.
The path forward is only revealed when we begin walking.
We must have complete, unwavering faith that what we want to create will come to us and we can only do this by fully trusting in the Universe to orchestrate how it will happen. We can always get what we desire in life, it just may not be on our timeline or in the way we want it to manifest.
Your intuition will almost never seem logical or rational, but that’s exactly what we want because we don’t want it to be predictable. If it were predictable, it wouldn’t be miraculous and it wouldn’t contain the infinite possibilities of the Universe which are all spontaneous by nature.
We as humans always fear the unknown because we can’t predict what might happen. It is only when we step into the unknown that we can begin to experience the limitless possibilities that life can bring to us. This is why magical things and miracles happen when we trust our intuition. We are literally stepping into the zone of pure possibility. It is for this reason that we only need to know the “what” of what we want to manifest, but not the “how”.
The unknown is also the only way to manifest what you want in life if you don’t already have it. You have to do what you haven’t done in order to get what you don’t have.
The fear is only present as long as your thinking is revolving around fear. Once you acknowledge the fear and understand that it’s only your thinking that’s causing those feelings, the illusion will fall apart, and you’ll fall back into peace, joy, and pure love. This is the space you want to stay in, which will allow you to create the positive feelings that are the prerequisite to manifesting all you could possibly imagine for yourself.
Chapter 15: Creating space for miracles
“Today I make space for miracles. I recognize that it's not how big a miracle is that's important but how much room I create for it.” — Kyle Gray
So the master gently poured his guest a cup. The cup was filled, yet he kept pouring until the cup overflowed onto the table, onto the floor, and finally onto the scholar’s robes. The scholar cried, “Stop! The cup is full already. Can’t you see?” “Exactly,” the Zen master replied with a smile. “You are like this cup — so full of ideas that nothing more will fit in. Come back to me with an empty cup.”
If you want something new to be created, such as new thoughts, then you must first create space so that you can receive new ideas that can change your life.
“We can't solve problems by using the same level of consciousness we were at when we created them.” — Albert Einstein
Here’s the process for receiving divine downloads when you’re confronted with a challenge:
Become aware that your thinking is the root cause of all negative emotions.
Create space by surrendering any manual thinking from the personal mind and have complete faith that your inner wisdom (God/Universe/Infinite Intelligence) will give you the answer. Also surrender the how and when the answer will come to you.
Become aware of any feelings that arise as you surrender and magnify those feelings of love, peace, and joy. Meet what you’re facing with love and the answer will come to you.
If it seems almost too simple, that’s a good thing. The truth is always simple. Although it may be simple, it’s not always easy and even the greatest spiritual masters struggle at times. What’s important is not when we get caught in our thinking (because it’s inevitable), but what we do when we catch ourselves thinking again. As long as you continually remember that we can only ever feel what we’re thinking and that thinking is the root cause of all of our suffering, then you’re free.
Chapter 16: What happens when you begin living in non-thinking (potential obstacles)
“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” — Dalai Lama
We are most productive as humans when we are happy and in a state of non-thinking. Time seems to fly when we are in a state of pure joy. Tasks are easier, we perform better, people gravitate to us, we attract way more abundance, and miracles begin to occur out of nowhere. You just have to stay in the state of non-thinking long enough to experience these things and you’ll never want to go back.
Know that the Universe is working for you, not against you. That everything happens for a reason and that there are no failures in life, just lessons and opportunities for us to grow. We must have faith in the unknown because that’s the only place that contains the possibility for anything to be different than the life we’re living right now. The unknown is where all possibilities exist, including everything you could possibly ever want for your life. Once you have the courage to make the leap into the unknown and to not be afraid of it anymore, it’s impossible that your life won’t change.
If you begin to feel like something’s wrong because you feel way too peaceful and content, know that it’s only your mind trying to make you think again. Your mind is the greatest salesman and knows exactly what to say to get you to bring you back into its vicious cycle of destructive thinking. It is in this moment that you have the choice to have faith in the unknown and stay in the feeling of happiness, peace, and love or to go back to the old patterns of familiar pain and psychological suffering. We can either choose to be free and happy in the unknown or to be confined and suffer in the familiar.
Chapter 17: Now what?
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished, that will be the beginning.” — Louis L’Amor
The truth is simple and will always be. Anything that makes something complex and intricate is only taking you further away from the truth.
The truth is not something you think, but something that you know and feel deep in your soul. Listen to that still inner wisdom inside of you that knows all of this. Let it guide you through your life. We are most fulfilled when we listen to our soul.
The world will continuously advertise to us that we are not enough, that we are missing something or don’t have everything we want. People will constantly bombard you with their own opinions, judgements, and advice. Know that they are innocently caught up in their thinking and thank them for caring, but do not fall into the illusion that you need any of that. Everything you could possibly ever want and need is already inside of you. You are already all of the love, joy, peace, and fulfillment you have ever wanted. It is only when we forget that fact and get caught up in our thinking that we do not see it.
Summary of non-thinking
Thinking is the root cause of all suffering.
Thinking is NOT an effect of our experiences, but the CAUSE of it.
The thoughts in our minds are not facts.
There is no separation between us and the Universe and all of life when we are not thinking. It is only when we think that we cut ourselves from Source and feel separate from all things (the birth of the ego).
Thinking and thoughts are two different things. Thinking is a verb and requires our manual effort, which causes suffering. Thoughts are nouns, which do not come from us and are divine downloads from the Universe.
We think because it is a biological response to survive. Our minds think only because it is trying to keep us alive, but it does not help us thrive. It is only concerned with our safety and survival, but not our fulfillment. Thinking holds us back from our Highest Selves by causing negative feelings within us that prevent us from following our true callings.
Our minds are limited to our personal experiences. If you want to receive insights, creativity, and knowledge beyond the capabilities of your current self, simply choose to listen to Infinite Intelligence rather than your finite mind. This infinite source of truth is available to all people at all times if we allow it to be.
Peace, love, joy, and all positive emotions are our default states as humans. It is only when we begin thinking, then we get taken out of that natural state. Once we let go of our thinking, we fall back into our natural state of being and experience all positive feelings effortlessly.
Other tips and frameworks
Realize that negative thoughts only have power over you if you believe in them.
Fear is an indication that something is very important to us, so this is a great sign.
If you’re not thinking, you will experience complete peace, love, joy, passion, excitement, inspiration, bliss, and any positive emotion your mind can conceive. You’ll feel like you’re in flow. You’ll lose sense of time, space, and even yourself. You’ll feel “one” with life. This is how you know you are not thinking.

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