Philosophy of Thinking or Thinking of Philosophy What is philosophy? Is it a study of a way to think? Some say it is a study of the way to be or the way to live. It can also be a set of beliefs and ideas. It can be a formula for a set of behaviors that define you. It can be a set of rules that governs society. Is it the just a love of wisdom? I have always had an interest in philosophy and studied it on my own long before I tackled it at university. I read Kant to Kierkegaard and a few in between and can proudly say I got one of the lowest grades at university (in that subject) because I didn’t see eye to eye with my professor. The above way of thinking of a philosophy is a constrictor, a limiter. It puts boundaries around it that holds it in place and makes you think its safe because it is steadfast. A philosophy should be expansive and mobile, have a willingness to change direction, color, or density and even withdraw. In fact lets get rid of the word ‘philosophy’ altogether and change it for another or others. What about Fabjeb? Or Vortabe? How about thinking. Or does it really need another name? Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell, should be. To paraphrase Eckhart Tolle – ‘Thinking is an affliction that most of the world suffers from.’ Yes, that’s right – thinking is a disease. Well maybe it’s not that bad of a thing. The trouble is – most people do not do it right. Don’t get me wrong here. I am not going to tell you how or what to think. I am just expressing an opinion. Take it or leave it. Thinking clogs the mind. We do way too much of it. Most of the thoughts we think are repetitive. We cycle thoughts thru and thru, over and over. We think we are thinking different thoughts , but no, we are thinking the same ones again and again. We are just rehashing them, possibly using slightly different words or different inner dialogue. We get something in our heads and it goes round and round. We will repeat the same stories to others over and over again, often embellishing them as time passes. We have the same opinions over and over and it’s worse than you think. Opinions, beliefs, and yes, even preferences’ can be passed generationally. Most people are wearing perceptual blinkers – seeing in a narrow range. Even this way of perceiving the world was handed down to us from our forebearers. We are conditioned to believe there is only one point of view – OUR OWN. We are suffering from the illusion that we are separate individuals. Do you think all your thoughts are your own? Its time we learned how to broaden our perception. Its time we learn how to expand the mind. This is not done by putting more things into it. You expand the mind by taking things out. Letting go of old beliefs is just a start. Letting go of prejudices – pre judge. A pre formed opinion of a situation, event, or person before you have all the facts. When you look at it, think how limiting that is. A pre-formed opinion is a limited one. It’s time to open the mind to other possibilities. How do you let go of pre-formed opinions? By becoming aware of them when they happen. Expand your awareness. Expanded awareness is noticing what you notice. It’s not just noticing an event, but also your reaction to it. Become aware when you have a reaction. Is it a built in one? Or one that was already there waiting to be triggered? Did it come from the mind? Or was it an (in the now) gut reaction. You know the difference – just become aware of where your reactions are coming from and if they are real. We actually have 3 minds. 1) the mental mind 2) the heart mind 3) the gut mind If in doubt, go to the heart. You are not your mind. It is a processing unit, that helps us problem solve. But, often the mind becomes the problem. We become too attached to our own thinking, to the point of thinking we are what we think. Thank Buddha we are not. What are we truly? The Observer of the mind! Ahoe, GW