A New Manner of Thinking (or not)

A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting our personal desires and to affection for a few person nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive. 

Albert Einstein

Let me start by saying that this man (quotes above) is just amazing! In the same token he also famously said that "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking that we used when we created them." While he may have referred to a political or systemic issue - or at least that is the context in which this quote is often used -, what he actually is relating to is to the way of how every single one of us is relating to our lives and to our challenges. From the point of view that identifies with our ego and the ideas, concepts, and roles it has piled onto the self. 

And see that is our problem. Generally speaking, in conflict situations anyway, when we narrowly focus on our own rights, pains, positions and likewise put the other into the very tight box, we have created for them. 

Many of us intuitively know that something is wrong in going about life like this. Just like Albert E. knew and probably enlightened lived by given the insights and depth of his sayings. 

Here is a way I have recently started to deal with this: I started to focus my attention on awareness itself. As a subtle, intangible, ever-present substance. A state of being whose energetic level goes far and beyond the heaviness and solidity that comes with a strong identification with the me. 

I first met Loch Kelly, a NYC-based psychotherapist and meditation teacher, roughly a year back, when he led a sit at New York Insight Meditation Center. I remember that we did not really meditate. Instead we sat and talked - or he talked - and he asked the very simple question of "How do you feel when there is no problem to solve?" And just like that I got the very first, deliberate taste for awareness. Try it - and don't ponder the question!

What Kelly argues is that thinking is nothing more than another sense. Yet, we have attached so much meaning and value to it even though this mode cannot possibly create our happiness, our insight, and our connection to life and others. Rather, just like Einstein said, it makes our problems, and cannot break them (despite our tireless attempts). Surely though this is not the end of the story. What we need to see and sense is the beyond and the above. Quite literally:

1. Settle in a comfortable seat, take a few deep breaths
2. Sink into your body from your neck downwards and start becoming aware of your body in its entirety. Sense into it, its sensations, feel its space. 
3. From here, move to the outward, the space around you. Sense into it behind your back, in your front, to your sides, above your head and below your feet. Notice the space, be aware in the space. 
4. Alternate between the space within and the space outside and notice how it can both exist alongside without you playing the part of the thinker in it. 

So this is a first glimpse, in my own words. It works for me. Test it out for yourself. What I can say so far, having put a couple weeks focus on awareness: My ego identification softens dramatically. I'm not taking things that personally anymore, I'm way softer with my own "mistakes". Plus I'm more conscious of my boundaries and where I want to set them. Those identifications and narratives that keep me at bay surface and I'm fine with having them linger for a while, until they are tired of not being fed anymore. 

Life continues, even in being, obviously. But things slow down a bit, drama edges off, and I am more intuitive when to do what how. I'm certain of the necessity of - as Einstein puts it - humanity's need to liberate the self. Only if one individual after the other realises the illusion that our ego identification deceives us with, we can truly be with each other without drama, trauma, and violence.

Here is the link to Kelly's website for more information.