Epictetus, a Greek philosopher of old, wrote a little book about how to live life that’s been a minor hit from the time he wrote it until today. I read it in college and it made a lasting impact.
In one section of the book, he asks “What can we control?” He begins his ruminations with considering whether or not we can control the heavens, then works his way inward, including weather, and finally our body. He concludes that the only thing we can control is our throughts, and that controlling our thoughts is a worthy life-long endeavor. Over all other things, the most we can hope for is influence.
I found this a radical argument when I read it, but it rang true for me and I have operated from it ever since. Until last weekend.
I was watching a video of satsung with Mooji – one of the great gifts of having access to the internet – and he made a simple statement: we cannot control our thoughts.
He asked, when a thought comes, did you know it was coming?
Certainly in meditation we experience thoughts arising and passing like clouds – that’s an old metaphor and one Mooji uses too. Did you know they were coming?
If we don’t control our thoughts, then, like everything else around us, they’re part of the leela – the grand play. But where do they come from? And over what, if anything, do we have control?
Mooji says we can control our attention. We choose which thoughts to give attention. Of the bazillions of thoughts and perceptions arising continuously in front of our consciousness, which ones will we tend to? Clearly, there are way way too many to pay attention to all or even most of them.
And, in paying attention to the thoughts we choose, what will be our reaction?
As I consider this, I feel the world drifting away from me – losing its importantance as I turn my attention to the one is doing the seeing. No surprise, this is exactly what Mooji has been pointing to. This is the feeling of detachment spoken by the eastern traditions. This is the feeling of being in the world but not of the world spoken of by Jesus.
And so this morning when I made some comment about thinking, Joyce replied “I’ve had enough f-ing thinking!” I quite agree!
As to what’s the source of thoughts, I think the very word “source” provides an interesting clue!