Photo: ‘The Source’ by Karl Egger – Pixabay
https://tinyurl.com/y5nj77f9
LOOKING FOR THE SOURCE OF THOUGHTS…
FOCUS ON ALLOWING THE THOUGHTS TO PRESENT THEMSELVES…. As thoughts present, investigate: IS THERE A SOURCE OR PLACE OF THEIR ORIGIN? Do they abide someplace? Do they go somewhere? Relax any effortfulness you notice, TRYING TO ANSWER THE QUESTION – GETTING ANSWERS ISN’T NECESSARY. [Emphasis added]
It gets tricky looking for the source of thoughts. Rinpoche seems to be pointing us toward a ‘space’ from which thoughts emerge… and what does he mean, “Getting answers isn’t necessary?†Normally, when I work with this exercise I’m looking for that space… where is it in my experience? I go searching through my memories of when I saw this space. It’s precisely what I do when I’m looking for answers to questions I might pose. The problem is my memories are largely thoughts, they’re objects I’ve categorized and classified, labeled and evaluated… they’re objects of thought. Thoughts are coming from a space that is not an object, but I unwittingly keep making this source-space a thought-object. I realize thoughts ABOUT the space are NOT that open-source I’m looking for. For this exercise, Space is not a thing, or an object… it’s the present moment experience of openness Rinpoche is really pointing toward.
So how do I ‘answer’ a question where answers aren’t necessary? Is there a source of thoughts? I think it may require a shift from conceptual constructions to FEELING in the open moment. It’s something like when practicing the Giant Body exercise and trying to see the partitioned areas from all sides at once… and you suddenly shift to being open. Another example might be if you’re walking along lost in thoughts, you look up and you are thunderstruck by a magnificent sunset… color and form seem to explode in the heart… the world of thoughts you were lost in simply dissolve in the full-open feel of the moment. Could this openness be the source of thoughts? Constructing the answer isn’t necessary…
