The Practice of Not Thinking
A Guide to Mindful Living!
“What if we could learn to look instead of see, listen instead of hear, feel instead of touch?”
I am mostly a good blurb finder. And this blurb was all it took for the book to entice me.
Presenting The Practice of Not Thinking, an international bestseller by Ryunosuke Koike, a former Buddhist monk and the author of numerous books on Zen and Buddhism. What I liked the most about this book is that it not only shares theories on Zen and Buddhist ideologies but also guides the readers on applying the learned principles in our daily lives, making our existence happier and more fulfilling.
The book explores a wide variety of concepts including the more appropriate usage of our five senses, getting rid of the constant ‘thinking disease’, practising minimalism, etc. All of these are things that occur to us amidst our daily interactions, conversations, etc., but the book does an excellent job of recommending small steps of how to convert these realisations into actual practices or habits so that they slowly become a part of our consciousness.
Here are some of the key concepts that stood out to me:
How to respond to our senses?
“Shift your mindset from hearing to listening, seeing passively to seeing intentionally, practise sharpening your five senses, and you will begin to feel a sense of fulfilment from contemplating things that may appear at first to be boring.”
The book advises us to avoid merely looking, listening, tasting, or being stimulated by minimum catalysts. It recommends that we should be more mindful of using our senses — the gateways that help us to perceive our surrounding environment.
Stop the Thinking Disease
“When we become aware that we haven't been noticing how these unstoppable thoughts continue to pop up in our mind, we begin to realise that we aren’t really thinking in the way we thought we were or would like to be thinking.”
How many times have you been distracted while someone was sharing a really important thing that happened at their workplace? Probably an embarrassing number of times. Honestly, I am guilty too! So, how can we really listen to our partners, friends or whoever is trusting us and sharing about the things that matter to them?
Start by becoming more aware of the thoughts that continually enter and exit our minds. Try to be present in the moment and shun away everything else that is unrelated to the conversation at hand. Difficult indeed, but not undoable with practice.
Four Emotions for A Happy Life: Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity.
It doesn't take much to live a happy, healthy and contented life. Apart from the practical aspects, all it requires is having a balanced state of mind and having a heart that beats for others as well. In a world ridden with conflicts, threats and miscommunication, going back to the roots and absorbing these four primary emotions can help us deal with all sorts of problems — personal and global.
Discarding
“Don’t own more than you need. This means not holding on to a thing, regardless of whether or not it’s a physical object.”
I often hear the term ‘Retail Therapy’. I am not sure how that works but whenever I practice it, I end up having loads of books looking for shelves at my home. Yes, I am attached to my books. And this is what Koike wants us to get rid of. Buddhism has always regarded attachments as something that binds us and minimises our worldview. Letting go is an art — be it people, things or situations.
Be it the ancient Buddhism that had a strong foothold in India, Emperor Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma or the more recent Nichiren Buddhism, the core principles remain constant — being more mindful of our words, actions and thoughts and living a life with reduced mind clutter and a more awakened self.
