1.0Drishtikonehttps://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikonejessicafickhttps://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/author/jessicafick/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2oXY7MR2x2"><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2009/04/art-thinking/">The Art of Thinking</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2009/04/art-thinking/embed/#?secret=2oXY7MR2x2" width="600" height="338" title="“The Art of Thinking” — Drishtikone" data-secret="2oXY7MR2x2" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> This guest article has been written by Prakash Vishnubotla. He has been a tremendous influence on me in spiritual topics. This piece is an example of how profound his thinking is. Enjoy. ===================== "I would learn the arts that you have to teach, but I refuse to learn the art of thinking!" This perhaps should be the motto of every individual walking this green insignificant planet, that we call earth. Yet, can this be possible? Or rather it would be right to ask if we can "let this be possible"? To understand the question lets first ask ourselves what thought is to begin with. A simple introspection will lead us to a very simple yet vital clue to the process of thinking itself. "The brain is a reactor". Simple isnt it? Or maybe not, but that is exactly what it is doing every moment of our lives other than of course, doing another vital act of survival, that of storing information as memory. Just think about it, every nano second of our lives , brain is bombarded with information, through the senses of perception, what we normally call stimulus. The brain is simply deciding the appropriate response to these impulses and sensations through what we call thought. When we shut out these physical inputs, like say in the act of meditation, the brain finds its stimulus in memory itself! In other words, the brain does not know how to function other than a) responding to stimulus - which it does by additionally using memory that it feels is useful b) It fundamentally cannot function coherently without the memory that helps it make sense of these stimulus.