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I like to sit and think. People think Im mad.

Try it. Sit down on a park bench and start thinking deeply. Within two minutes, someone will put their hand on your shoulder and ask if everything is okay. The guy sitting next to you has already called 911. Another well-meaning person comes running, Im a paramedic!

People are meant to sit and think. Thats what grey matter does. Its called contemplation and its something that our ancestors spent hours a day doingwhile gazing at the stars, tending the sheep, or on those many long walks from place to place pre-Henry Ford. They were thinking about stuff. Whatever they wanted to think about.

No, not worrying. Not fantasizing. Proactively pondering a certain thought for more than 10 seconds. Contemplating.

Today our senses are inundated by a torrent of data buried within rivers of noise on all channels from all directions and attacking all senses until the brain simply has no RAM left for actual thinking. Thats why many of us seek out a person who will teach us how to make room for our own thoughtsa meditation or mindfulness coach. And, yes, they teach us how to calm and empty our minds. Very nice.

But they stop there. ThatsMeditation used to mean filling your mind with your own thoughts. Now it means emptying your brain from any thoughts at all. the problem. Thats how contemplation gets hijacked. Meditation used to mean filling your mind with your own thoughts. Now it means emptying your brain from any thoughts at all.

Quietness. Serenity. Sounds so blissful. And it is. Until it becomes an end in itself. Then its a dead end.

Because thats not what your mind was made for, thats not what any of the original teachers intended, and thats not what you, as a human being in this overwhelming world, need right now.

All that serenity is just a prerequisite to something far more vital and important: Thinking for yourself.

Do you hear your thoughts? Its a question Ive asked many people. Responses vary: Some of the time. Doesnt everybody? or even It drives me nuts! How do I get it to stop?

But the most common answer is something like No, Im perfectly sane, thank you. Accompanied by one of those looks that says, What kind of a wacko is this? Hey is this the same nutcase I saw sitting on a bench in the park?

Or just a blank stare.

That could be half of humanity. Maybe much more. Intelligent, well-educated people. But they have no room in their lives for listening to the thoughts zipping across the neuro-connectors of their brain.

All Im trying to point out are two simple truths that everyOnce aware of your thoughts, you can grab the leash and take those thoughts to wherever you wish. book of wisdom takes for granted: 1) You, as an adult human being, are aware of your thoughts and 2) therefore you can grab the leash and take those thoughts to wherever you wish.

Todays American-styled mindfulness and meditation, with a good teacher, can help address #1. As for #2grabbing the leashthese offerings, as currently packaged, just leave you hanging.

Think healthy thoughts! we tell people. Whenever one of those ugly, toxic, pull-me-down thoughts floats up into your head, dont react in the slightest. Just choose another healthy, inspiring thought to think instead.

The common response? What are you talking about? You cant choose your thoughts. They just are!

The truth is, even if youre eager to switch thoughts in midstream and believe it to be possible, it doesnt come so easy. Someone needs to provide guidance, coaching, techniques, and strategies for contemplating those healthy thoughts.

There are plenty of strategies. Among them:

There are so many more. All take time and effort to develop. Choose some that work for you. Develop your own. After a few weeks, youll find you can slip in and out of thinking modality with ease. In a conducive, quiet environment, free of distractions (I knowfinding one of those nowadays is like striking goldjust avoid park benches), you should be able to keep mostly focused for up to an hour.

Okay, try ten minutes. But, hey, 60 seconds is also darn good.

You want inspiring thoughts. Joyful thoughts. Thoughts that will lift you up and carry you high through life. Funny thing, but rarely will you see people walking out of a philosophy class singing and dancing. So you need to look for thoughts that do thatthat nurture the soul and give it life.

Try some of the many deep, subtle and rich concepts of the inner Torah. Torah is about life, and the inner Torah is about your inner life, the universes inner life, and Gds inner life. When you ponder thoughts of life, you come alive and celebrate life.

Youll find plenty of inner Torah thoughts to ponder in our Building Blocks or ChabadThink. Chabad is actually an acronym for the three faculties of the mind as they are described in traditional and kabbalistic writings: Chochmah, Binah and Daat.

The Chabad approach considersFood is only nourishing when chewed well, swallowed and metabolized. The same with knowledge. knowledge of the inner Torah as food for the soul. Food is only nourishing when chewed well, swallowed and metabolized. The same with knowledgeespecially those rich and juicy chunks of knowledge that are vital nutrition for your soul: You have to chew them until you reach that daat-point.

Heres how: Think of ways by which this lofty idea applies to your personal life. Try to envision what it means in your world. And think it clearly, as though you had to explain this to a simple person.

Youll find yourself returning to the core idea itself, again and again, reaching yet further into its depth, seeking to isolate its essential point so that you can tie that to your reality. Thats the dance between chochmah and binah as they create daat. And daat is what will flow out into your heart and limbs in real life.

When you and your knowledge become one, your ideals play out naturally in real-time. Everything about life becomes much deeper and richer. Meditation of this sort takes your experience of Judaism, the Torah and its mitzvot to a whole new level.

Then there are some important tips to keep your mind focused:

Why is this important? Well, its your 2.5 lbs. of grey matter, so why shouldnt you learn how to control it yourself? But there are many reasons besides. Like:

But heres my #1 most urgent reason we better reclaim contemplation and do it now: The time is swiftly approaching when well look at a machine and say, Whats the difference between me and it?

Guess what? If we dont know how to reflect on our own thoughts and take them where we want them to go, there isnt really much difference.

Lets win the war against autonomous contemplation before its too late and weve already surrendered to the machines.

Where should we begin? In public school. All Lets teach quiet thinking in preschool.the way down to preschool. Give every child a minute or so each morning when the teacher instructs, Now is the time for each of you to think about whatever you choose to think. Whatever is most important in your life. It's your own moment with your mind and your heart.

Read more about that plan in our Moment of Silence section.

Think about it seriously. We could liberate an entire generation.

Link:

Winning the War Against Thinking - So you've emptied your brain. Now what? - Chabad.org