Thought Suspension: The ability to suspend engagement in thought and just be
For most people, the thoughts in their heads are usually continuous, and are usually seen as true or “just what I think”. Few people recognise that they are optional, that they randomly come and go, and most importantly, that they can stop.
We can experience a gap between thought, and when this happens, we get to see just how optional they are. Thoughts can be seen a bit like actions, you can do them when you need to and then you can stop. But a lot of people don’t experience them like this.
With the previous skill, Regulation of Attention, we looked at how to manage or direct attention. A single pointed method was used (observation of the breath) as a way of using one thorn to catch the many thorns or thoughts of the mind. We are now going to build on this by focusing on removing the one thorn, and spending time in the space between thought.
By doing this we’re interrupting the default of an always chattering, always active mind. The goal is to create a gap between thought, a place of neutrality, rather than like a machine, always in gear.
This more advanced skill needs to be achieved at some point in the mastery of mindfulness, otherwise it will be hard to experience what is behind those thoughts or beliefs. If the stream of thoughts can be temporarily interrupted, and the mind can be silent, a new opportunity arises. The mental room or silence to turn attention inwards, towards the silent space where the awareness actually comes from.
It’s this place, or space, where you can experience a sense of self that is not thought, or belief based. When someone gets to experience themself outside of what their thoughts tell them, this more silent self can feel more real than the normal thought-based sense of self (its noetic quality or a sense of a direct knowing). And this can be very liberating, especially if the sense of self up until now has been made up of a lot of negative self-talk.
When we first witness a break in the thinking, this experience of a concept-free place can sometimes only be very short. However, when it does happen something can change. We get to see that it is possible to have a gap or silence between thoughts. Through practice we can increase the length of this gap until the mind can rest for longer and longer.
This can also serve as the waiting ground for an even more profound experience, an awakening where that now silent “sense of self” seems to dissolve. This opening or awakening to the ego-less (no sense of self) peaceful nature underneath all mental and emotional activity is life-changing. We will look at this in more depth in the final section on how to open to this place of inner well-being.
In this next exercise you will set aside some time to observe when thoughts come up and interrupt them when they do. By methods like asking “Who (or what) is aware?” of the thoughts that arise, you can temporarily interrupt the thinking process. With practice this can create longer and longer gaps in the otherwise addictive thinking patterns of the mind.
It must be highlighted that non-thinking is not better than thinking. But it should at least be an option. We should be able to turn off if we want to, like switching to neutral in a gear box when the engine doesn’t need to be engaged.