Saturday, August 10, 2019

The Illusion of Continuity In Thinking

The Illusion of Continuity In Thinking

“There is an underlying illusion to thinking in that it appears continuous. Thought after thought, an apparently endless stream of concepts passes through our minds. We can't "stop" thinking. We might ask, 'Is there anything the mind is not capable of producing? Is Life nothing more than a dream, a ceaseless torrent of fragmented images in dire need of editing?" We can see the illusion of continuity in our thinking if we learn how to watch our thoughts as they come up. We begin right where we are sitting now.

Sit down somewhere relatively quiet and make yourself comfortable. Center yourself in whatever way you know how so you are more in present time. Watch your breath without changing its rhythms. Then, watch your thoughts as they float up and away from you. Let any image come up. Don't try and stop thinking but invite thoughts to dance before you. Let them do whatever they want to do, just don't get attached. See them as concepts floating and passing away. See them as images happening without your control, coming and going as they please. After a few minutes of this, begin paying attention to the spaces between images. These spaces may be very tiny at first, like minuscule sparks of silence. As you continue focusing on the space between thoughts, you'll discover the illusion of their continuity, as they are quite dearly, fragmented . . . coming in pieces.”

~ Antero Alli, Angel Tech: A Modern Shaman's Guide To Reality Selection (1994)

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