Saturday, May 1, 2010

Thinking is such a waste of time !!!

The punch line in a recent advt on TV has caught my imagination over the last few days. During the airing of the IPL 3 on Set Max, most of us would have seen this advt of Hero Honda, Dhak Dhak Go….where, a biker accepts the challenge & beats four guys on motor boats in a race from a seashore jetty to a nearby island. He does some incredible stunt driving to reach ahead of others. When questioned by one of the guys, “how do you think, you are going to go back?”, he has a quick retort, “thinking is such a waste of time”, & off he goes again…..

The advt had me thinking….which led to a lot of introspection & I am at the receiving end of a barrage of thoughtful understanding !!!

What is thinking??? Why do we think????? We think because we don’t understand….we don’t comprehend…we are curious, isn’t it???? When understanding dawns….thinking disappears…

From our childhood, we all have been conditioned to think!!! We habitually think through any situation….we are innately driven towards it!!! But if we observe, thinking actually has no vision for the unknown…whatever we think, is from what we know….Thinking is groping in darkness…not knowing what to do…like a man groping in darkness, looking for light or support, to hold on to as an assurance. We think mostly when we are uncertain or unclear…an attempt to be in control leads to thinking…But then, thinking has no vision of the unknown….it merely repeats what we know….we are geared to think only of what we know…it is so repetitive…we end up making a new combination of old thoughts….or cling to old combination of new thoughts….nothing beyond….nothing is really new in thinking.

However, understanding is new…its right now….it has an insight into reality. It is fresh & therefore more powerful. Like Aamir Khan as Bhuvan in Lagaan....he understood that, he has to win against the English rulers.....to get respite from annual taxes & save his village, he has to defeat them in a game of cricket...a game that he has no clue of.....he did not waste his time thinking(which others were doing & found him insane....at least initially!!!)....Bhuvan, kept his life simple but clear.....no complicated thinking, but simple & pure understanding.....& his complete trust in himself.......guess that's what separates the ordinary from the mavericks or the path breakers.....

In thinking there are questions, but no answers….even when we feel that we have found an answer, it actually is an outcome of our decision to choose. We cling to a decision we take. If we looked deeply into the answer, we will see a thousand questions surfacing out,….very very confusing…..like a quagmire, going round & round. Maybe that is why it is said, that Truth is !!!....Truth needs no explanation….Truth is so free, so fresh, so powerful, so clean…Truth is understanding !!! Understanding is like eyes….its a clean vision….we see, we don’t grope in darkness….Understanding has no questions…only answers…because it has eyes.

Most of our thoughts are given by others…can we find a single thought that is authentically ours??? That we have given birth to…??? The source may be known or unknown…but they are all borrowed….from the past…like a computer, which functions on what you have feeded in….so unconsciously, we behave like a computer…..borrowed & fed !!

Intelligence is in understanding….. that is purely your own….we all are born with it….knowledge can be fed in….thats what we acquire over the years….but intelligence cannot be fed in…it is what we are born with ….it just needs to be honed….to be believed in!!!...it is our own sharpened being….

Probably, that is why our beloved Guruji is always smiling…always fresh…..always so powerful yet innocent. He is not immersed in thinking…& therefore never groping !!!! He is not clouded by past….He is in complete understanding…He is so full of Love.

Guruji keeps telling us to meditate, because that helps us drop the borrowed thoughts…the borrowed feedings….. deep meditation sharpens the intelligence….brings back the originality…the innocence, the freshness, which is able to blossom…. When we act out of that freshness, we act out of understanding….nothing from past clouds us…. We are free… Then the response is in the now…total…& fresh…it is strong & capable….it is not from the past..

When someone asks us a question, what do we do?? We immediately go back to the layers of past stored information & look for a suitable answer…. This is thinking…. It is borrowed… however, when someone asks a question & you become silent…look into the question & face it with freshness…. If you don’t know the answer,…you don’t know it..so what???...there’s nothing to lose …nothing to gain….

The other day I was talking to a senior business executive & telling him about how in 2002, I had decided to quit my job & dive full time into social service activities under The Art of Living. The five years of journey into the remotest corners of our country had been so invaluably enriching & learning. Though, I ended up financially bankrupt…well almost so, I have no regrets at all…..I gained much more than I lost. Had I invested time to think on whether I should or I should not, prudence of thought would have not allowed me to do something that most people thought was unbelievably stupid…..again the same understanding helped me realise that it was time for me to get back to earning ways...& here I am back to consulting......So the essence is in understanding & then believing & then moving with the belief….. else mere thinking would engulf you in an unending dungeon of ifs & buts….

Thinking is such a waste of time…..so let’s get rid of it….. or at least try & curb it. Meditate & become free from this basement…. Lets drop thinking & embrace Love & meditation…Lets keep our life simple....

Hehehehehe…honestly, all that I have written above is a collection of thoughts!!!.....& thinking is such a waste of time!!!!......so please don’t take it too seriously… However, its amazing to see the immense potential this mind has….to think….or maybe to imagine……& understand…. To unravel the unknown…..just challenge yourself & dive deep…really deep….
Enjoy the weekend ahead.....fellas....maybe a weekend of less thoughts & more understanding...hehehehe

1 comments:

Harshal said...

You have put your hands in centuries long debate between two groups of scientists: theorists and experimentalists. And I being an ardent theorist, am ready to debate on this issue :D

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