just your thoughts, dear

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Thinking, I think, is a little like bowel movements: There's no end to the shit.

And like bowel movements, thinking can elicit all sorts of reactions, from eeeeewwww to ahhhhh.

But bowel movements are a natural function of the human framework, much like breathing. They are just what happens, irrespective of the pros and cons anyone might saddle them with.

And thinking is much the same: It's a human function that only after the fact excites applause or catcalls.

Those who interest themselves in so-called spiritual endeavor often have the good sense to examine their thinking. And sometimes that examination can lead to the notion that thinking is somehow unreliable or naughty or misleading ... a real eeeewww that stands as a barrier to a peaceful life.

But such a point of view is excessively fearful and only serves to add fuel to the flames of uncertainty. While it is true that examining the function of thinking is a good idea for anyone seeking a peaceful life, still, the whole business is better seen from the old Christian perspective: Christians sometimes misquote their bible and say, "Money is the root of all evil." But the correct quote is "The love of money is the root of all evil." It is the attachment to thinking that causes the problems, not the thinking itself. As the bumper sticker suggests, "Don't believe everything you think."

A little girl once asked her mother a question anyone might find useful: "Mom," she said, "what are these voices I keep hearing in my head?" And the mother replied, "Those are just your thoughts, dear." "Oh," said the little girl. And she went about her business.

The fact that thoughts may be a pure torrent, a tsunami of diarrhea, does not mean there is something wrong or unhealthy or unclean about them any more than it means there is something intrinsically good or elevated or laudable. They're just your thoughts, dear.

Like bowel movements, they occur and pass away and the only job for a sensible person is to examine them with a little patience as a means of putting any attachment to them in its place.

Does anyone who took a satisfying shit this morning spend the rest of the day marveling and elevating and philosophizing about the event? Wouldn't we call a person who did this nuts?

Pooping is just one of the things we do.

Thinking is one of the things we do.

Doing is one of the things we do.

It's kind of neat, no matter how much 'profound meaning' anyone might prattle about.
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