Thinking vs. Knowing

"The Most Direct Means To Eternal Bliss" is the name of the book by Michael Langford. It is a quirky little book, but boy is it powerful. The ideas are expressed directly and to the point. I have to thank Del Martinis for calling it to my attention. In the book, Langford makes the point that Thinking and our addiction to thinking have convinced us that conceptual knowing is the same thing as insight-awareness and direct knowing.

If you study your mental activity carefully, you will soon see that there is a distinction between this knowing-insight-awareness and thinking or conceptualizing. Another distinction that we might make is the difference between thinking and intuitive knowing. When we intuit, we just know. There is no internal verbalization or dialogue, we just know.

I have long come to the conclusion that what we intuit is the only thing of value in our heads. Thinking is of no intrinsic value. Oh, it has its place. It is a tool, kind of like an index finger. My left index finger has immense value and utility, but I would never ask for its advice. However we are skirting the real problem with thought.

The voice in our head that we think is me talking to me is not a me that lives in a familiar "I" position in the head. That "me" is a concept Langford says, "If your native language is English and you speak in English and you write in English, those same English words in your mind are thoughts."

This "me" that speaks to us from inside is nothing more than an artifact of the ego that produces a thing we call ourselves. What is humorous about looking at it the way Langford words it is that if you are a native Spanish speaker, your self is probably Mexican. While, since I am an English speaker, my self is an American.

This is really getting absurd if you think about it. How can this so called self be linked to a culture? It can't be. That would make no sense. So the entire idea of a self linked to the voice in our heads collapses and the ego is exposed for what it is - a fraud masquerading as a so-called self.

I had never thought of this English/Spanish twist until I read Langford's book and started playing with his English in your head idea. But it sure helped put into perspective this lie that humanity has lived with. Finally, thought itself has no inherent intelligence. It is a maze of concepts that the ego uses to keep us trapped in the belief that we are the ultimate concept - a self.

The sad fact is that this deception keeps us from knowing who we really are which is the One - the SELF.

And the Survey Said:

Thanks to all of you who recently participated in my on-line survey. It really helps me to get as much feedback as I can possibly get. The survey was very useful. Here are the results:

Question #1: Favorite topics for seminars or workshops were relationship help issues and personal growth.

Questions #2: Wow! people really go for personal insights and or disclosures. So the personal touch by a wide margin.

Question #3: The majority wanted workshops that were closer and lower in cost.

Question #4: By a wide margin, people wanted information in the form of: first, a text download; second an audio download; and, finally a video download. The text selection surprised me.

Question #5: The majority wanted events in a hotel. Of course that doesn't go along with low cost, but it is usually more comfortable than the alternatives.

Question #6: Day of the week for events. Doesn't matter won by a fairly wide margin. This was followed by Saturday. Combined that accounted for 64%.

Question 7: Everyone seems to enjoy websites or have no preference when it comes to the Web. Blogs and podcast, though, seem to have a long way to go.

Well, there you have it. Again, thanks to all that participated.

Big Changes are afoot!

 

It has come time for me to move Witness Thought Transformation™ into the mainstream and out of the therapy room. Although, I will still be doing therapy in Chino and Yorba Linda, stay tuned for some dramatic announcements in the near future.

Conference call on Friday at 3 pm.

This will basically be a coaching call for those who are new to Witness Thought Transformation™ or for those who need a refresher. If this goes well there will be many to follow.

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