![]() It might be a grief or loss that we have not fully acknowledged, or worry or fear, or longing or a thwarted creative impulse. If we pay attention to the feelings underneath these repeated thoughts, there is often unacknowledged or unaccepted emotions, pain or difficulty. These difficult patterns of thought can repeat and persist, coloring our consciousness so deeply that we can be tormented by them, unable to see without their distortion. We can obsess for months about a past relationship or about our fear of failure at work. Yet however much we try, sometimes we’re caught in our repetitive thoughts, and knowing about their emptiness doesn’t help. Once we recognize that thoughts are empty, the mind will no longer have the power to deceive us.” Yet there is not much to it, it is just thoughts. The Tibetan lama Khyentse Rinpoche explains, “Mind creates both samsara and nirvana. As we see the productions of our mind, we discover radical freedom. We don’t have to take the story as truth. As Mark Twain put it, “My life has been filled with terrible misfortunes-most of which never happened!” When we become mindful of fearful thoughts, we see that fear is just a story accompanied by dramatic feelings. Often our fears don’t turn out to be accurate predictions of anything. We take our own mental creations quite seriously, endorsing them without reservation. Usually we are only half conscious of the way thoughts direct our life we are lost in thoughts as if they are reality. Our life is shaped and determined by our thoughts. How do I get through this?” “Wow, I pulled that off well. I hope he can finally fix it.” Some are about our preferences: “I like the way this person talks.” “I really hate this traffic.” Many are worry or self-evaluation: “Oops, I’m messing up again. Once we start to watch these thoughts, we discover that 90% of them are reruns! Others are about problems: “I need to call John about the roof again. ![]() Whatever we regularly think colors our experience-all day, every day. Whatever a person frequently thinks and reflects on, that will become the inclination of their mind. ![]()
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