Awakin Readings

Thoughts Are Just Thoughts

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
  2 min read ·   18 reflections
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Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
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What we normally call the mind is the deluded mind, a turbulent vortex of thoughts whipped up by attachment, anger, and ignorance. This mind, unlike enlightened awareness, is always being carried away by one delusion after another. Thoughts of hatred or attachment suddenly arise without warning, triggered by such circumstances as an unexpected meeting with an enemy or a friend, and unless they are immediately overpowered with the proper antidote, they quickly take root and proliferate, reinforcing the habitual predominance of hatred or attachment in the mind and adding more and more karmic patterns.

Yet, however strong these thoughts may seem, they are just thoughts and will eventually dissolve back into emptiness. Once you recognize the intrinsic nature of the mind, these thoughts that seem to appear and disappear all the time can no longer fool you. Just as clouds form, last for a while, and then dissolve back into the empty sky, so deluded thoughts arise, remain for a while, and then vanish into the voidness of mind; in reality nothing at all has happened.

When sunlight falls on a crystal, lights of all colors of the rainbow appear; yet they have no substance that you can grasp. Likewise, all thoughts in their infinite variety – devotion, compassion, harmfulness, desire – are utterly without substance. There is no thought that is something other than voidness; if you recognize the void nature of thoughts at the very moment they arise, they will dissolve. Attachment and hatred will never be able to disturb the mind. Deluded emotions will collapse by themselves. No negative actions will be accumulated, so no suffering will follow.

from the book The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones, translated by Padmakara Translation Group.
Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the notion that thoughts including devotion, compassion, harmfulness are 'utterly without substance' and will 'eventually dissolve back into emptiness'? Can you share a personal story of a time a thought that felt difficult dissolved to leave no trace? How do you account for the ephemeral nature of thoughts in your decision-making?

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18 Past Reflections
DW
Dwayne
Jul 5, 2022
Hello! This post couldn't be written any better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this article
to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
save refuges
WA
Wade
Jul 2, 2022
Howdy! I could have sworn I've been to this blog before but after
going through some of the posts I realized it's new to me.
Anyhow, I'm certainly pleased I came across it and I'll be book-marking it and checking back often!
save refuges
JA
Jayanti
Jan 15, 2022
when a thought arises with a feeling in the body, it's impact often creates a deep sense of reality - whilst thoughts arise and pass, as is said, like clouds in the sky - the body somehow remembers the trace of all things, until even the body has to release and let go of its holding on. The body is the first and last refuge of all things, whilst awareness simply lingers in the mist.
GU
Gururaj
Jan 14, 2022
Whether a thought/emotion has 'substance' or not, do their effects not have 'substance' ??. The article itself is an outcome of thought. I suspect there could be an energy transcending thought or the source of it and the more my centre of gravity is in THAT , the thought manifestations act as a good tool rather than as a very significant and often harmful force.
JA
Jangchub
Jan 12, 2022
These words from this supreme master (the main teacher of Matthieu Ricard, as well as mine) point out not just the real essence of meditation, but point to the nature of the mind. If we can apply this method & recognize that nature, it becomes not just an instruction to carry out on the meditation cushion, but an invaluable asset for every waking or dreaming moment. Once, I woke up one night tormented by certain thoughts that had plagued me day and night for a few years, and finally I saw that nature free of the delusion--and I said to myself,"What the f*ck." With that, it was over.
LB
Lauren Brown
Jan 11, 2022
I love a good story—some thoughts that whirl around and create surprises and entertain me. I wonder if I’ll reach a point when I appreciate pristine stillness all the time.
BO
Bob
Jan 11, 2022
What words are these on the verge of a thought? Nothing but the past.
P(
Patrick (aka anonemoose monk)
Jan 11, 2022
Yes, it is true “thoughts are just thoughts”, but many of us have known and seen the power of thoughts to affect to emotions and behavior. The practice of meditation has as a key element the dissolution of thoughts. }:- a.m.
DU
Dudley
Jan 11, 2022
I’m sorry but this reads, to me, like a bunch of unfounded generalizations. No science, no examples of how it works. So thoughts have no substance? Duh.
P(
Patrick (aka anonemoose monk) Jan 11, 2022
Many things may seem that way at first, but if we sit with them without judgment or presuppositions they may begin to reveal truths. As a scientist myself, I allow both neuroscience and physics (among others) to behind to explain such often obtuse ruminations.
IN
Ines
Jan 11, 2022
What has become a challenge after my beloved passed, is waking up in the morning feeling completely lost, all kinds of thoughts threatening to drown me, doubting reality. For a while it has been difficult to focus on my blessings; even though I know joy and gratefulness can be the key to the mind shift I need.
MA
Mariah Jan 12, 2022
Dear Ines -- May you be comforted. It is good to grieve -- as long as you need.
GR
Grace
Jan 11, 2022
Yes, every thought is illusion, including all the thoughts the author wrote in this article. It’s a Placebo human invented to try to be free from pain and suffering.
GH
Gwendolyn Holden Barry
Jan 11, 2022
This is the opinion, sadly, of someone who has never known love. Thoughts are consciousness, the essence of soul. Thoughts are the stuff of all creation. Big Bang that. All this explains is is a loneliness, an emptiness.
DD
David Doane
Jan 8, 2022
It is my understanding that everything including thoughts are essentially without substance, in that everything arises from emptiness and eventually dissolves back into emptiness. I have had many thoughts that I felt difficult, especially at 2 or 3 in the morning, and they and my ruminating over them are disturbing and keep me awake, and then they dissolve back into emptiness as I fall asleep once again. Actually that happened last night. For me, the ephemeral nature of thoughts is part of and the same as the ephemeral nature of everything -- nothing is always. My thoughts and my decisions come and go, like everything. For me that is not sad or negative, it is just how this human life is.
JP
Jagdish P Dave
Jan 7, 2022
Every thought arises in mind. Mind is the birthplace of all kinds thoughts and emotions good, ugly and bad. If I get attached to them and get stuck with them they occupy my clear and empty space. In other words I become possesed by my thouhts and emotions. Thoughts and emotions are ephimeral. They come and go unless I hold on to them adding more and more Karmik patterns and I get bound by such patterns. If I do not hold on to them they will be eventually dissolved. My mind will have emptiness like a clear sky with no clouds. In the empty and clear sky of mind uncondional love and compassion naturally arise giving birth to joy, peace and fufillment. It takes time to wake up depending how long I have been sleeping. Practicing awareness has helped me not to go back to sleep but to remain awake. Practicing mindfulness in everyday life keeps me awake and free from the grip of craving and and grasping. Candid reflctions on getting stuck with self-created bondage helps me make wholesome d... View full comment
GR
Grace Jan 11, 2022
The sky is beautiful because there are clouds
IN
Ines Jan 11, 2022
“Empty and clear sky of mind”
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