{"id":151864,"date":"2010-07-19T07:59:46","date_gmt":"2010-07-19T04:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/espirited.com\/to-meet-your-thoughts-with-understanding\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T22:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:39:15","slug":"to-meet-your-thoughts-with-understanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/espirited.com\/en\/to-meet-your-thoughts-with-understanding\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet your thoughts with understanding"},"content":{"rendered":"

“A thought is harmless unless we believe it.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

It is not our thoughts, but the attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it\u2019s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we\u2019ve been attaching to, often for years. <\/em><\/p>\n

Most people think that they are what their thoughts tell them they are. One day I noticed that I wasn\u2019t breathing\u2014I was being breathed. Then I also noticed, to my amazement, that I wasn\u2019t thinking\u2014that I was actually being thought and that thinking isn\u2019t personal. Do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, \u201cI think I won\u2019t think today\u201d? It\u2019s too late: You\u2019re already thinking! <\/em><\/p>\n

Thoughts just appear. They come out of nothing and go back to nothing, like clouds moving across the empty sky. They come to pass, not to stay. There is no harm in them until we attach to them as if they were true. No one has ever been able to control his thinking, although people may tell the story of how they have. I don\u2019t let go of my thoughts\u2014I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Thoughts are like the breeze or the leaves on the trees or the raindrops falling. They appear like that, and through inquiry we can make friends with them. Would you argue with a raindrop? Raindrops aren\u2019t personal, and neither are thoughts. Once a painful concept is met with understanding, the next time it appears you may find it interesting. What used to be the nightmare is now just interesting. The next time it appears, you may find it funny. The next time, you may not even notice it. <\/em><\/p>\n

This is the power of loving what is.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Byron Katie, “Loving What Is”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It is not our thoughts, but the attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it\u2019s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we\u2019ve been attaching to, often for years. Most people think that they are what their thoughts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":153228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[648],"tags":[701,653,681,674],"class_list":["post-151864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emotional-intelligence","tag-byron-katie","tag-how-changes-happen","tag-spiritual-teachers","tag-the-mind"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t