| | Well, yes and no. I can tell you what I've discovered, which is that the the alleged primacy of the thought stream in life is fairly delusional, akin to the nose, the touch, hearing or any other of the senses declaring itself to be the center of experience. Even the much vaunted, self reflective, posturing and narrational thought stream is just another series of sensations. In fact close examination of practically any ordinary human experience such as, for example, driving a car, show that, unless we aggressively divert our overall attention to the thought stream (e.g. by texting while driving), the majority of the driver's awareness is devoted to the many requirements that driving a vehicle place on the senses. Because the thought stream habitually grants itself a central importance we may think that what we are actually doing is remembering the plot of last night's tv show, but it is simply not true. What we are doing is driving and a moment's attention to the true nature of our experience will prove that. A near accident will prove it with drama! The same is true of meditating. You may state that you have lost your object but you really are still breathing, sitting, moving your chest up and down, experiencing the sensations of air across your skin, and all the ten thousand other sensations that comprise the sensorium of the instant. The habit of a lifetime is to give primacy to the thought stream, but I do assure you it is a habit that falls away with diligent attention to reality. Piercing the idolatry of the thought stream is fundamental to spiritual revelation. |