Thinking of thoughts

Zogger said:
I imagine that what happens if you literally think of nothing would be like having a general anesthetic.. the time would probably just disappear... dunno
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Take a heavy dose of ketamine, it pretty much divides your brain from your body and puts you down a little wormhole where senses are completely disconnected. Kind of like being under general anaesthesia whilst still awake. Very odd and unpleasant.

More on the thread... didn't Hume state (albeit in a more empiricist way than Descartes) in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding that the brain and its faculties are essentially combinatorial? We correlate and amalgamate the abstract with the experiential. To think of 'nothing' would be like reverse-engineering the human brain.
 
I don't think this is possible. I've been told to thing of nothing when trying to sleep. It's actually counter productive for me and I end up thinking of something! :D:rolleyes::mad:
 
I don't see how it's possible. I wish I could stop myself thinking, a lot, actually.
 
PiKe said:
By thinking about nothing, surely you're thinking, about nothing? :D
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I think its more about thinking of nothing of importance rather than the mind literally thinking of nothing. Things like a blue sky, staring at wall, shapes etc which distract you enough to go to sleep.

I'd imagine the only way to actually stop the mind thinking would be death, which is a tad extreme :p
 
If, as the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, then the journey of meditation begins with the cultivation of awareness, or attention. In fact, awareness is the mental muscle that carries you along and sustains you on your journey, not only at the start but every step of the way. No matter which path or technique you choose, the secret of meditation lies in developing, focusing, and directing your awareness. (Incidentally, attention is just slightly focused awareness.)

In meditation, you can do the following:
  • Increase your powers of awareness by developing concentration on a particular object.
  • Through the practice of receptive awareness, expand your awareness to illuminate the full range of your experience.
  • Cultivate positive emotions and mind-states.
  • Investigate your inner experience and contemplate the nature of existence itself.

These four conditions — concentration, receptive awareness, contemplation, and cultivation — constitute the major uses of awareness throughout the world's great meditative traditions. "Meditation techniques are just different paths up the same mountain.
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Quote from meditation for dummies.
 
Dj_Jestar said:
It's not that you think of nothing. It's that you stop thinking.
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It's more like snapping out a dream and you can't refer what you dreamt about, I can't see you stop thinking. It's just that when you snap out of the "trance" you can't remember what you where thinking off.
Unless anyone's got brainwave or brain blood flow reserch to show they actually stop thinking.
 
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