Practicing Not Being Caught by My Own Thoughts

Everyone lives with their own thoughts and opinions. Based on what I have seen, heard, and experienced, I judge, "This is right," or "This is what I think." But on the path of practice, even that thought itself needs to be examined once.

We often cling stubbornly to our own opinions. We cannot easily set down the thought we believe is right, and sometimes we even refuse to hear other words in order to protect it. But just because I saw something does not mean it is the whole picture, and just because I experienced something does not mean it is an unchanging truth.

A person I once thought was good may change over time. A scene I once felt was beautiful may look different when I return to it. Food I remembered as delicious may taste different the next time. In this way, our thoughts and judgments too are phenomena that arise and disappear according to conditions.

This does not mean we must erase our own opinions. It means we should be careful of the mind that is caught by those opinions and cannot see anything wider. The moment we believe that our own thought is everything, the mind easily stops right there. A practitioner should be able to examine their own thought, listen to other views, and when needed, shift their thinking lightly.

When we have the attitude of listening with open ears, the ease to set down our view for a moment, and the wish to look farther and more widely, wisdom slowly grows.

Today, may we not be trapped only in our own thoughts, but set them down lightly, listen widely, and look more deeply.