LAW OF THREE (59) The Purpose of Thinking

LAW OF THREE (59)

THE PURPOSE OF THINKING

"...thinking must never be regarded as merely a subjective activity. Thinking lies beyond subject and object. It produces these two concepts just as it produces all others. When, therefore, I, as thinking subject, refer a concept to an object, we must not regard this reference as something purely subjective. It is not the subject that makes the reference, but the thinking. The subject does not think because it is a subject; rather it appears to itself as a subject because it can think.

Rudolf Steiner. Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path.

Thinking is a human experience. Its usefulness depend on how conscious we are of the thinking process and to what use we put it. The clarity of our awareness determines whether we think our thoughts or our thoughts think us. The first is real thinking and the second fictitious thinking.

'That we are thinking is real, while what we are thinking may be a fantasy' A. Blake

Thinking can be seen as a dialogue between thoughts, feelings, and sensations. It may consist of what I am, what I wish, and what I do, each voice claiming an independent I and an independent will.

Thinking arises out of conflicting aims and desires between voices.  Each with their respective semi-conscious or unconscious agendas. The need for discernment and reconciliation of conflicting aims and desires has given rise to the development of different psychological and spiritual targets, methods and techniques.

From an intellectual view of evolution, thinking needs to evolve into understanding by the practice of conscious dialogue or formulation.   From a devotional perspective, thinking is the necessary resisting force to let go in the way of surrendering our ego programs.

Both the intellectual and the devotional ways and methods bring stillness to the mind, facilitating the observation of its movements, sounds and articulations.