Thoughts are not our enemies as long as we are not invested in them as the self. We have often heard the expression, "not taking the forest for the trees" and I think another interesting idea here is not to take thoughts to be ourselves. It's easy to see how irritation arises if we are surrounded by all kinds of thoughts. For one, thinking creates the anxiety and rush to do things. This doing can become overwhelming: not because thoughts are overwhelming in themselves but because subconsciously we take the thoughts to be ourselves and ourselves to be in our thoughts. That is, as soon as I identify a thinker (I) who is thinking the thoughts, I start to ponder my relationship to the thoughts and I spin in that identification. If the thoughts, on the other hand, are seen only as thoughts (with no thinker who is required to act immediately on these thoughts) then I am no longer suffering as a result, and I can be more able to handle my physical and mental conditions. Thoughts can certainly lead to fear, but only if we are overly invested in them.
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