Today's topic is probably one of things that scares people the most when I talk about thought - especially when I so provocatively say: "it's all just thought". But stay with me here for a little bit - it's so interesting! And just because something seems frightening doesnt mean it's real. That’s a theme you’ll hear from me again and again.
We don’t see thought for what it is because it doesn’t announce itself. It's not like your mind says "Hey - here's a thought! And this one is here confuse you and make you believe something that isn’t true!”
It’s much sneakier than that. And because it’s been with us since we began to think (😂), we trust it completely. So, thought never knocks first. It just appears - all dressed up as reality.
I’m not here to convince you. I’m just pointing. Whether you question this - or not - is entirely yours to explore.
But before you call me crazy, let's take a look at a few concepts that feel so real - that we are prepared to fight about - but are just thoughts in disguise.
Take opinions for example: “I think this” vs. “you think that” - but both are just thought. All opinions are just thought coming from a conditioned mind.
What about impulses?—“I need to do, say, buy, stop, finish this now”- that urgency too is thought, sounding like a command or a warning, but commands and warnings are also made of thought. I’m not saying we should ignore every warning - some are practical and useful. But even those arise in thought. They’re still filtered, shaped, and interpreted by a mind.
Interpretations? Thought.
Perspectives? Thought.
Beliefs are just those thoughts we believe to be true, but they're just beliefs.
If we look at how much importance we place on decision-making... We never really know what would have happened if we’d chosen differently. Decisions are in their essence guesses - some more informed than others - but they are still just guesses made of thought.
Judgments and comparisons feel so solid - like we’ve landed on some objective truth. But what seems like ‘the right way’ is completely shaped by perception…which, of course, is also thought.
What's the significance of knowing everything is made of thought? We don't take it so seriously, we have more compassion - for ourselves and others - because we see it's all imagination, not identity.
Assumptions are not only made entirely of thought, they are what get us in trouble the most. We assume we know what they are thinking, we assume we know how things will turn out, we assume we know how they'll react, what they'll do or what they'll say. And then we are surprised when things go wrong or what's actually happens has not even the slightest resemblance to what we thought would happen. We are so quick to see a thought as truth, and then shocked when reality doesn’t follow the 'script' we so carefully thought out.
We don’t realize we’re in it because this movie feels so real.
Things that so obviously seem to have a "right" way and a "wrong" way, a "good" and a "bad": Norms, morals, ethics, ideals, laws and standards - all of them are made up - made up of thoughts.
Fantasies, dreams, imagination - even our nightmares is image and sound created in the mind, believed by the same mind. Thought pretending to be fact.
Some forms of thought we know are imagined and of course, we don’t try to base our lives on those. And yet the same mechanism that generate those, generate our ideas about the future, our memories of the past, and our plans for today.
Same projector. Different costume.
And we don’t notice, because we’re inside the film.
Even pride and honor - these too are thought. Some people would rather go bankrupt or die than change their mind…and yet the mind is just thought. And the pride that feels like they’re defending isn’t even a real thing - try to find your pride - where is it?
Some thoughts come loud and harsh, like judgments.
Some come dressed up as being noble: pride, honor, morality
Some come gently, as dreams or memories.
Some come terrifying: nightmares, imagined futures, worst-case scenarios.
All of them feel real.
That’s what makes it so tricky.
We don’t walk around saying, “I’m having a thought that I might not be good enough.”
We just feel not good enough.
We don’t say, “This is just a thought about being judged.”
We say, “They don’t like me. I can feel it.”
We don’t say, “Now I’m thinking about a future I know nothing about.”
We think, “It’ll be better once I get a new job.”
But what if all of these - beliefs, comparisons, identities, regrets, fantasies, ideals - what if none of them are “you”? What if they’re just familiar clouds in your blue sky? Habits. What if you don’t need to control them, argue with them, or even change them?
What if you just saw them for what they are?
A momentary flicker of mind.
Not the truth.
Not you.
Just a passing appearance in awareness.
And what if the real peace comes not from fixing your thinking, but from noticing its nature - and seeing yourself as the space it moves through. The infinite container in which all of these thoughts arise and then disappear back into.
Not to dismiss it. But to see it.
I promise you - when we start to see this, life changes.
What’s one thought today that felt especially real, true, or urgent? Try to sit with it - just for a moment - as if it’s simply a sound passing through?
Maybe, if you want to, try to catch yourself when something makes you react strongly this week - pausing mid-email, mid-judgment, mid-impulse - see if you can whisper to yourself: “What if this is just a thought?"
Much love,
Suzanne 🕊️
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