Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering

CHAPTER 12
NOTHING IS EITHER GOOD OR BAD
"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." —
William Shakespeare
Here's an analogy that helps put this into perspective. On a piano,
there are 88 keys. When we look at a piano, we don't point out
specific keys for no reason and say that that key is "wrong". We only
think a specific key is "wrong", if we think someone is playing a
specific song and hits a key that isn't in the song.
Inherently, the piano has no wrong keys though. There are only
keys and notes that sound more or less pleasant when played
consecutively.
Just like how there are no wrong keys on the piano, there are no
"wrong" decisions in life. There’s only thinking that give us pleasant
or not so pleasant feelings.
When we put things into a bucket of right
or wrong, good or bad, this creates duality and conditions in our
lives, which determines how we feel.
For instance, if we believe that that opposing political parties are
wrong or bad, this can cause animosity within us and make us feel a
concoction of negative emotions.
If, on the other hand, we see different political parties in the same
way as there are different keys on the piano and how there are no
inherently "wrong" parties, then we open ourselves up to experience
love, joy, and peace in the moment. We begin to see alternative
perspectives that we haven't seen before and have an opportunity to
deepen our understanding of the true nature of life.
It's like if we are hiking on a mountain and stop at specific points
to look at the beautiful view. There are no "wrong" spots that we can
stop at, stand in, and take in the magnificence of nature, but by
being open to all possible spots we can stand in, we can see the
view from different vantage points we haven't seen from before.

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Instead of looking for right or wrong, good or bad in the world,
look for truth. Instead of trying to prove we are right and they are
wrong, or how they're better and we're worse, look for the truth in
what's in front of you.
I would only caution this by saying that many
people believe what they think is the truth. For the most part, without
this deeper understanding of life, most of what we think is not truth,
even though it may seem like it.
True truth is not subjective. If it is "true" for one person, but not for
another, then it is not universal truth.
Look for what is universally true
for every single conscious human being on the planet, no matter who
they are, where they're from, and what their background is. That is
the true truth and that is where you'll find everything you've been
searching for.
Remember that the only place you can find this is
deep within your being, so don't try to go looking for it outside of you.
If you're confronted with something that may stir up negative
emotions, go within yourself to find the source of universal truth deep
within your soul. If you try to look for the answers outside or try to dig
into external reasons for the root of why you feel this way, you will be
looking for the rest of eternity and will never find it.
Negative emotions are an indication of misunderstanding. When
we are gripped by negative emotions, it means that we believe what
we are thinking. It is in this moment that we simply forgot where our
experience comes from and that our thinking is the cause of our
negative emotions.
All you have to do is remember that thinking is the root cause of
how we’re feeling. Once this is brought into your awareness, don’t
fight the thinking. Just become aware that it is your thinking that’s
causing the ill feelings, welcome it with love, and it will slowly
dissipate before your eyes. Not too long after, you’ll return to your
natural state of peace, love, and joy.

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