Introduction Most people do not look deep into what thinking is. Also, many people especially of the """spiritual""" sort dismiss thinking to a large extent - AND they usually DON'T understand its workings. Which is utterly idiotic, if you think about it. The main points I will try to make is that 1) thinking has a profound, easily overlooked purpose and meaning and that 2) thinking is completely intertwined with the ENERGETIC REALITY that you are, and are experiencing always. And that reality matters to you a great deal, no matter who you are or what you value. Basics of Energetic Reality I am biased, in that I greatly focus on understanding the energetic reality of me, and the world. What are energies, and why do they matter? Every course of action is determined by an energy. And without energy, there is no action. SOMETHING must motivate you for an action to be actualized "by you" in your reality. It's not even that "you" particularly are acting on an energy - more so, there arises an understanding that "you" don't really have control over these energies... But it IS still true that these energies ARE, that there is acting upon them, that sometimes there are "below or above the surface", that they vary in intensity, and that YOU vary in consciousness of them. In general, the energy with the most intensity is what is acted upon in reality. The rule is that "the winner takes it all" - for the moment. However, change is the case at all times, and the intensities of energies change. Usually, the energy that is being acted upon lowers in intensity until a point when focus on that energy is depleted. Then, another energy is most intense, and that energy is acted upon. And so on. The topic is complex, and of enormous interest to me. The mechanics of energy are fascinating. For example, sometimes you might feel quite intensely you want to do something, but something deeper from "inside / below the surface" is stopping you, and so even though you feel like you want to act on something, you are "blocked". Point being, the most intense energy is not always the one that you FEEL most intensely - sometimes there are deeper things that you don't really see clearly. And so there is a distinction between conscious-by-you greatest intensity vs ACTUAL greatest intensity. I am investigating the mechanics of energy steadily, and having great fun while doing so. To add upon this "elementary understanding of energy" section, I will perhaps mention examples of energies, in case it isn't clear. Again, these are all your motivations, urges, emotions - conscious or not. These can include (but are not limited to): Fear, worry Love Desire for greatness, power, influence, strength, looking good, improvement of one's conditions Hatred, deep pain, desire for revenge, jealousy, to bring someone down Disrespect of oneself and others, cynicism, insecurity Desire for pleasure, comfort, emotional satiation, status quo, acceptance An intuitive steerage, flow towards a particular direction Desire for God, Awakening, Purity, Self-destruction, humility before God, Truth, surrender Desire to say something to the world, express one's truth, make something conscious to others Shame, guilt, grief Etc. And to conclude this section, I'll say that your life's quality depends on the energies in your reality, no matter who you are or whether you're conscious of them. That is why it's important. The energetic reality is with you ALWAYS. And, from one perspective, this energetic reality is what YOU ARE*. That is YOU - and you don't have much control over it, you can't change it in the snap of a finger, you don't really direct it, It is what it is, and it changes with varying frequency. *I'm saying "from one perspective" because "you" can also be thought of in different ways. For example, since you can observe this energetic reality, you can also consider yourself the observer of it and not it itself (even though it is still utterly intertwined with you). Connection of Energy and Thought So let's get to the thinking now. Basically, a thought is made of energy. It's as if a thought is a voice or vision of the energy that is currently flowing. An energy is "primal" and you cannot notice it the very moment it arises - it is immediate, in the now, faster than you can consciously spot it. What you do notice with a delay is the thought of that energy. We're dealing with energies then. Thoughts are basically energies. Simple as that. And energies ARE important, because they make what YOU are and determine what will be happening in your reality. And presumably you care about the way your life unfolds, your character, particular outcomes you'd like to see, closeness to God, etc. So now, what is thinking? Let's consider different modes of thinking and how they could be understood: Unconscious thinking, daydreaming --> basically just the flow of energies, usually dimly observed. Conscious thinking --> you are more consciously observing the flow of energies. But there is also something more to thinking consciously, because the decision itself to think CONSCIOUSLY is stemming from a particular energy. So it's not just the "chaos" of the energy flow - there is also a dominant energy that is setting that action of being mindful in motion! Conscious thinking can be done in different ways. You can be focused on a particular energy, contemplating it. So, the intent to contemplate/understand or to dive into a particular energy deep and immerse yourself in it would be one thing. Then, you can also focus on being in a state of openness and relaxation and allowing, inviting and embracing different thoughts/energies that are progressively arising. Let's make the distinction then between: Focused conscious thinking AND Surrendered conscious thinking The more you think consciously, the more your energetic reality is developing. Because you are letting energies arise and you are becoming more conscious of them! And when allowed to rise and/or inquired into, the intensities of energies change - and so your energetic landscape changes! And that, to me, is AWESOME. Because that means growth and more experience. (Hooray!) For me, the best combination and a good practice is a blend of surrendered and focused conscious thinking. What I do is: I go into a surrendered state. For example, I go for a slow walk in the forest, or I just sit on my balcony without any distractions, or sit on a bench in the park. And I observe the things that arise, smiling at them, being relaxed. Then, once I observe something interesting, something that resonates which I'd love to dive into deeper, I put focus on that. I can pull up my notebook and write down that interesting thought - the act of writing it down is the energy of focusing on that particular thing, feeling into it and going into it more. Then, more thoughts arise relevant to that thing I wrote - all of similar energy. I contemplate more - all until it is "resolved" for me, I find no interest in it and it no longer resonates to focus at all. After that, I need to relax and "open up" my mind again, and so I go into the surrendered state once more. I slow down. I breathe. I allow to arise whatever wants to arise. And then, once the beautiful flow is flowing again, I can pick some new interesting thing to look into. I can repeat this a few times until eventually I'm tired and the energy for conscious thinking is all depleted for the moment. Then, the time is to find something different and act on it. A rather good practice is also to go from surrendered conscious thinking to focused thinking to ACTION on the particular thing focused on. Energies are best internalized through ACTION. There are some resolutions purely through the act of thinking for sure, but also: energies are best nurtured, built up, remembered and repeated through taking a specific step of action towards them. It can be a ritualistic action for the energies that are more abstract, or a pragmatic one for the more down-to-earth ones. For example: let's say I want to integrate the God-realizations from my psychedelic trip, the energies that were arising then. You're going to contemplate them of course after the come-down, but then it'd be good to take an action step for them, and in this case it'd probably be one of the more ritualistic sort. I don't know what it could be for you, but it should have meaning and an understood-by-you connection to the thing that you are integrating. Eg. a ritual of staring into your eyes in the mirror for an hour, naked or in some shaman costume. Or establishing a habit for writing Awakened Pointers on sticky notes for yourself every day and appreciating them, whatever they are to you. Or another energy example: let's say you were thinking about your death and a great deal of love suddenly sprung from you. You're now realizing what you REALLY care about in life, or what you should say to the people closest to you, out of that profound love. The next action to integrate that love into your life more would be to eg. plan a conversation with your loved one and act on it, or do that thing that is most important to you which you'd regret if you didn't do it. Feeling the energy is good, but also what matters is ACTUALIZING IT! Intense spikes of energy are the best times to bring an energy into reality if that energy is not very much developed yet! Once that usually-faint-but-currently-intense energy is actualized, it is nurtured and then more often repeated in the future. That is real change in the energetic reality right there. Not easily done, usually not comfortable. All this conscious thinking is nurturing very beautiful energies in itself. Don't you want to be that? Surrendered, flowing with interesting energies, going deep into the most interesting ones, tasting the reality of them and then really CHANGING YOUR LIFE, especially through focused action? Conscious thinking is necessary for all that. It's a blessing. ❤️ If you want growth, think consciously more. For me at least, the point is primarily to DEVELOP MYSELF ENERGETICALLY. I want these energies to be diverse, flowing, colorful, beautiful. I want change, development, movement. I don't want to stay in one place due to unconsciousness. I want to converse the shadows to the lights. I want to understand this energetic reality, as it is SO interesting. I want freedom from ignorance and unconscious patterns. I want discovery. Free-flow. Surrender. God! And maybe you do too. So THINK (and ACT).  Conclusion My hope is that I somewhat convinced you of the beauty of conscious thinking, but even more so that I infected you with genuine interest in the workings of energies. After all, it's all mechanics of you we're talking about. Nothing "other". All fascinating! Your comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading! Peace <3