Practise nonthought without pushing thoughts away

Let thoughts arise and pass without taking hold of them, instead of trying to stop them from coming.

Pourquoi ça marche

The Prajñā chapter defines nonthought not as the absence of thinking but as seeing all dharmas without the mind being defiled or attached, so that the six consciousnesses function without staining the fundamental mind. The sūtra sets this against deliberately refusing to think of “the hundred things” in order to eradicate thought, which it calls “bondage within the Dharma” and “an extreme view.” On the text’s own account, forcing thought to stop keeps thought at the centre of attention, while non-attachment lets thinking run without being taken up. This is the sūtra’s reasoning, not a tested mechanism.

Comment faire

1. Sit for a short session with eyes open or lowered. Before anything else, feel the seat and both feet, and if thoughts start to feel overwhelming or unreal, stand, walk slowly and look around the room.
2. Let attention rest on whatever is most present, such as the sound of the room or the breath, without choosing a thought to follow.
3. When a thought arises, notice it as an event that comes and goes, the way the sūtra describes the six consciousnesses arising from the six gates.
4. Do not chase the thought and do not push it away. Return attention to the present moment, and let the next thought arrive on its own.
5. Afterwards, note whether the effort was to make thinking disappear, and set that aim down for the next session.
6. Chan sitting is best learned with a teacher and a community; if you can, bring what you notice to one.

Données probantes

The definition of nonthought and the warning against refusing to think of the hundred things are in the Prajñā chapter of McRae’s translation. No controlled study has tested this exercise, and the page does not claim it matches any modern technique. (anecdotal)

This is the page’s reading of a doctrinal passage, not a meditation manual. If thoughts bring up fear or a sense of unreality, stop the sitting and use the grounding steps; see the meditation-related-challenges page.

Sources

• McRae, John R. (trans.) (2000). The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (Taishō vol. 48, no. 2008). BDK English Tripiṭaka. Moraga, CA: BDK America. Free PDF from the publisher.

Erreur fréquente

Turning nonthought into a campaign against thinking. The sūtra calls deliberate refusal to think “bondage within the Dharma,” so trying to produce a blank mind is the error; the instruction is to stop being caught by what arises.