"Mind wants everything and heart wants nothing. Follow your mind and you will never be satisfied. Follow your heart and you will never be otherwise."
Happy Cow

A couple of weeks ago I read an interesting article by Pete Hughes entitled 'What Do You Think?' In it he introduced a very short experiment which he hoped would challenge the prevalent notion that the thoughts which appear in our heads are 'our thoughts' and that they are thought by us.

If you have not read that article, you may wish to do so now as it may help in understanding the suggestions I am trying to make in this one.

A few years ago I picked up some books by Anthony Robbins, one of the world's best known speakers and authors in the field of personal development. Robbins certainly has a knack for fiery motivation, but there was always one part of his 'self-improvement' programs which caused them to always fail for me.

One chapter in every book of his I have read always encourages you to sit down quietly with a piece of paper and decide in detail what it is that you want in life. Every time I reached this chapter, I simply could not answer this question. At the time I did not understand why. I knew what I was supposed to want. I knew what my parents and advertisers and newspapers and magazines and religious organisations and peer groups and teachers thought I ought to want. But when I honestly considered whether I actually wanted any of these things, the answer was always no.

Where do wants come from? They come from thought, and as Pete's experiment shows us, thought is not initiated by us, but happens on its own. It is constantly fluctuating and changing. If we choose to listen to and identify with some of these thoughts, we might be able to cobble together for ourselves a nice set of wants. But will these really be our wants?

I am sure many, if not all of us has experienced attaining something that we previously considered we really wanted, only to make the disconcerting discovery that once we have it, we do not really want it any more. Why might this be? It might be because of the constantly fluctuating nature of thought and therefore the also constantly fluctuating nature of thought-created wants. New thoughts replace old thoughts. New wants replace old wants, ensuring that if mind is heeded, satisfaction is never possible.

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. "
Oscar Wilde

If thought creates wants, and thought is not us, then what is it that we want beyond thought? What is it that our essential being wants? I would suggest that the answer to that is nothing at all. Beyond thought's separation and judgement, we are already whole, complete. I like to call this Love. Love desires nothing.

Perhaps the reason I could not answer Toothy Tony's questions about what I want, was because deep in my being, I knew that I wanted nothing, and that there was absolutely no reason to listen to or act upon the frenzied want thoughts that passed through mind. Tony got me all fired up and motivated, when all I really needed was to relax and to love.

"Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods."
Socrates

Related articles: What Do You Think?, Hearing Voices, Ecstasy

If you have an inspiring tale or some interesting philosophy to share with us, please feel free to e-mail your ideas to contributions@happycow.org.uk.

Join the Happy Cow Facebook Group!