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The Space Between Thoughts

Posted By: Randy GageMarch 28, 2009

Ancient Vedic sages spoke of the space between thoughts.  Last week I told you that you must become the thinker of your thoughts, not your thoughts themselves.  Otherwise you simply become the pawn of your thoughts.  And the big problem is that most of those thoughts are not yours, but ones you are programmed with by outside factors, such as the media, government, organized religion and all the crazy people around you.

In order not to be governed by your thoughts, you have to have almost an outside awareness of them.  Let’s explore this a little deeper, because it is critical to developing higher consciousness and happiness.

When you meditate, you enter that space between thoughts.  Many people today, however, never make it here.  They are so busy, distracted and overwhelmed, that they are buffeted by a never-ending stream of thoughts.  They always have radio or TV on, emails coming in, phones ringing and people talking to them.  (I may be the last person on earth that does not carry a cell phone everywhere.)

If you are assaulted with all this outside stimuli all the time, chances are good you are being manipulated by it.  Sometimes it makes you feel happy and calm.  More of the time, however, it will likely be making you feel anxious, angry, or depressed.  You are always bouncing from one emotion to the next, the victim of your thoughts, instead of being the thinker of your thoughts.

Remember this: You determine your results in life by the thoughts you give precedence to.  And to control the thoughts you give precedence to, you have to be aware of what you are thinking.  So get into the habit of noticing your thoughts.  And just as importantly, give your mind a rest now and then, with a trip to the space between thoughts.

-RG

24 comments on “The Space Between Thoughts”

  1. I have got a cell phone but keep it switched off - it`s there in case I break down in my car and need to ring the breakdown people.
    Have you noticed how phones take priority - a phone only has to ring and people move swiftly to answer it almost as thought it was a matter of life and death that the imperative voice of the phone is obeyed.
    It seems that most people feel they will miss out on something if they don`t answer it. They forget about the people they are with, or maybe what they are doing and let the distraction take over. which unfortunately is what happens with many people a lot of the time.
    A long while ago now I was sitting with a client and the phone rang - I had forgotten to put it on ansaphpone. I sat there and immediately the client became agitated and said, `why are you sitting there, why aren`t you answering the phone, you ought to answer it, you are being rude not to.
    I didn`t answer the phone but just said to her, `So you think the ringing phone and the person at the other end is more important than you? You don`t think I am being rude to you if I answer it then?
    She truly thought that because the phone rang I had to be available to them instantly.
    So true what you say about thoughts, and its in the gap in between that awareness can arise.

    Thanks for your postings.

  2. I too very rarely have my cellphone switched on, and when I do it's only to check messages, this drives everyone but me nuts. We are also bombarded on a physical level by microwaves, radiowaves, electromagnetic waves etc from all the gadgets we have around us. (Which is why I won't have a TV or digital clock in our bedroom). All these things affect us on a vibrational level and can lower our immune systems, add that to minds which are continually overstimulated and it's no wonder so many people's emotions are all over the place. In order to have space between thoughts we also need to create space in our environments to encourage that.
    Blessings

  3. I can relate here, especially when it comes to my morning 'attempts' at meditation. I find that I am able to be 'thoughtless' but only for 20 minutes at best. I do feal energized when I happen to have deeper meditation, though not often.

    I also get tripped up constantly by 'old programming' especially when it comes to complaining about things I have no control, other people, etc. It's like the saying goes, "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people".

    And it's challenging NOT to be impacted by others who look at the dark side, too. And I DO notice that I want to distance myself from these folks and maintain my "Zen place" of living in Joyful thought.

    Thanks Randy!

  4. The most invigorating part of my workday is on my lunch hour when I sit at the tip of Manhattan watching the ripples of water traveling down the Hudson river. No newspapers, no conversations and I don't even own a cellphone.

    I wish more people would realize the net gain in letting the distractions go.

  5. I learnt a valuable lesson from a retired gentleman a few years ago. I was working on his house and discussing the work with him in the garden when his phone rang.
    As he was elderly, I offered to run and answer it.
    His Reply, " The phones there for my convenience, if anyone has to run to answer it, it can go, as it's no longer convenient."
    I think this is very true and applies to cell phones also. People with lack or scarcity mindsets seem to feel they must answer them as if they would prefer to be anywhere else but where they are.
    Maybe if they discovered the space between their thoughts that would change their lives and the world would improve even more.

    Steve

  6. After reading the book 'The Four Hour Work Week', some of the suggestions made so much sense that I put them into practice.

    When used to having email check itself every 5 minutes it's really hard to change to checking it twice daily. Once the change is made, (and kept), there is such a feeling of relief and almost empowerment.

    Re the mobile phone: This morning the mobile phone found it's way from bedroom dresser to the kitchen while making pancakes (flap jacks) for the children, it then miraculously moved itself from the kitchen to the dining table where we ate our breakfast. I didn't even realize I did this until reading your post Randy, how embarrassing. What am I waiting for? Is a genie going to pop out of the phone and grant me 3 wishes, maybe it will turn into an stunning holograph and join us for breakfast :).

    Although I must have the phone as I'm on-call I'm sure it will be heard if ringing from the furthermost point of the house where it now resides.

    Thanks for giving me a future of awareness of the things that crowd the sacred space.

  7. Inspirational, as always Randy. I found Wayne Dyer's book 'Getting in the Gap' very helpful. I understand more now but the experiencing and 'knowing' is taking a little longer 🙂

  8. Randy -

    This is a powerful little post and there is a profound truth that is so simple yet it derails so many people, especially today when you can hardly find any new worth listening to in mainstream media. My wife and I have agreed to largely turn away from the mainstream news.

    I have read the essential comment that "you become your most dominant current thoughts" and I believe that many get spun into lack consciousness and anxiety because of the barrage of negativity that is present. I for one need to take your advice to slow down a bit and actually get quite with my thoughts.

    I have a few abundance mindset internet tools to mentally block much of what comes my way, but getting quite with my thoughts takes this to another level. thank you for bringing this to light and reminding us of this powerful principle.

    I wish you continued success, grace, and peace!

    James
    http://Twitter.com/AskJamesHolmes

  9. Record your own affirmations and then play them during the day as much as possible and not least during sleep. This is equivalent to the subliminals that are around you everywhere, except you are creating your OWN subliminals so these take precedence over what is being transmitted via Extra Low Frequency (ELF).

    Painted archetypes on the body during sex would help draw down what you want to manifest in this physical reality, depending on the archetypes, colors, and body location. That is the world of the "Illuminati"! Now, use what you know for "good" instead of "evil"!

  10. Dear Randy,

    The wisdom of your message happily reminds me of Eckhart Tolle's wisdom - more precisely from his bestseller book, "The Power of Now".

    A powerful way to help me give my mind a rest and enter that space between thoughts is to use Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's booklet and CD, "Getting into the Gap". I strongly recommend this tool to everyone finding it difficult to stop running on adrenaline, rest and meditate. Very useful!

    PS: No! You're not the last person on earth that does not carry a cell phone everywhere: I don't even have a cell phone - a personal choice I have made a couple of years ago!

  11. Randy, you continually amaze me! Just when I think I know exactly where you are coming from, you enter with metaphysical truths so profound that I have to reevaluate again what all is possible. The guy who says he IS nouveau riche is also a wise sage - wow, what a concept!

    I bought the Midas Mentality when I didn't have the money but just knew that that meant I had to get it. This program is also on the surface just about what Caroline Myss calls our "Stuffology Mantra," but oh my God, what dirty, dark, never-imagined secrets came out actually doing it according to plan every day.

    Here is one discovery I made: victimhood also can have plans for your life about aging and getting weaker and suffering more and more. The Midas Mentality put the fear of God into me when I got to that enlightenment - definitely a move-away-from value.

    So, with your own honesty about yourself AND YOUR HUMOUR, you truly inspire.

    Thank you!!!!!!

  12. THANK YOU, Randy, for mentioning the value of self-imposed quiet time.

    I do have a cell phone, but I only turn it on once every 3-4 hours to check messages. My friends can't understand that. When one of them asked why I didn't take my cell phone everywhere and have it on 24/7, I said, "I don't want to be bothered 24/7." She said that attitude was arrogant and rude. Maybe it is, but I find that I need to "go off the grid" to (a) get work done, and (b) have more clarity of thought. The constant distractions of phones ringing, emails coming in, and DMs from Twitter throughout the work day can be overwhelming. When I am working, I disconnect completely from the Internet, and check back in every 60-90 minutes. By doing so, I find that the quality of my work is much higher, and I am much more productive.

  13. The Significance of Sounds and Gaps

    In Maharishi’s uncreated commentary of Rk Veda, where each further elaboration of the Vedic expressions is the "commentary" on the previous more compactified expressions, the precise sequence of sounds is highly significant; it is in the sequential progression of sound and silence that the true meaning and content of Veda reside, and not on the level of intellectual meanings ascribed to Veda in the various translations. The sounds are the syllables, and the silence is the gaps (Sandhi) between syllables (Akshara), verses (Richas), hymns (Suktas), etc.

    Maharishi locates the fundamental significance of Veda and the Vedic Literature as emerging from the dynamics of the gaps, the silent interludes between each syllable, word, and verse. This is the organizing power of the sounds of the Veda that has been referred to above.

    The profound significance of Veda and the Vedic Literature is that they are the expression of the Laws of Nature, which continuously transform one state into another, maintaining order and evolution on the basis of their eternal, immortal, self-referral reality. These mechanics of transformation are located in the gaps. It is in the full understanding of the dynamics of the gaps that the understanding of the holistic, all-inclusive character of Veda and the Vedic Literature lies.

    The gap has four values:

    1.The mechanics by which a sound or a syllable collapses to the point value of the gap–sound becomes silence–i.e. the end of the syllable. This is called Pradhwamsa-Abhava;

    2. A silent point value of all possibilities, called Atyanta-Abhava;

    3. The structuring dynamics of what happens in the gap, called Anyonya-Abhava;

    4. The mechanics by which a sound emerges from the point value of the gap, i.e. the emergence of the following syllable. This is called Prag-Abhava.

    From this knowledge of the mechanics of transformation in the gap, we gain insight into the mechanics of transformation of any process in Nature.

    Source: voai.org/04_uf.html

    Enjoy!

  14. Me parece muy buena la idea del espacio entre pensamientos, supongo que se refiere a meditar, me encanta la idea, ¿cual es su mejor atmosfera o ambiente para hacerlo?

  15. That one just got me to decide:

    I'm comming back to meditating regularly

  16. Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
    Watch your words, for they become actions.
    Watch your actions, for they become habits.
    Watch your habits, for they become character.
    Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
    — Unknown

    Although this quote is often attributed to Frank Outlaw, it not with absolute certainty he is the author. I searched the web a little further and come up with something very similar from Mahatma Gandhi.

    Your beliefs become your thoughts.
    Your thoughts become your words.
    Your words become your actions.
    Your actions become your habits.
    Your habits become your values.
    Your values become your destiny.

    Nevertheless, a great quote and one of my all time favourites.

  17. Thoughts are natural however we should be the witness of our thoughts as in the following manner:

    DO NOT SUPRESS YOUR THOUGHT
    DO NOT SUBSTITUTE YOUR THOUGHT
    DO NOT CONDEMN YOUR THOUGHT
    DO NOT JUSTIFY YOUR THOUGHT

    Let it be. We are constantly after becoming but we have to learn to just be.

    -VJ

  18. Is there a 'Thinker' that is thinking thoughts? What comes first, the 'Thinker' or the thought? What is the 'Thinker' when thought is not active? We may think, 'these are my thoughts', who is the 'owner' of these thoughts...or is there only thinking happening? Has thought created the 'Thinker' so as to create the controller of thoughts in the event a 'unpleasant' thought occurs it can be pushed aside and replaced by a 'pleasant' thought. Who is this 'Thinker' and why has this movement of thought created oppinions about facts? Thought is thought, it is not good or bad until thought interprets it as such.

  19. Is there a 'Thinker' that is thinking thoughts? What comes first, the 'Thinker' or the thought? What is the 'Thinker' when thought is not active? We may think, 'these are my thoughts', who is the 'owner' of these thoughts...or is there only thinking happening? Has thought created the 'Thinker' so as to create the controller of thoughts in the event a 'unpleasant' thought occurs it can be pushed aside and replaced by a 'pleasant' thought. Who is this 'Thinker' and why has this movement of thought created oppinions about facts? Thought is thought, it is not good or bad until thought interprets it as such.

  20. If there was a space between thoughts how would you know? If you know then thought was very much there. Very silly!

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  • 24 comments on “The Space Between Thoughts”

    1. I have got a cell phone but keep it switched off - it`s there in case I break down in my car and need to ring the breakdown people.
      Have you noticed how phones take priority - a phone only has to ring and people move swiftly to answer it almost as thought it was a matter of life and death that the imperative voice of the phone is obeyed.
      It seems that most people feel they will miss out on something if they don`t answer it. They forget about the people they are with, or maybe what they are doing and let the distraction take over. which unfortunately is what happens with many people a lot of the time.
      A long while ago now I was sitting with a client and the phone rang - I had forgotten to put it on ansaphpone. I sat there and immediately the client became agitated and said, `why are you sitting there, why aren`t you answering the phone, you ought to answer it, you are being rude not to.
      I didn`t answer the phone but just said to her, `So you think the ringing phone and the person at the other end is more important than you? You don`t think I am being rude to you if I answer it then?
      She truly thought that because the phone rang I had to be available to them instantly.
      So true what you say about thoughts, and its in the gap in between that awareness can arise.

      Thanks for your postings.

    2. I too very rarely have my cellphone switched on, and when I do it's only to check messages, this drives everyone but me nuts. We are also bombarded on a physical level by microwaves, radiowaves, electromagnetic waves etc from all the gadgets we have around us. (Which is why I won't have a TV or digital clock in our bedroom). All these things affect us on a vibrational level and can lower our immune systems, add that to minds which are continually overstimulated and it's no wonder so many people's emotions are all over the place. In order to have space between thoughts we also need to create space in our environments to encourage that.
      Blessings

    3. I can relate here, especially when it comes to my morning 'attempts' at meditation. I find that I am able to be 'thoughtless' but only for 20 minutes at best. I do feal energized when I happen to have deeper meditation, though not often.

      I also get tripped up constantly by 'old programming' especially when it comes to complaining about things I have no control, other people, etc. It's like the saying goes, "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people".

      And it's challenging NOT to be impacted by others who look at the dark side, too. And I DO notice that I want to distance myself from these folks and maintain my "Zen place" of living in Joyful thought.

      Thanks Randy!

    4. The most invigorating part of my workday is on my lunch hour when I sit at the tip of Manhattan watching the ripples of water traveling down the Hudson river. No newspapers, no conversations and I don't even own a cellphone.

      I wish more people would realize the net gain in letting the distractions go.

    5. I learnt a valuable lesson from a retired gentleman a few years ago. I was working on his house and discussing the work with him in the garden when his phone rang.
      As he was elderly, I offered to run and answer it.
      His Reply, " The phones there for my convenience, if anyone has to run to answer it, it can go, as it's no longer convenient."
      I think this is very true and applies to cell phones also. People with lack or scarcity mindsets seem to feel they must answer them as if they would prefer to be anywhere else but where they are.
      Maybe if they discovered the space between their thoughts that would change their lives and the world would improve even more.

      Steve

    6. After reading the book 'The Four Hour Work Week', some of the suggestions made so much sense that I put them into practice.

      When used to having email check itself every 5 minutes it's really hard to change to checking it twice daily. Once the change is made, (and kept), there is such a feeling of relief and almost empowerment.

      Re the mobile phone: This morning the mobile phone found it's way from bedroom dresser to the kitchen while making pancakes (flap jacks) for the children, it then miraculously moved itself from the kitchen to the dining table where we ate our breakfast. I didn't even realize I did this until reading your post Randy, how embarrassing. What am I waiting for? Is a genie going to pop out of the phone and grant me 3 wishes, maybe it will turn into an stunning holograph and join us for breakfast :).

      Although I must have the phone as I'm on-call I'm sure it will be heard if ringing from the furthermost point of the house where it now resides.

      Thanks for giving me a future of awareness of the things that crowd the sacred space.

    7. Inspirational, as always Randy. I found Wayne Dyer's book 'Getting in the Gap' very helpful. I understand more now but the experiencing and 'knowing' is taking a little longer 🙂

    8. Randy -

      This is a powerful little post and there is a profound truth that is so simple yet it derails so many people, especially today when you can hardly find any new worth listening to in mainstream media. My wife and I have agreed to largely turn away from the mainstream news.

      I have read the essential comment that "you become your most dominant current thoughts" and I believe that many get spun into lack consciousness and anxiety because of the barrage of negativity that is present. I for one need to take your advice to slow down a bit and actually get quite with my thoughts.

      I have a few abundance mindset internet tools to mentally block much of what comes my way, but getting quite with my thoughts takes this to another level. thank you for bringing this to light and reminding us of this powerful principle.

      I wish you continued success, grace, and peace!

      James
      http://Twitter.com/AskJamesHolmes

    9. Record your own affirmations and then play them during the day as much as possible and not least during sleep. This is equivalent to the subliminals that are around you everywhere, except you are creating your OWN subliminals so these take precedence over what is being transmitted via Extra Low Frequency (ELF).

      Painted archetypes on the body during sex would help draw down what you want to manifest in this physical reality, depending on the archetypes, colors, and body location. That is the world of the "Illuminati"! Now, use what you know for "good" instead of "evil"!

    10. Dear Randy,

      The wisdom of your message happily reminds me of Eckhart Tolle's wisdom - more precisely from his bestseller book, "The Power of Now".

      A powerful way to help me give my mind a rest and enter that space between thoughts is to use Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's booklet and CD, "Getting into the Gap". I strongly recommend this tool to everyone finding it difficult to stop running on adrenaline, rest and meditate. Very useful!

      PS: No! You're not the last person on earth that does not carry a cell phone everywhere: I don't even have a cell phone - a personal choice I have made a couple of years ago!

    11. Randy, you continually amaze me! Just when I think I know exactly where you are coming from, you enter with metaphysical truths so profound that I have to reevaluate again what all is possible. The guy who says he IS nouveau riche is also a wise sage - wow, what a concept!

      I bought the Midas Mentality when I didn't have the money but just knew that that meant I had to get it. This program is also on the surface just about what Caroline Myss calls our "Stuffology Mantra," but oh my God, what dirty, dark, never-imagined secrets came out actually doing it according to plan every day.

      Here is one discovery I made: victimhood also can have plans for your life about aging and getting weaker and suffering more and more. The Midas Mentality put the fear of God into me when I got to that enlightenment - definitely a move-away-from value.

      So, with your own honesty about yourself AND YOUR HUMOUR, you truly inspire.

      Thank you!!!!!!

    12. THANK YOU, Randy, for mentioning the value of self-imposed quiet time.

      I do have a cell phone, but I only turn it on once every 3-4 hours to check messages. My friends can't understand that. When one of them asked why I didn't take my cell phone everywhere and have it on 24/7, I said, "I don't want to be bothered 24/7." She said that attitude was arrogant and rude. Maybe it is, but I find that I need to "go off the grid" to (a) get work done, and (b) have more clarity of thought. The constant distractions of phones ringing, emails coming in, and DMs from Twitter throughout the work day can be overwhelming. When I am working, I disconnect completely from the Internet, and check back in every 60-90 minutes. By doing so, I find that the quality of my work is much higher, and I am much more productive.

    13. The Significance of Sounds and Gaps

      In Maharishi’s uncreated commentary of Rk Veda, where each further elaboration of the Vedic expressions is the "commentary" on the previous more compactified expressions, the precise sequence of sounds is highly significant; it is in the sequential progression of sound and silence that the true meaning and content of Veda reside, and not on the level of intellectual meanings ascribed to Veda in the various translations. The sounds are the syllables, and the silence is the gaps (Sandhi) between syllables (Akshara), verses (Richas), hymns (Suktas), etc.

      Maharishi locates the fundamental significance of Veda and the Vedic Literature as emerging from the dynamics of the gaps, the silent interludes between each syllable, word, and verse. This is the organizing power of the sounds of the Veda that has been referred to above.

      The profound significance of Veda and the Vedic Literature is that they are the expression of the Laws of Nature, which continuously transform one state into another, maintaining order and evolution on the basis of their eternal, immortal, self-referral reality. These mechanics of transformation are located in the gaps. It is in the full understanding of the dynamics of the gaps that the understanding of the holistic, all-inclusive character of Veda and the Vedic Literature lies.

      The gap has four values:

      1.The mechanics by which a sound or a syllable collapses to the point value of the gap–sound becomes silence–i.e. the end of the syllable. This is called Pradhwamsa-Abhava;

      2. A silent point value of all possibilities, called Atyanta-Abhava;

      3. The structuring dynamics of what happens in the gap, called Anyonya-Abhava;

      4. The mechanics by which a sound emerges from the point value of the gap, i.e. the emergence of the following syllable. This is called Prag-Abhava.

      From this knowledge of the mechanics of transformation in the gap, we gain insight into the mechanics of transformation of any process in Nature.

      Source: voai.org/04_uf.html

      Enjoy!

    14. Me parece muy buena la idea del espacio entre pensamientos, supongo que se refiere a meditar, me encanta la idea, ¿cual es su mejor atmosfera o ambiente para hacerlo?

    15. That one just got me to decide:

      I'm comming back to meditating regularly

    16. Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
      Watch your words, for they become actions.
      Watch your actions, for they become habits.
      Watch your habits, for they become character.
      Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
      — Unknown

      Although this quote is often attributed to Frank Outlaw, it not with absolute certainty he is the author. I searched the web a little further and come up with something very similar from Mahatma Gandhi.

      Your beliefs become your thoughts.
      Your thoughts become your words.
      Your words become your actions.
      Your actions become your habits.
      Your habits become your values.
      Your values become your destiny.

      Nevertheless, a great quote and one of my all time favourites.

    17. Thoughts are natural however we should be the witness of our thoughts as in the following manner:

      DO NOT SUPRESS YOUR THOUGHT
      DO NOT SUBSTITUTE YOUR THOUGHT
      DO NOT CONDEMN YOUR THOUGHT
      DO NOT JUSTIFY YOUR THOUGHT

      Let it be. We are constantly after becoming but we have to learn to just be.

      -VJ

    18. Is there a 'Thinker' that is thinking thoughts? What comes first, the 'Thinker' or the thought? What is the 'Thinker' when thought is not active? We may think, 'these are my thoughts', who is the 'owner' of these thoughts...or is there only thinking happening? Has thought created the 'Thinker' so as to create the controller of thoughts in the event a 'unpleasant' thought occurs it can be pushed aside and replaced by a 'pleasant' thought. Who is this 'Thinker' and why has this movement of thought created oppinions about facts? Thought is thought, it is not good or bad until thought interprets it as such.

    19. Is there a 'Thinker' that is thinking thoughts? What comes first, the 'Thinker' or the thought? What is the 'Thinker' when thought is not active? We may think, 'these are my thoughts', who is the 'owner' of these thoughts...or is there only thinking happening? Has thought created the 'Thinker' so as to create the controller of thoughts in the event a 'unpleasant' thought occurs it can be pushed aside and replaced by a 'pleasant' thought. Who is this 'Thinker' and why has this movement of thought created oppinions about facts? Thought is thought, it is not good or bad until thought interprets it as such.

    20. If there was a space between thoughts how would you know? If you know then thought was very much there. Very silly!

    Leave a Reply to FerdinandAlexander Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


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