Zen is all about not thinking
Eckhart Tolle
Great masters like Maharishi often answer the question, "How do we know if we are growing spiritually?", with this answer: With the degree of absence of thinking.
We can measure our spirituality or a our progression towards a higher state of awareness by measuring how much we are thinking...more specifically with how little we are thinking. How thought-full or thought-less we are can also be measured in terms of how much we are reacting or how much we are responding to what is happening around us. Even when we are still reactive, what is the degree of that reactivity? If you find yourself still flying back with a retort when someone says something that triggers you...you are still reacting yes...but are you at least now aware that you are reacting or if it is after the effect...that you have reacted. That is progress!
Another measure of our diminished thinking/reduced reactivity/ and our spiritual progression is the degree and amount of stillness and spaciousness we experience in a day...and not just when we are meditating. Are you learning to respond to Life from a place of spacious stillness or are you still reacting from emotional/thought induced reactivity?
Just be aware of these things so you can measure how far you are coming.
All is well.
Eckhart Tolle (February, 2022) How to Measure Your Spiritual Growth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_jaO83YY8c
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