SHORTY: Imagination and "insteads"

A lot of my thinking has been about right/wrong thinking. One of the tricks to get out of it was the use of imagination and "insteads".

In particular:
DON'T: Think should or shouldn't I do this.
DO: What could I do instead?

DETAILS: (below)


I found that a lot of my thinking habits were about things I "absolutely had to do something because it was the right way to do it"... even though it wasn't. This applied to practicing Buddhism too. I had a view of Buddhism that was too rigid. Now, I still think greed, aversion, delusion, and fear are to be understood and overcome. But I don't force it. I use my imagination.

One of the biggest "insteads" I use is to not take a stand, i.e. do nothing. I think, what happens if I don't get angry at this person? What happens if I don't eat that ice cream? What happens if I don't take this shower? What happens if I don't take this action?

And then I turn on my watcher.

Part of my path is not just doing skillful things. It is having a good radar to notice what would happen if I did the unskillful thing. In that way, it isn't me trying to muscle my mind into working a certain way. It was often a change in perspective that made the choices for one instead over another much clearer.

May you use your imagination to find good "insteads".
See: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/meditations4.html#addiction