How do you think not thinking? Just think. Barry Magid March 7th 2015

"Think nonthinking" is a phrase by Dogen that people stumble over and find confusing. People in Dogen's time, and even now, misunderstand it to mean "don't think." A better translation of "Non Thinking" is "just think." Like, "just sit," this is not a simple phrase. Our thinking is not something contaminating our mind, something we're trying to get rid of. We let it be there empty of intention. Let thought just be thought, not something we have to do anything about whatsoever.

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Shobogenzo Zazenshin

After great master Yakusan Kodo had finished a period of zazen, a monk asked "What do you think about as you sit so intensely?" The master said, "I think not-thinking." The monk asked, "How can you think not-thinking?" The master replied, "Non-thinking."

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