An Empty Mindset With Reverse Thinking

Clarity of thinking is important in the wisdom in living. You need an empty mind in order to have new perceptions, interpretations, and assumptions so that all your assumptions may have many more exceptions. The problem with many of us is that we often act and react according to our own assumptions.

Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China, who wrote the immortal classic "Tao Te Ching" on human wisdom, says that reverse thinking is more than thinking out of the box: it is creating its own box of unconditioned thinking.

“We need a still and composed mind

to see things with greater clarity.

Because trouble begins in the mind

with small and unrelated thoughts.

So we carefully watch the mind

to stop any trouble before it begins.

Thus we put things in order

before they become out of order.”

(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 64)

An illustration of conditioned thinking is that “extra effort” will ultimately lead to success in any human endeavor, or the conditioned mindset of “the more, the better.” There was an ancient Chinese fable about a competition in drawing, in which candidates were asked to draw a snake in detail. One of the candidates finished his drawing sooner than all the rest of the competitors. Thinking that extra effort might give him extra credit, he took it upon himself to add some detailed legs to the snake. As a result of his extra effort, he was disqualified, and lost the competition.

The contemporary culture of “more is more” and “buy more, have more” is almost on everyone’s mind. However, according to Lao Tzu's reverse mindset of “less for more,” the less effort you make, the greater chance of success you will have because extra effort is often accompanied by more stress and more problems down the road that may, ironically enough, become obstacles on your road to success.

“That essentially means:

the more effort we exert, the more failure we experience;

the more weapons we make, the more danger we encounter;

the more laws we enact, the more law-breakers we produce.”

(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 57)

An empty mindset with reverse thinking may help you look at life very differently.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau