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how do i empty my mind in the sense that I'm not actively thinking when focusing on something

Im not sure there is some things about the nature of focusing I could say though. Its actually very similar to the mindset you have when falling asleep. I'm assuming you don't have an issue with passively thinking you just don't want that like disruptive active thinking. So here is a list of things I think I know to be true about focusing. 1. All your thinking is usually passive (not even on some metaphysical soykaf about free will or something) I think most would say or could see at least how the actual thinking is pretty intuitive and passive its just active when you actually think about your thoughts. Its retroactive really. Even if you don't agree with that, for the purposes of focusing I know that thinking about your thinking will in fact pull you out. You can be thinking a mile a minute just stream of consciousness "flow" mode about what your doing and be totally focused but the minute you stop and think about the train of thought you are on the focus gets disrupted. 2. Once you already are deeply focused however you can often simultaneously think about your thinking as well as keep the thinking flowing and intuitive/passive and with little interruption. I think it's sort of like patting your head and rubbing your stomach where its hard to do both off the bat but if you get in a rhythm patting your head you can add on the rubbing stomach motion without interrupting your head pat rhythm. 3. You can't be afraid or on edge if you want to focus. This includes just anxieties. You actually can't have any apprehensions. It's sort of a vulnerable state and my guess as to why these things ruin it so bad is your brain and body do not feel safe to enter that tunnel vision like state when there is worries and danger. It could be you cant stop thinking about something stupid you said, it could be you hear scary noises outside, it could even be not wanting to even start the thing your about to focus on cause of mental blocks. That too is like an anxiety or worry. 4. You don't actually have to want to do whatever it is to focus on it, it's just that dreading focusing on something creates the above apprehensions. However you can and sometimes we focus on things we find dreadful just without even trying. Point being I think often troubles with focusing aren't about an inability to focus but an inability to see why you would want to. I've known people with ADHD and ADD who can focus just like anyone and what causes the problem is not feeling rewarded by the things they want to focus which makes it hard to start focusing . Then once they are focusing their lack of interest/satisfaction means almost any new stimulus is just as good or even more important purely by virtue of being new. 5. Unless you are trying to purely focus for the sake of focusing you can't empty your mind in order to focus on something as you won't have any reason to focus on it. "Focused" focus seems to always spring from train of thought that was brought about actively and was engaging enough to simply continue to be passively thought about. Like if I first start reading a book that's brought about from an active thought and then before I get in the groove i'm like analyzing everything im reading. It's not that I stop analyzing but instead for example some character in the book i'm analyzing ends up resulting in me moving forward reading to understand something better. This keeps happening and eventually that analyze read analyze read ceases being active and i'm totally absorbed in the reading. And i'm not just thinking about that character I was but now i'm moving through this book holistically like a little movie in my head. I'm still thinking just as much though if not more. I think 3 and 4 are what cause the most problems. One little tip I have is sometimes you can't focus on whatever it is because you are trying to focus on too little or too much. I often can't focus on huge art projects but I can focus on some aspect of them and then once im focused i naturally will move past that atomistic part but still have the focus for the rest of the project I originally couldn't muster.

>>4551 thank you, this was super informative and you seem pretty knowledgeable/comfortable with this sort of thing. Is this an acquired knowledge in the sense that you got it from experience and your own thinking or learned, as in you researched about it your self. I'm pretty interested in exploring different states of mind and would like to dive deeper if you have any book recommendations.

>>4554 Yeah I think I know what you are getting at, im very tired though otherwise i'd tell you exactly which bits of what im saying are experience and which are informed by reading or something. But i'l do it vaguely. I think the key points of what im saying anyone would come to so long as they try something new and try to shift their way of thinking every time, in this case, attempting to focus fails. I say "as long as" because some people do im sure just will focus to be had. However i'm not one of them and I also think that would be a very easily shaken focus and a miserable one. As for the bits that are informed by things outside of just regular trial and error, I do what i'd say is a lot of 50% second hand and 50% actual primary source reading/researching into a variety of topics. the ones I think notably coming through here stem from readings about dialectical thought (not like an absolute hegel fan it just is sort of internalized and comes through) and relating to meditation both in the sort of "self help" sense i probably got in therapy but primarily in a spiritual sense. These aren't things I was trying to work off of by the way I just think I operate off assumptions relating to them. I think they mainly influence how I contextualize my experience. Maybe the biggest thing worth mentioning is that a lot of this is experience but experience influenced by me experimenting with amphetamines for awhile. Comparing that state of mind where I want to focus and have endless drive to focus to my normal one where I want to focus but have a fairly low drive to. And by comparing them a lot of things I assumed (and many others do too) about focusing and how to focus were shown to be wrong to me plain as day. For a dumb example taking amphetamine without actually actively making yourself start something does not result in any focus at all actually. It won't magically happen, and so I can see in that way how I still have to make the decision to focus and commit to it to begin focusing. I know it's not just completely a state that comes to be when my brains prime for it. But yeah I can't honestly recommend a reading because I think the readings I get my understanding from aren't universally helpful, and I know for a fact from other people that some do and some don't see how they even relate. In spite of this I can also say that you will for sure come to have an easier time focusing and a better relationship with it, and understanding of it, if just you always are trying something new whenever you struggle with it. I mean over the course of a few weeks too at a time, and analyzing how well you thought you focused during those weeks. This is true for a lot of things and maybe obvious but some people and I know I did at one point think if they just keep getting mad at themselves for not focusing and keep just trying to will it to happen it will. Id instead reccomend treating it like a fun puzzle or detective game where you are trying to figure out what conditions create a space where focusing is easy for your brain. And of course the opposite too, what current conditions or thoughts or beliefs you have that make it more difficult. This could be really poorly written, falling asleep now. zzz

>>4557 thank you again, have a good sleep brother.

>>4550 >not actively thinking while focusing If I understand what you mean lainon, the term for that is a Flow state. Wikipedia has some background info on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#Components

>>4554 >>4558 why are you pretending to be me?

Think of an entirely empty place

>>4615 Additional link on flow state: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9009586/ Also check out The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey. Not simply applicable to tennis but all parts of your life; it gives tips on achieving flow state, etc

every thought has an end, right? simply watch the thoughts end