CHAPTER SIX
THREE BRAINS: THINKING TO DOING TO
BEING
It’s often useful to compare one’s brain to a computer, and it’s true that
yours already has all the hardware you’ll need to change your “self” and
your life. But do you know how best to use that hardware to install new
software?
Picture two computers with identical hardware and software—one in the
hands of a tech novice, and the other being used by an experienced
computer operator. The beginner knows little about what kinds of things a
computer can do, let alone how to do them.
The intention behind Part II, simply put, is to provide pertinent
information about the brain so that when you, as its operator, begin to use
the meditative process to change your life, you will know what needs to
happen in your brain and in your meditations, and why.
Change Entails New Ways of
Thinking, Doing, and Being
If you know how to drive a car, then you’ve already experienced
probably the most elementary example of thinking, doing, and being. At
first, you had to think about every action you took, and about all those rules
of the road. Later, you became fairly proficient at driving, as long as you
paid conscious attention to what you were doing. Eventually, you were
being a driver; your conscious mind slid over and became a passenger, and
ever since, your subconscious mind has probably occupied the driver’s seat
most of the time; driving has become automatic and second nature to you.
Much of what you learn is via this progression from thinking to doing to
being, and three areas of the brain facilitate this mode of learning.