So many of us are walking around drained—by our own thoughts. We don’t mean to be. But the inner stories we believe, the mental loops we replay, the judgments we cling to? They cost us real energy. This short teaching is about choosing the thoughts that give you energy—so you can help your life, and help your world.
And yes, it’s kind of about magic.
This week’s post is a lightly edited transcript of a video I made. It’s about thoughts, energy, Zen, paradox, and what gives us the fuel to show up for the world—especially when it’s hard.
The Energy in the Stories We Choose
So this is a video about choosing the thoughts you focus on to give yourself energy to help your life and help your world.
It's kind of about magic.
So I practice in the Zen tradition, and we have a story about the sixth ancestor.
That's kind of the sixth person in the line of transmission of Zen.
He was called Zen Master Hui Neng.
The Story of Zen Master Hui Neng
When he was young, he was very poor.
He would go into the forest and collect firewood and then go to the market and sell it to support his mother.
One day he was on his way into the forest to collect firewood and he heard a
monk reciting what's called the Diamond Sutra.
The words he heard were:
“Don’t attach to anything that arises in the mind.”
And as the story goes, in that moment—just hearing those words—he got enlightenment.
Don't attach to thoughts that arise in the mind.
So to not attach to anything that arises in the mind, means don't believe your stories. On the simplest level, it means don't believe your story of negativity. Don't believe your story that people are bad.
But on the more mystical level, it means don't believe your story about that you're a separate self? Don't attach to anything that arises in the mind.
This ability to not attach to things that arise in the mind… some people have it naturally. Apparently Zen Master Hui Neng did, because he just heard the words and was enlightened.
Some of us, like me, need to meditate a lot so that we can see the nature of our thoughts and see that there is nothing there to attach to and no one there to attach to them.
Or a prayer. Sometimes a prayer can help because what a prayer does is it says the true will belongs to something bigger than me. So my thoughts are not so important. I don't have to attach meaning to my thoughts.
Or you can just know: I shouldn't attach to my thoughts. No thought has any more meaning than another thought.
So that's stage one: Don't get attached to thoughts that arise in your mind.
Choose the Thought That Gives You Energy
Okay, stage two is choosing what thoughts you want to focus on.
So I woke up early yesterday morning because I have a cold and I had been sleeping a lot. That morning my body was just like, “Oh, we don't need any more sleep.”
So I woke up early and I happened to look at Instagram and I saw a reel of this pop up choir: 400 people singing in a basement (check them out, I left the link at the bottom of the post).
And it was so inspiring. It brought tears to my eyes. And I just thought…
“Oh my God, humanity is amazing and so inspiring.”
Now, I know I could have scrolled further into the Instagram. I could see something about a war here or a war there or a political party here or a political party there. And I could tell myself, no, humanity is not amazing.
In fact, some people would say that to watch a video about a choir and say humanity is amazing is spiritual bypassing.
And it would be spiritual bypassing if you were like:
“I'm going to focus on positive thoughts and I'm going to feel good and I'm going to ignore everything.”
That would be spiritual bypassing.
But my point here is that:
First, we don't attach to anything that arises in the mind. That means no thought is sticky. No story is sticky.
Secondly, when something that arises in the mind helps us to have energy to help our lives and other people's lives, then we focus on that (not attach to it) just focus on it.
So, oh my God, look at that choir. It's amazing. It's amazing.
And humanity is amazing!
It gives me energy.
It gives me the energy that helps my life.
It gives me energy to make make this post.
It gives me energy to help other people's lives.
In this case, it is not spiritual bypassing at all but focussing on the thoughts that actually give you energy to help the world.
Let’s Talk
What’s a thought that gives you energy right now?
👇 Leave a comment. I’d love to hear what comes up for you.
Focus on What Fuels You
In other words: the strange thing is that focusing on positive thoughts gives me the energy to help with the very things I have negative thoughts about.
It’s a paradox.
We can see suffering in the world and genuinely want to help—but if we constantly focus on it, attach to it, and dwell there, it can actually drain our energy.
There’s science behind this, too. Optimism tends to make people more helpful and service-oriented than pessimism—because pessimism begets fear. And when we’re afraid, we just want to protect ourselves.
Let’s Sum This Up.
So here’s the deal.
First: Don’t attach to anything that arises in the mind.
No story contains reality. No story about reality is true—because reality is too vast to be captured in a story.
So again: don’t attach to anything that arises in the mind.
There are lots of techniques for loosening your grip on stories.
Byron Katie’s The Work is one. Look it up.
Second: When a thought arises that gives you positive energy—focus on it. Choose it. Stay with it for a while.
Focus.
Humanity is amazing.
Humanity is amazing.
Let that give you energy—for your own life, and to move forward in service to others.
Okay? Good!
Let’s Talk
What stories are you ready to stop attaching to?
👇 Leave a comment. I’d love to hear what comes up for you.
Try This
Notice the next time your thoughts start to spiral.
Ask yourself: “Is this thought giving me energy to help myself and others or taking it away?”
Don’t attach. Let it go.
Choose a thought that gives you vitality—and focus on that instead.
With love,
Colin
PS Please would you show the Substack algorithm that people love my reading? Please comment, like and restack.
PPS TONIGHT!! April 3 at 730PM ET, I am giving a Dharma talk at Cambridge Zen Center, 199 Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA. Come in person or tune in on Zoom.
PPPS. I’m going to that pop-up choir I mentioned and we are going to sing—Good Luck, Babe—on April 16 in Boston. A few of us from Cambridge Zen Center are going. If you want to come, grab a ticket here on Eventbrite, and message me if you’re going so we can say hi in person. It’s going to be beautiful. Check them out 👇
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