How To Be Thoughtless
It's Not What You Think
A counterintuitive guide to achieving the state of pure presence that athletes call 'the zone' and Zen masters call 'no-mind' — the art of getting out of your own way.
The title is a provocation. When most people hear "thoughtless," they think careless, inconsiderate. That is not what this book means. What Gerald Shaffer means is something much older, much deeper, and far more valuable — the state Zen masters call "no-mind," athletes call "the zone," and musicians describe when they say the music is playing itself.
Thoughtlessness, in this sense, is not the absence of intelligence. It is the presence of pure awareness — uncluttered by the constant commentary of the thinking mind. In this state you are fully present, fully alive, fully here — not watching yourself live, but actually living.
Drawing on neuroscience, philosophy, and contemplative traditions from around the world, How To Be Thoughtless offers a practical roadmap to this state of effortless being. It is a book for anyone who has ever felt trapped inside their own head — and wondered if there was a way out.