When Thinking Is a Problem - by Charles Eigen (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

When Thinking is a Problem examines the activity of thinking and how it is a primary factor in suffering at the individual as well as at the collective level, while at the same time, a necessary function that is often taken for granted and misused.
When Thinking is a Problem is unique in helping the reader to see the activity of thinking from a variety of different perspectives provided by writers representing diverse backgrounds. It contains essays, contemplations, and dialogues by eighteen teachers, all of them leaders in their fields. In these chapters, the mechanics and dynamics of thinking are discussed by well-known teachers from the Buddhist and Advaita traditions, as well as from noted neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, academics, and prominent writers. In its focus on thinking as it relates to suffering, whether by its presence or absence, the writers discuss the need to honor both thinking as well as the dimension or reality beyond conscious thought.

Review Quotes

"When Thinking is a Problem, compiled, edited, and sagely introduced by Charles Eigen, is a remarkable and moving collection. These essays, dialogs, musings, and analyses take on the heart of human inquiry and deliver a radical view that is at once unsettling and illuminating. Some of the greatest scientists, scholars, Zen masters, and therapeutic researchers of our time bring us their condensed views of what thinking is, what thinking isn't, and what these realizations directly bring to our experiences. The book is a marvel of insight and expression, and essential to any introspective person." --Beth Jacobs, PhD, author of The Original Buddhist Psychology, Long Shadows of Practice: Poems and Writing for Emotional Balance

"Charles Eigen has collected contributions from a variety of thinkers who cannot easily be categorized, and who all made it their life's work to benefit sentient beings. This engaging book raises a topic that goes to the root of the human dilemma: suffering and liberation from suffering. Is thinking our main problem or can it be beneficial? What does 'beyond thinking' look like and is that the solution? I like this book a lot and recommend it to any serious thinker." --Reirin Gumbel, resident priest, The Milwaukee Zen Center

"Charles Eigen invites us to ponder how conditioned we are to fall into thinking as a resolutive resource, being seduced by the illusion of control, unaware of how thinking can lead us away from our self and our experience. So many processes get stuck as we pretend to intellectually understand; such a waste of life! The intricacies of life cannot be solved through thinking, as thoughts can interfere with organismic wisdom, but we are conditioned to turn to thinking. We have an illusion of certainty in which challenges can be solved at that thinking level. This book invites us to a whole-body and heartfelt experience, resulting in an enjoyable ride in the here and now. The message of this book is powerful and life-changing." --Maria Florentina Sassoli y Ezcurdia, counselor, certified Hakomi practitioner, certifying focusing coordinator, president of the Argentinian Civil Association of Focusing, board member of The International Focusing Institute

About the Author

About the Editor
Charles Eigen is a psychotherapist, teacher, and long-time meditation practitioner in Milwaukee, Wi. He was a founding member of the Mindfulness Community of Milwaukee, Past President of the C. G. Jung Center of Milwaukee, and Past President of the Milwaukee Zen Center. He has been a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in both the departments of English and Human Kinetics. Chuck Eigen has been a practitioner of Craniosacral therapy, Rolfing Structural Integration, and Rolfing Movement, as well as Internal Family Systems Therapy, The Focusing Method, and The Progoff Intensive Journal. His previous book is Inner Dialogue in Daily Life (Jessica Kingsley).
Contributors
Lucy Biven, David Bohm, Rev. Ben Connelly, Charles Eigen, Gangaji (Merle Antoinette Roberson), Eugene T. Gendlin, Temple Grandin, Frederick R. Gustafson, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sekkei Harada, Jean Klein, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Francis Lucille, Pierre Morin, Jac O' Keeffe, Rev. Shohaku Okumura, Sri Harilal W. Poonja (Papaji), Shunyru Suzuki, Raymond Tallis, Vimala Thakar