It is possible to think without being lost in thought

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question: The mind’s function is to think. So, what does it mean to be really free from the mind?

Acharya Prashant: It means that even when you are thinking, thinking has not become too important for you.

It’s like this — In the morning, I get up from my bed and come to this hall where you are working, right? Now, the chair is there for you to sit and work but when I come in, what do you do?

Listener: I stand up from my chair.

AP: You get up from the chair, right? This is how thoughts must be. The chair is there for you to sit, but when something more important comes, then get up! The mind is there to think, but when something more important is there, then pay attention to that

And there is always something more important, which means that even when thought is going on, which is practically going on all the time, it must never be a big priority.

L: It may not lose you the current situation.

AP: Yes. So, now, I go and sit on my chair and you are sitting in your chair; now, you’re sitting, you are not even standing; you are not even trying to show respect. But the moment there is a call, what…