Impressions & Takeaways
I’ve always wanted to adopt a Zen-inducing practice, be it meditation, tai chi, or even Buddhism itself. But I could never get into most of it. I actually really liked tai chi but finding a class or group to join for it was proving to be difficult. Meditation hasn’t been easy for me and my staunch atheism keeps me from fully embracing Buddhism.
Somehow I stumbled upon this book and I’m glad I did. It feels like the perfect balance of mindfulness and science. I lacks the spiritual or religious elements of most meditation guides which can be a turn off for many people. It certainly is for me.
The biggest takeaway for me is the distinction between “thought” and “thinking”, which seems to be the foundation of the entire book. As I understand it, a thought is full of excitement and emotion, while thinking is more analytical and rational. Thinking is where thoughts are processed. And ultimately, thinking is where thoughts lose their emotional charge.
“When we create goals out of inspiration, we are not creating from a place of lack. We don’t create because we feel like we have to or we need more. We create because we want to.”
This quote resonates because this is how I approach building apps and site for the Web. When I create from a place of inspiration, the process feels less like work and more like play. When I am forced to create or have to work on anything, the inspiration ends and the chore begins. I’m still reading this as of September 14, 2026 so I am curious to see if Joseph Nguyen provides the tools to apply this to everyday life. I hope he does. In the meantime, we keep the mantra at the forefront:
“Thinking is the root cause of suffering.”