Book Review: Just A Thought by Jason Gruhl
Jason Gruhl’s book Just A Thought is a lovely picture book on why you shouldn’t believe your thoughts. (When I read the title, I hear my root lama in my head say, “Your problem is, you guys still believe your thoughts!!!”)
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It presents this healthy skepticism of thoughts – balanced with the understanding that they are natural and will never go away – in an engaging way with classic similes you may recognize, if you’ve been around buddhist meditation practice for a while.
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It points to the chaotic behavior of thoughts straight away in the beginning of the book. This is something one notices as one meditates often: that thoughts can have a random quality, and subsequent thoughts can have quite different emotional tone in a way that’s hard to rationally make sense of. (Actually, you may have noticed this in daily life, too!)
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The book also points out that you aren’t necessarily your thoughts, which is an important launching point for both the rest of the book as well as traditional buddhist study and practice. Here, socratic questions play to children’s open curiosity.
Just A Thought gives several similes for what the mind is actually like, as opposed to being identical to one’s thoughts. Two of them are often given to adults. The first is the open sky simile, in which the mind is likened to the vast, open blue sky in which only temporary phenomena (thoughts) drift to and fro.
The second is that the mind is like a deep ocean, fundamentally vast and still, in which the waves on the surface (thoughts) are nothing but agitation.
The book also points out that we are grand and spacious, a hint at our fundamental nature. Ignasi Font’s harmonious yet playful illustrations are engaging, and Gruhl’s verse is simple and fun.
Have you read this with your child? How old were they? Let me know what you both thought in the comments!
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