Contemplation

I use the word "contemplation" as equivalent to "non-conceptually bearing in mind." It is passive rather than active and non-verbal, non-imaginative. Scientists often get to a point where they know what they want to know, but they don't yet know it. They contemplate the issue, which I assume puts pressure on existing thought structures, and they eventually have a "eureka experience" which re-structures their understanding. They suddenly see all of their previous knowledge and information in a new way. G. Spencer Brown, a British mathematician, wrote (in his book "Laws of Form"):

"To any person prepared to enter with respect into the realm of his great and universal ignorance, the secrets of being will eventually unfold, and they will do so in a measure according to his freedom from natural and indoctrinated shame in his respect of their revelation........

To arrive at the simplest truth, as Newton knew and practised, requires YEARS OF CONTEMPLATION. Not activity. Not reasoning. Not calculating. Not busy behavior of any kind. Not reading. Not talking. Not making an effort. Not thinking. Simply BEARING IN MIND what it is one needs to know. "

I think this sums it up pretty well. The body is one-with the truth. The head is attached to paradigms. Existential realizations reveal what is NOT true. This is why the Tao Te Ching points to progressive loss as a description of the awakening process.

"The student learns by daily increment.
The Way is gained by daily loss,
Loss upon loss until
At last comes rest.

By letting go, it all gets done;
The world is won by those who let it go!
But when you try and try,
The world is then beyond the winning."

(translated by R. B. Blakney)