Ian,

I noticed your reference, but I thought I would expand on it in my own way. Your "JUST STARE AT THE BALL WITH NO THOUGHTS AT ALL." is yet another variant of NLP.

A living person cannot stop thinking. So the mind cannot have "no thoughts", but you can improve one's ability to not focus on any single thought and let them all be fleeting. In this way, IMO, a person can improve their ability to achieve a clear mind more easily. Certain NLP techniques can achieve this goal.

Charles