Fuck it. Fuck the mind and its total dominance over me. Since becoming interested in quietening it and therefore being able to live entirely in the now, as apposed to constantly pondering what happened in the past, and projecting thoughts as to what will happen in the future, I've noticed how little control I have over my mind. And it's so frustrating. I'll often catch my mind replaying banter that I've heard, on the radio for instance, or music - parts of songs repeated over and over for no apparent reason. It's got to the point where I'll find it difficult to concentrate on a book I'm reading. Every couple of sentences my mind will drift off, although usually I'll be able to focus on the text eventually. This compulsive thinking analyses, judges, ponders and worries over all sorts of trivial, intangible shit. As soon as I notice my mind thinking, I try and stop thinking - try and suppress and quieten the mental chatter. But then I realise that consciously trying to stop thinking, is thinking in itself. The thought always comes in through the back door again. And then I think about this and how annoying it is - yet another thought. I tell myself that I need to stop trying to stop thinking, because this whole process involves thinking. And yet even this itself is a thought! The whole thing is a paradox, a Catch 22 situation. I've been meditating everyday for the past week knowing that this will help quieten my mind, but even the meditation session itself is a medium for my thoughts to aggressively express themselves. Of course this isn't a problem 24/7 - often I'll get pleasant periods of 'no-mind' where I'm free to bathe in the present moment and enjoy consciousness that isn't filtered through unwanted thought-processes, but most of my waking life is taken up by this compulsive thinking. I have an abundance of creative and intellectual potential that I arbitrarily tap into, but I know that if I could only stop the incessant thoughts, I could then tap into that potential and properly harness it, at all times. Any of you guys feel the same way? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to quieten this undesirable thinking?
My advice is to first start listening to a lot of trip-hop such as bonobo and nujabes and secondly every time you notice your mind wonder, instead of quieting it... just sit down, close your eyes, take a deep breath and follow it... you are nothing if not self, how can you live in your mind if you can't live with it
haha man you gotta start thinking for yourself and learn all things through you...because indeed this is true the teaching may seem nice but its just like theres no point in trying to kill your ego because obviously it exist...theres no point in trying to silence your mind because obviously it enjoys talking instead embrace this, let your stream of consciousness split into two different streams even and try to control them when i tell you i've been all through this trust me i really have ive done the silence, ive done the split, ive practiced one talkative consciousness, one slowed down consciousness, etc and what i've come to realize is it basically is like the tao, or balance within your mind, to make up for all the silence there will be a lot of chatter or to make up for all the chatter you will get caught up in other things eventually and not notice the silence to me you should go through it all and try and enjoy it all...and see what you like the most and pick your preference basically...but dont bank on silence of the mind just because it allows you to feel a vibration and see things better or however you'd like to describe it and its your flow of thoughts because if you dont want to be thinking but you are...and you're trying to take control, but you cant,,,you with the brain needs to realize this is where you're messing up entirely you're not supposed to resist yourself...like watts said with the mind is free to be stuck and unstuck, it is unstuck. you just gotta go with it man and you'll find that its very easy to flow with your thoughts, much easier than trying to make them stop and when you give in you'll find how easy it will become to slow them down,stop them,speed them up,split them, etc stop listening to these people who are older and much more learned than you trying to explain to you in a matter of hours the things they have learned through living a life you should look at someone like tolle, find the difference in years between your age and his and understand in that time you can learn as much if not more than him by doing it yourself and not listening to another word he has to say
With regular usage of marijuana I find myself in a similar situation. However, I do not think of it as a negative thing but as a more liberating experience. Embrace it and see where it takes you.
Ill get in contACT WITH gRACE AND ARRANGE A MEETING, IN A HOTEL SOMEWHERE. iLL REPORT BACK WITH ANY FURTHER UPDATES.
That noisy thinking that doesnt stop, judges, and gets you frustrated is your ego. You can't consciously try to supress it because that is more thoughts or ego...when you do that it is the ego judging the ego as bad and you don't want that. You need to get to the core problems so that the ego automatically dissolves. For example, just be recognizing the ego, it automatically begins to dissolve. There are other things that you can do that automatically stop the ego, but unforutanely I forget lol. If I remember I'll come back and edit. - peace, joy, love, and light
I'll listen to some trip-hop now and see where it takes me Thanks so much, Pezz. Yeah deep down I know that I really can't keep looking for external help, because all that I need to know is within me. And I suppose that's a part of the experience - the journey you personally endure before arriving at the destination. It just got very frustrating these past few days and I felt like getting it all out. I've just been reading Tolle's 'The Power of Now' and have nearly finished it. It's extremely interesting and makes a lot of sense to me. But it's also made me realise how much control my mind has over me (hence this thread). But I won't give up. I'll do what you suggest - just observe the thoughts and embrace them, rather than trying to fight against them. Thanks again Cheers again man. I realise now that consciously trying to suppress thought only exacerbates it, so will stop trying and just watch the thought-processes instead. Will do. I actually did some mediation late last night, lying down on my bed. I started breathing quite heavily - slowly and controlled mind you, but very heavily. Did that for a good 10 minutes and then quietened my breathing right down again. I found that I'd become incredibly relaxed and my body was starting to numb very pleasantly. You know that sensation when meditating where you lose perception over your physical body? You feel like your head is physically in a different place somehow, and you feel incredibly large like a giant, but small and contracted at the same time. Well I got that, but because I was lying down flat, it was a different feeling. I felt my inner body start to vibrate and move, and my head felt like it was expanding and moving towards the ceiling. I've done a lot of reading on OBEs, never having successfully had one, and I thought that tonight would be the night. Turns out I have to focus deeper than that to induce such an experience, but it was amazing nonetheless. This vision of purple came to my mind and it was one of the most loving, comforting sensations I've ever had. I've always liked the colour pink - something about it being bright and symbolising love I suppose, but this purple was the most touching, beautiful thing! A little off topic, but I thought you'd like to hear that. I'm glad that, even though I could've gone much further, I got a glimpse into that inner loving, vibrational, perfect self. I must get back there soon!
yeah man definitely and the thing I feel like was my problem and also could be yours is we have a lot of time still so theres no reason to expect to just become enlightened in a day or from working hard at it for a week to me its worth it and should actually be a good thing to think how wise and happy you could become after working at and continuing to seek for years and years to come we've already learned so much...and we learn a lot in even one day.. basically my theme of what I learned today is "dont lose the desire to learn" never feel like you have it and its done
Exactly man. I'm excited to think that, considering how young I am, I have so much to learn and therefore will become so incredibly wise and 'enlightened', although I think that term is used loosely much of the time. Just to think how far I've come in a few months is exciting. Just think where I'll be in a year or two, let alone another few decades. I've just gotta focus on what I have now and enjoy the whole process!
Great posts guys. I agree with journey. Focusing on your breath throughout the day does wonders. It completely slows down your thought process and relaxes you very well. That's why most people start out meditation with deep breaths/focus on the breath/control and slow the breath. Also, you can say in your head, "I am aware of my thoughts". Saying that brings you into your "self" or consciousness and takes you out of the grips of the ego. Another method you can use is to observe the "world" with no labels. Look at the simplest object and really look at the depth of that object. Think about the vastness of it on the quantum level, about how complicated everything is. If you add this technique to the breathing and saying, "I am aware of my thoughts" and you will notice how well it works. Wish you the best brother - peace, joy, love, and light
If you're not me then I don't know who I am. I have the exact same problem. I've never really tried to meditate or anything, but if I'm sitting quietly trying to do something, my thoughts take over. I can read a book just fine, it requires a bit of focus. But just sitting quietly, or in bed at night I can never get my mind to shut up. I'll consciously try to stop it, but that just creates more "noise." It's noise coming from far away, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It's like from the very back part of your mind and hard to hear, but still noticeable. Anyway, can you point me in the direction of something about meditation. Obviously you do it, what are the benefits, etc.?
I have the same issue, OP. I do indeed have ADD, though. Perhaps you do too? It is a real pain in the ass. I have problems meditating as well.
It's so funny hearing you guys say this stuff. That's EXACTLY how I used to be. I was aaaaaaalways thinking. Now I veeery rarely think unless i'm doing so intentionally for a purpose.
I try to think of it as a good thing. These random thoughts from nowhere are where original creative ideas and thoughts come from. I think it'd be far worse if we had total and complete control over our thoughts and mind and every thought we ever had had to be from a deliberate conscious effort. But yeah sometimes it can get a little out of control. I'm a member of the ADD club as well. I agree that balance and getting a new perspective is key. Sometimes your mind can be like a black hole and you get sucked into it, getting completely absorbed by your thoughts.
Meditation is incredible. There are many different methods and different ways to meditate (Different music, binaural beats, chanting, mantras, different positions etc), but all you really need to know is that meditation is all about quietening your mind and going deep within yourself. There's no right or wrong way to go about it but the simplest way is to sit cross-legged, back straight, close your eyes, breathe through your nose and focus all of your attention on your breathing. Do this for 20-30 minutes a day, ideally. Hell even 5-10 minutes is a start. The aim is to withdraw your attention from the thinking mind, and look inside, feeling your inner energy and maintaining awareness in the present moment - the now. It's easier said than done and can be quite challenging to start off with. For instance you may get bored, but trust me, once you do eventually find that inner peace - that quiet place within, beyond thought and external influence, then you'll understand the benefits of meditation. It's a beautiful, beautiful experience, quite unlike anything else. It's something every human should do every day. Do some more research into it, discipline yourself, sit down and make sure you do it every day, maybe as soon as you wake, or just before you go to bed. All the best
haha after all the understandings of the universal, wholeness, nothingness, the tao etc it seems silly for me for us now to attempt to make claims of having ADD or ADHD or OCD or bipolar etc as if its not natural...this to me has become the same thing as saying..."I am" or more detailed... "I'm a person, I'm natural" its only when we associate our existance with words within words and ideas within ideas that we fix our minds on simple things and make them bigger and more complicated than they should be its like how they say jesus could of been a schizo but its only because back in the day they didnt diagnose you and feed you medicine to "straighten" you out...or else send you to a mental home we're too smart today though we know much too much, it would be interesting to see how jesus would shine today and how he would be criticized as well its not to say knowledge isnt power or thats its bad to know things knowing is good but using knowledge to gain an understanding is much better use knowledge to know or see the good and bad in all things...the truth and lie...where it makes complete sense...and where it makes no good sense...and then it will always make good sense
and this is completely true if you get too absorbed in your mind it can become easy to lose touch with your normal,standard reality and while it may seem nice presently to be out of the loop it is better to be able to come and go as you'd like feel free to lose your mind and be in control enough to find it again as well