As I considered more the concept of watching your thoughts, I wanted to communicate a more simplified process. What I came up with is the idea of shifting the level of your consciousness. And here’s the simple process for you to try: Start by closing your eyes focusing all of your attention on your feet…feel – Read More –
I am so intrigued by the concept of watching your thoughts because I truly believe it is the path to peace. I always find this difficult to describe in words, but it’s the process of stepping back outside of yourself and looking down onto your mind. You watch your thoughts go by without getting attached to them. You stop becoming so reactive to your fears (one of my favorite definitions for the word being: false expectations appearing real) and stop reacting so forcefully during those moments when you replay or process someone else’s words or actions as being disrespectful (especially if you feel that immediate increase in your heart rate!)…and you stop believing everything you think.
When you watch your thoughts, you don’t judge or attach yourself to those worries, angers, or desires that keep coming up. You simply watch and, in doing so, take away the mind’s control over all of your feelings and emotions. You operate from a stronger place…from your true Self…your center…and you stop the constant waves of emotion and turmoil that you often allow your mind to create. Because your thoughts trigger your emotions which often manifest physically, when you cut off your thoughts from the start, you interrupt the entire ripple effect.
We don’t even realize how similar we can be to that person that seems “crazy” walking down the street talking to themselves about a bunch of random topics that don’t seem to make any sense. From the news, to the baseball game, to their sibling, to the weather, to dinner, to their job, to a financial fear, to a material desire, and on and on. Often, we are doing the same thing, only it happens in our minds and we are just not saying every unconnected thought out loud. What I’m talking about here is stopping that unproductive chatter by paying less attention to everything you’re thinking.
When you watch your thoughts, you remove the focus on each individual thought that comes up in your mind. You allow your mind to become unfocused and blurry…you know that you’re thinking things but you can’t seem to focus on any one thing. It takes time and practice, but eventually you reach a place of silence. It is a pretty amazing thing because you can literally take control of yourself by simply watching your thoughts…by not attaching yourself or your energy to any single thought. It is a way of being in flow and realizing that things come to us when we do what is natural…our thoughts about a thing really didn’t create it. It was only through action..or really non-action (doing things so naturally as if we really did not do anything…like breathing!)…that everything came to pass. There was never anything to worry about or fear…and any time or energy spent with those negative emotions was wasted. So we find peace by training ourselves to take our thoughts less seriously.
In matters of the mind, I always love to reference Osho. He explains it this way:
Normally, I allow the Zen or Sufi stories I post to stand alone without commentary. However, I feel the previous Zen story (A Game of Chess) carries with it many important lessons beyond just compassion and concentration. The less obvious lesson that I would like to point out stems from the master’s comment to the – Read More –
A prince goes to a Zen master and tells him that he wants to be enlightened—and now! Instead of sending him away, the master says it could be arranged. After finding out from the prince that he plays chess very well, the master sets up a game between the visitor and one of his monks – Read More –
I really appreciate this analysis of illusion and suffering from a Sikh perspective by Guru Nanek: Man, says the Guru, is led astray by Maya, or illusion. The world itself is real enough; its unreality is mirrored only from the way in which man looks at it. Thus, when man begins to see God within himself, – Read More –
If I’m going to have forgiveness, who am I going to have it from? Myself. But every time I forgive myself for something, I’m remembering what it was. And every time I remember what it was, I put some more of my energy into it. So it seems to get bigger and doesn’t go away. – Read More –
A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it.” The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.” Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will – Read More –