Don’t Trust Your Thoughts!

Why your monkey mind is a distraction

I remember the first time my philosophy tutor advised us to question our thoughts.

How could I do such a thing? My thoughts were me! My essence, my soul, my inner being making itself known. How could I mistrust such sacred entities?

I gave it a go and found that his advice worked. My thoughts — the babblings and ramblings of my mind — weren’t as good as I thought they were.

Often shallow, often wrong, often judgemental.

Some things I know in my heart. They resonate. The beauty of a rainbow, the smile of a child, the tranquillity of a walk in the forest. I don’t need to study over them or weigh them. They just are.

But that meandering, nagging commentary from within? Forget it. Ignore it. Lose the attachment.

If it doesn’t ring bells in my heart, it’s just a petulant child crying for attention, and may change its mind in a moment.

Ignore the monkey

That chattering commentary is just bubbling up from the peanut gallery. It rarely has anything useful or thoughtful to say. Certainly, nothing based on reason or research.

Maybe it’s true — “Ooooh, look at that lady; her hips are enormous!”, “Geez, look at that cheesecake in the window, I could sure use a slice!”, “I’d rather watch a Friends re-run than go to the gym.” — but it’s not deep or meaningful.

If you want life advice, get it from a professional. Somebody you can depend on. Not whatever burbles along from the shallowest levels of your thoughts.

Speaking of Don Trump…

This is where I reckon Trump goes off the rails. It seems to me that his lack of focus, his irrational stubbornness, his insistence that he knows better than the professionals, his chaotic seat-of-the-pants diplomacy, his rambling, pointless, stream-of-consciousness speeches, and all the rest of his bizarre behaviour stem from a belief in his thoughts.

If you have the world’s best intelligence services working for you, then how can you possibly come up with a different conclusion after listening to Alex Jones and Hannity? How would they know any better? They deliver entertainment, not facts.

That’s no way to run a nuclear superpower. It’s a team effort, not a one-monkey band.

Still the mind, hear the truth

I am a firm believer in meditation. I’ve been doing it since my teens, and the practical benefits are amazing. I sit comfortably, close my eyes, recite my mantra, and within a few minutes, all the ripples and splashes running across the surface of my consciousness are stilled.

If a thought arises, I note it, pay no attention to it, let the ripples subside. If a cloud or a bird crosses the reflection pool of my mind, I let it be.

Peace and tranquillity emerge. The monkey mind gets bored with nobody listening and goes to sleep. Only then can I get some rest, some deep peace, a chance to be my true self.

One may meditate on a busy street, as is so often the case in India, where meditation is an ancient tradition. It is just a matter of not paying attention to the transient and unimportant.

Not sleeping on the job, mind

Don’t confuse deep meditation with sleep. A meditator is fully awake, fully conscious, paying attention. A shout of danger, a smoke alarm, the call of a hungry child; these will arouse the meditator where the chug of a distant train or the shill of the television ads will pass by.

Things and thoughts of no importance are paid no mind.

The effect of meditation should be better than sleep. One emerges rested, refreshed, calmed, focussed and fully awake.

In fact, one may enjoy meditation benefits without sitting down with eyes closed. Ignore the chattering mind. Pause between actions; come to a point of stillness after one action and before the next. Apply reason to thinking. Turn something over in your mind and look at it from all angles. Gain facts to support or reject ideas. Don't become agitated or emotional. Recognise the state of mind and body and avoid hasty actions.

And above all, don’t trust your passing thoughts. They may be good, they may be nonsense. You can’t tell until checking them against reason and truth.

Here’s a test

Ask yourself, what is my next thought? And then wait for it to arrive.

Unless you actually direct your thinking process, you have no idea what thought will turn up next. It could be a comment on a distant sound, it could be an idea for lunch, it could be a memory of some old hurt or worry about the future.

It will be random. It will, in all likelihood, be utterly useless. It will probably be a waste of time.

Or it could be a flash of inspiration. The best thoughts, the solutions to knotty problems, often arrive when I least expect them. In the shower, perhaps.

My point is that thoughts arising unbidden cannot be trusted. Most of them may be ignored, and those that seem to have merit should be examined carefully. Don’t just mindlessly follow your thoughts. Chaos and uncertainty are the inevitable results of such random wanderings.

Britni

Another take on meditation and mischievous thoughts:

Britni Pepper writes for Kindle Direct Publishing. She runs a blog where she reviews erotica, and rambles on about this and that. She may be reached on Twitter and Facebook