The mind, our mind, is a wonder... and also a great irritation. In the Buddhist teachings and practice we strive to quiet the mind and to understand the mind. We are dismayed to find that the more we strive for calm the more chaotic and insistent the mind is.
If we bring the practice from the meditation cushion into our everyday lives, being mindful, we are often struck by how unruly the mind is, like a child (or a monkey) it will leap about heedless of our intent for clarity and to abide in equanimity in the face of the conflicts and struggles in our lives. And on this energy of the mind our emotions rise: anger, sadness, despair, powerlessness.
The mind will loop scenes and imaginary conversations of events and people that unsettle us. So we struggle with the mind to stop this incessant revolving chatter. We struggle against the energy of the emotions that arise from the thoughts.
Maybe this is part of the problem.
Our mind is the tool to keep us alive, to keep us safe, to solve our problems. It functions to aid us in a harsh world, it is our greatest ally, wants to be our best friend, works 24/7 for our, for its, survival. It is simply the way it functions.
And we tell it to shut up and go away.
To our mind, our ego, this is insanity. It must save us from our delusion of abiding in peace in a threatening world. Of ignoring the warnings and paths to solutions of our problems that our mind ceaselessly advises and illustrates for us to act upon. Looping and looping advise, reminding us what happened before, warning what will likely happen in the future, rehearsing imaginary conversations and scenarios. It just will not stop. Because this is how it functions.
So maybe another tactic is required.
Maybe we could acknowledge our mind for its counsel. Assure that the advise is logical and is taken into account. Then request it to be quiet now. And...understand that this is simply the functioning of the mind.
I once had a teacher that spoke about two approaches to dealing with mental chatter. It was illustrated as there being two sisters:
One sister is very sweet, When thoughts come up she says,"Thank you for coming, please sit down." She embraces all and moves beyond it, does not grasp to it, allows the thoughts to dissolve away.
The other sister is very strict. When a thought arises she says, "Stop." and does not grasp the thought and allows it to dissolve away.
Either approach is useful.
I mostly use the strict sister approach. But I also understand that I must first acknowledge my mind in its attempts to solve problems, I understand the information and the wisdom of its, my, sense of the situation, then I request it be quiet. Thoughts arise and I am mindful not to grasp at them,(not allow myself to be dragged along in them) because these loops are counterproductive. If heedlessly left to roll on they often produce a misunderstanding of the situation. We need the mind to be calm and clear in order to truly solve our problems, to clearly see what is actually in front of us without the overlay of projections, to live a sane life.
I have found an effective method is to sit down and write an action plan, if action need be taken, for a certain situation. This will allow my mind to quiet down because the information is now recorded and not lost.
Patience is a practice. Not patience in the usual sense, but a more inclusive sense. (This is a subject for another day)
There is a story from the life of the renown teacher Patrul Rinpoche. He came across a cave in a remote area in which a yogi was meditating. Patrul asked the yogi what his practice was. The yogi answered that he was meditating on patience and had been there in the cave in this practice, in solitude, for 20 years. Patrul challenged the yogi with questions and the yogi became irate, yelling at Patrul to go away and leave him alone.
Oh well, 20 years in a cave.
Our life in the world is the great opportunity for practice; though not easy. But easy is not the point.
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