Turning your brain off

[Anonymous 7]

I am still working on it but I am getting much better. If you can manage to not think at all except what you are focusing on or to totally turn your brain off from thoughts while doing menial tasks like driving it is like a walking meditation.

I bet a lot of you have mastered it but it works great for anxiety or when you keep thinking about useless s~~~.

[raindogParticipant 313]

Not thinking, and being present in the Now in whatever it is that you’re DOING, is the essence of Zen. I wish I were better at it, but it takes practice. Most thinking is repetitive, and therefore useless and ultimately damaging. Make your whole life, including the mundane stuff, into a meditation. When you wash your hands, do you actually feel the water, or are you too busy thinking about stupid crap? (I’m usually thinking about stupid crap.) How often are you aware of your feet, that you actually have feet? Probably only when they hurt or you’re putting your shoes on. How often are you aware of your own aliveness, your own existence?

It’s what J. Krishnamurti, Eckhart Tolle, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Osho, and all the great spiritual teachers teach. Screw the past and the future. Screw worrying. Jesus said it too:

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

"Free your mind and your ass will follow. The kingdom of heaven is within." -Funkadelic

[Anonymous 7]

raindog wrote:

When you wash your hands, do you actually feel the water, or are you too busy thinking about stupid crap?

I know man. Alan Watts helps a lot too.

A nice bottle of spiced rum and an audible book on your phone helps.

Been getting into audiobooks a lot lately.

[RoyDalParticipant]

Anonymous wrote:

I am still working on it but I am getting much better. If you can manage to not think at all except what you are focusing on or to totally turn your brain off from thoughts while doing menial tasks like driving it is like a walking meditation.

NOT POSSIBLE! Your brain is an automatic device which will do its thing — no matter what your level of enlightenment. Nirvana does not mean thought stops. Nope.

Anonymous wrote:

I know man. Alan Watts helps a lot too.

I loves me Alan Watts! Heed him!

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[Anonymous 7]

RoyDal wrote:

NOT POSSIBLE! Your brain is an automatic device which will do its thing — no matter what your level of enlightenment. Nirvana does not mean thought stops. Nop

Worded it wrong. Just focusing on the present as much as possible.

[RoyDalParticipant]

Anonymous wrote:

Worded it wrong. Just focusing on the present as much as possible.

Good point! Focusing on the present is everything.

Buddha said, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

I take this to mean, focus on the present. The past is unchangeable, and it is gone anyway. The future is not here yet. Only the present is real.

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[RedDawnParticipant 1391]

I personally find it easier to acknowledge thoughts/emotions with gentleness and respect and them put them in the corner of the bed and breakfast dining hall as one blog put it. I.E Some thoughts and feeling are pleasant and others unpleasant, but by accepting them and then letting them have their own little space one can focus on the task at hand.

If I can’t get to sleep I don’t focus on the fact I can’t get to sleep because it just agitates me further, instead I accept that and then I tell myself I’m going to stay awake all night! I find it much easier to get to sleep then.

The feeling of not being in control is where anger comes from, if we can accept that we can’t always control what happens in the world and instead train ourselves in how we act, rather than react then we can become powerful. The professional disposition is much more powerful than giving in to emotion and raging at others and ultimately helps us lead a more productive and satisfying life.

Practice recognising rumination, accept it kindly and leave it in the corner, while you get things done.

Accepting something is the true way to let it go.

Courage is the key to life itself - Morgan Freeman

[xlrsnbrgParticipant 1786]

Meditation is dangerous for the brain. Certain activities may lead to chronic dissociation and psychosis. Look up the crazy incidents from Maharishi International University. People jumped off buildings because they thought they could fly.

A man shouldn't make his life's objective to be on the side of the majority, but to avoid finding himself in the ranks of the insane. (Marcus Aurelius)

[Anonymous 42]

I turn my brain off every night

then it turns itself back on in the morning.

[TuneoutParticipant]

raindog wrote:

When you wash your hands, do you actually feel the water, or are you too busy thinking about stupid crap? (I’m usually thinking about stupid crap

I’m actually counting to twenty,lol

xlrsnbrg wrote:

Meditation is dangerous for the brain. Certain activities may lead to chronic dissociation and psychosis. Look up the crazy incidents from Maharishi International University. People jumped off buildings because they thought they could fly.

Could have been a bad acid trip too

Lifes a bitch,but you don't have to marry one!

[Joey AlfioParticipant]

I just don’t give a s~~~ tbh. There’s far more important things in my life and what goes around me as a whole than to worry about stupid incidents from the past or what some idiot said. I simply move on…

Δεν υπάρχει τίποτε αδύνατο γι’ αυτόν που θα προσπαθήσει. - Μέγας Αλέξανδρος

[Tiga KParticipant 1693]

Meditation has been an essential part of my life. I remember a professor falsely accusing me of something one day in class and I just told him that I really needed to leave. I left campus and went to meditate in the local park. Soon my mood was improved, I had forgiven him for misunderstanding me, I felt recharged, had the concentration of a laser beam, and returned to campus before my next class.

I was pretty close to telling my professor “f~~~ you” and storming out, but I barely managed to restrain that rage. I can’t remember what happened but I was already in a bad mood before he did that. Thank you, meditation.

[Tiga KParticipant 1693]

RedDawn wrote:

I personally find it easier to acknowledge thoughts/emotions with gentleness and respect and them put them in the corner of the bed and breakfast dining hall as one blog put it. I.E Some thoughts and feeling are pleasant and others unpleasant, but by accepting them and then letting them have their own little space one can focus on the task at hand.

If I can’t get to sleep I don’t focus on the fact I can’t get to sleep because it just agitates me further, instead I accept that and then I tell myself I’m going to stay awake all night! I find it much easier to get to sleep then.

The feeling of not being in control is where anger comes from, if we can accept that we can’t always control what happens in the world and instead train ourselves in how we act, rather than react then we can become powerful. The professional disposition is much more powerful than giving in to emotion and raging at others and ultimately helps us lead a more productive and satisfying life.

Practice recognising rumination, accept it kindly and leave it in the corner, while you get things done.

Accepting something is the true way to let it go.

This man speaks truth. Thank you, RedDawn.

[Freeman_KParticipant 3524]

Anonymous wrote:

If you can manage to not think at all except what you are focusing on or to totally turn your brain off from thoughts

What works for me is endurance training i am doing for past 10 years. Running, Walking, Cycling, Swimming, what suits you. First hour is warm up. By the third hour i am actually starting to feel good. Not high type of good but one that lasts and it comes back after tiredness fades away next day.

Alternative which also works for me are extreme sports. Any intense activity requiring 100% concentration. My brain is completely clear of conscious thoughts during the activity and once activity is over i get clean good thoughts which give me input and introspection about what to do next in life. I do this in moderation but i now understand that i am wired to do extreme sports periodically and i get an itch to go out.

The choices we make, not the chances we take, determine our destiny

[FrostByteParticipant 19005]

“Measure the spaces between your thoughts”

We all know about focused breathing, but here is a little used mediation – focused blinking. Odd as it sounds, conscious rhythmic blinking for about one minute can help clam monkey mind in some people and can help you sleep when your mind is running to fast..Once your mind calms a bit you move over to focused breathing because it’s more sustainable over a longer period. I learned that in the 70s when mediation was all the rage and you could get a good instructor.

If you rescue a damsel in distress, all you will get is a distressed damsel.

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