Hi, Kaz. I call it busy-brain - and it is mighty tough to turn it off and just blankly observe or focus.
It is probably the hardest thing about trying to master meditation techniques. On those few occasions when I have been able to let the busy-brain chatter fade away into nothingness, it is quite a relief - a wonderful stress-free feeling.
Only wish I could do it with some consistency and at will.
Our minds are wonderful things but create too much inner noise. I know what you mean about some people never really just sitting and doing nothing. They get nervous or frustrated if they have to do it. I used to be that way. Now, when I am not, people I work with will ask if something is wrong. No, nothing is wrong. I just put myself in a brief stop mode. And that is actually how I think of it, as I am going to stop now for a few minutes.
I try to find a few times in every day when I can do that. Not always easy, but it helps calm that busy-brain inner chatter about what next and what next.
I am sure there are many people here who are quite expert at meditation and calming the mind to do so who can give you some good techniques to try.
Heh heh heh...
yup,unless I intently "shut myself off" my mind is in complete chaos with at least 3 thought lines,all going in different directions.
however I can(and do,sometimes) stop,and just...you know.
however I am the complete opposite of those people you described in the last 2 paragraphs,Kaz.
I spend my time alone and I won't go outside if I can help it.
moved past it, now i think when i have to
of course it requires constant awareness, so it will take me some time to master [:D]
Have you ever noticed that we are always searching for something, that it is almost impossible to quiet our minds?
In a given moment you will notice that you always want to do something. If not, you will be thinking on something that you have done or something that you will done.
For example, this morning i was taking a shower (very good, with warm water,etc,etc) and my mind was thinking on things like this: "After the showe i must buy XYZ and later on i will do this...etc" or "Yesterday it was a nice day because, blablabla, etc".
I mean, our mind it is never able to stop and observe reality as it is.
I am trying to learn doing that because it is good. Have you ever tried to observe what you do, in that exact moment, without thinking? Try to walk without thinking, and only give attention to the steps that you give. Its hard to do it, but if you get aware of that your mind will pacify.
I notice too that many people it is always doing many things (going to tenis, to a club of i dont-know-what, be with friends, etc) in their life, because they want to escape from themselves.
They (we) are not able to be alone because we are afraid of ourselves. We are always running, but i think that if we stop fo some moments, we will get lots of benefits from it.
Yeah, I notice the same thing.
It's very difficult to sustain a clear mind, isn't it? You're lucky if you can do it for ten seconds because it's such a habit, and today's extremely busy lifestyles sometimes necessitate it. But the more you practice, the longer you can do it and the easier it becomes. Even if you do it as long as you can for a few times a day, you are strengthening your ability just like you strengthen a muscle.
The way it worked for me, I practiced holding my mind silent for a count of 2, then after a week or two to about 5, then eventually to 10 then 30.
After that the chatter was gone and it would be somewhat difficult to bring it back.
It only takes about two months to develop a perpetually silent mind, it's not nearly as hard as people say. It's far harder to learn a second language than it is to silent your mind.
I'm currently practicing awareness, and I've found that it's quite easy to do for the first week or so, but then (or for me, *now*) it starts getting difficult, like your mind is resisting! But as long as you're aware of this, you can battle on and shut up that "monkey mind" (as RB calls it).
Yes, it is very hard to fight that "crazy-monkey"!
My job now does not give me to much time for meditation, but when i am aware of that, i will try to "shut up" the mind.
At night, in my bed before sleep, i practice some meditation. This will have two effects: train my concentration and help me to get into sleep. When i practice meditation before sleep, i find that its easy to say good bye to my insomnias.
Besides that, with time and experience in the pratice, maybe i will be able to analyse better my mind when it goes off (sleep i mean).
In that time, Lucid Dreams and obes will get easier i suppose.