Can You Ignore Your Thoughts?

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I used to think ignoring my thoughts was an impossible idea (and, sometimes, still do) but after years of being skinned alive by coaches, therapists, spiritual teachers, and other wise healers, I've come to a clearer understanding of how the thinking mind works. And how it perpetuates suffering. Once the mechanics of the mind/ego are seen for what they are, it's a lot easier to unhook from them.

For example, let's take an easy one. Let’s say you are in the grocery store line. No one is attacking you, there's no gun to your head, nothing "bad" is happening. It's a relatively peaceful, neutral event. Yet, immediately the mind will start to layer stressful stories over top. "What’s taking so long?" "Of course I picked the line with the two thousand coupons lady.” “Why am I the worst line picker?” If we all walked around with thought bubbles, the grocery store would look like an insane asylum.

So there's: a) the life situation and b) the thoughts/stories layered over top. The thought/stories aren’t a problem, really—that’s what the mind is designed to do. Thoughts rise on their own. The problem is when we BELIEVE, buy into, and/or react from these stories. This is where the drama, anxiety, and suffering comes in. The more aware we are of the particular mental tapes that might play on repeat for us, the more we can simply observe them vs. follow them down the suffering bunny hole. The more we watch versus indulge, the more our perception can remain open and present to ALL of what's here, to the deeper dimensions of life, to the deeper dimensions of who and what we are. To NOW. And so: instead of living our lives according to the fables spun by the thinking mind, we can live from the guidance of our unconditioned nature, what some might call intuition, the heart, flow, or, Life/Peace itself, regardless of what thoughts happen to rise on the screen of awareness from within that natural state.

All is well…with a bunch of thought bubbles layered over top,
KB