The Unobserved Mind creates the unhappiness.
Eckhart Tolle
Running After Thought
I often say that, don't I? That it is not the circumstance that causes our suffering but what our mind does with it. As long as we are lost in story we are not observing what the mind is doing...if you are not watching the dog you have taken off leash...it might run off ...chasing one thought form after the other. When we are unhappy, confused, angry and reactive we have not only taken our mind off its leash, we have let it run off. It is so important to recognize that it has run off and call it back before it gets too far. Just call it back.
Awareness: Knowing You are Thinking
As soon as you recognize that you are lost in a thought stream, you are becoming more aware. As soon as you realize what you are feeling and see that as a "result" of your thinking...you are getting even more aware. When you become aware of specific thoughts...awareness is increasing...when you see the unhelpful effect of those thoughts on you, you are even more aware.
When you can say, "Man this thought I had about the bills that was causing me to worry and go off on a mental tangent is not useful at all. In fact it is counterproductive and destructive to my peace of mind." ...you are almost there.
Training the Mind to "Come Back"
Before you can get to the depth of spaciousness on the other side of thinking, the presence on which the thought emerges, you do have to deal possibly with a resistant mind. The thoughts in the mind create a momentum effect...like the dog who begins to run away...getting faster and faster...it may be resistant to your call to "Come back".
Resistance and Momentum
The mind is often caught up in the momentum effect. You know what that is like right? When you are on a worry or anger or self pity trip, the mind keeps adding one thought, one story after another to rationalize your spiral downward...and if someone tries to offer evidence to the contrary or reassurance to bring you out of it...what do you want to do to them? Not always nice, eh? You are caught up in this downward thought spiral and it almost feels "comforting"in its discomfort or "Pleasant"in its unpleasantness.
The quicker the thought comes, the farther you get away from presence...the harder it is to come back. Have you ever tried to put a yet-to -be-trained dog back on a leash when it has been freed and running off? Not always easy, is it...to get them to come back? So expect to meet some resistance when you begin training your mind to come back from thought streams. But commit to the training!
Reward, Don't Punish
And by no means scold yourself for going off. If the mind thinks it is going to get reprimended and punished everytime it comes back...it will resist coming back even more. Rule number one when trying to get a dog to come back to you...do not growl or punish them when you do manage to get them back on that leash. Make coming back something it wants to do...reward it. Reward your mind with understanding and compassion.
Understand that Thinking is Natural for the Mind
And understand that the mind, like the dog, is just doing what minds and dogs naturally do. Chasing and running are what dogs do. It is not doing anything "wrong" or "bad". Thinking is what the mind does...thoughts come naturally to the mind. We do not want to train that natural instinct out of the dog nor do we want to train it out of the mind. We just want to "tame" it...that's all.
A tamed mind will still run off but if you are a vigilant owner you will recognize it when it goes off and you will call it back automatically...and the mind, once tamed, will gladly come back to presence. So stay observant!
An observed mind, is a conscious one.
All is well.
Eclhart Tolle (February, 2021) School of Awakening: Become Free of the Overthinking Mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_0ICsolRcU
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