Have you ever had a moment when all you wanted to do was sit quietly and relax, but found yourself bombarded with thoughts? Total silence seemed like a din of noise all coming from inside your head! What will I make for dinner tonight? Should I move my investments to get a better return? What should we do for vacation this year? The voice comments, speculates, judges, compares, complains, likes, dislikes, and so on. For many, the voice is our own worst critic. It attacks, punishes and drains vital psychic energy. It may even sound like more than one voice is talking! How does one escape the noise of one’s own mind?
Every human being experiences this. Like the circulation of blood or the digestion of food, thinking happens! You cannot turn it off. However, you can choose whether or not you will pay attention to it. And if you pay attention to it, you can choose whether or not you want to identify with your thoughts.
The thinking mind, also known as the ego, is a wonderful tool—and it is just that, a tool! When the craftsperson is done with the tool, it is put down. You are the craftsperson, not the tool! You are not your thinking mind! You are far greater and when you become acquainted with your True Self, you will discover that there is an entire universe of untapped wisdom, energy, joy and fulfillment at your disposal that infinitely dwarfs the thinking mind. We learn from the New Testament in the Bible, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:6) Anything that comes from the ego is of the flesh, of this world, ensconced in time (past and future). That which is of the Spirit, namely the one within you who observes, is of God (timeless and without words).
Your ego thrives in past and future. It constantly worries about the past, leading us to believe that we must avoid repeating past mistakes or previously encountered threats. It worries about the future, leading us to concern ourselves over conditions that may be bad (causing anxiety) or good (giving hope). Past and future are mere constructs of the ego. They have no basis in reality. They are different for everyone. But there is an observer, in other words, one who observes the activity of the ego. The Observer, Your True Self, transcends over any mental activity of your ego.
Life does not unfold in the past or future. Life unfolds only in the present moment. It is the sliver of time where your True Self can experience timeless eternity by slicing the present moment into smaller and smaller increments until you reach the Now. It is here where Your True Self and God are encountered:
And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:22-23)
In this encounter there is no ego presence. We learn that God is as much a part of each of us as God was in Jesus (Jesus was named Immanuel, meaning “God is with us,” a model for all humanity). Your True Self, namely Who You Really Are, and God are ONE in the present moment! When you are in deep, dreamless sleep, the ego is shut down leaving You completely open to a full person-to-person encounter with God. What happens in that encounter is outside of our conscious awareness, but the effects of that encounter are carried into each day of our lives.
So how does one overcome the thinking mind? Start by becoming fully present. Becoming fully aware of one’s own breath easily accomplishes this. Doing this for one breath is good, two breaths is better, three breaths even better! One cannot breathe in the past. One cannot breathe for the future. One can only breathe in the present moment. Watch your breath carefully. If a thought pops in mind, simply redirect gently back to the breath and resume watching the thinking mind. Do not become identified with the thoughts (“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, or what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.” [Luke 12:22-23]). Don’t judge the thoughts. Just observe them. Let them be as they are and allow them to pass, like clouds drifting across the sky. If your thinking evokes an emotion, acknowledge the feeling, feel it, and allow it to pass. Always stay in the present moment, for in the present there are no problems, as there always are in past and future. When you are fully present, You are the one in a problem-free existence and one step closer to a personal encounter with God.