Is it possible to have complete silence with our inner self?

[Gariver]

Here's a couple of links on how to meditate and achieve the relaxation response.

http://www.ucop.edu/humres/eap/relaxationrespone.html

http://mentalhealth.miningco.com/lib...y/aa081098.htm

What's the key? Why does it work? Meditation lowers the activity of your autonomic nervous system. Let's say this: It is the opposite of adrenaline, which makes us hyperactive. Thus, meditation calms your nervous system and relaxes you. Done once a day, the effects are cumulative. After meditating for a few weeks, you are able to feel better, think better and sleep better. A much better you comes to the fore, while the bad you recedes.

Once you try it, you love it!

 

[wallijonn]

Musicfan123,

I am not a zen master. I wish I could say that I wish that I were.

I just get tired of my mind always thinking. Sometimes it really pisses me off. My journey into meditatiojn started about 20 years ago, as a way of trying to understand myself and to make sense of dreams. So I naturally combined the two - meditation while dreaming. I used to write my dreams down while I dreamt them, then made sense of them after awaking.

Tommyatkins,

There's Lucid dreaming and out of body experiences. For awhile I would look at my palms many times of the day because someone told me that one cannot see their palms in a dream. That worked until I read my palms in my dream. Then there was a device which blinks a LCD into your eyes when it detects that you are in REM sleep. My mind overcame this, too; changing the dream to sun rises and explosions of light, etc. So what is one then to do?

One can will oneself to be aware while dreaming. But it's like speed reading - once you accomplish it you may wish for the innocence of restfull sleep. I use dreaming to forewarn me of events, and many times I will analyse them while dreaming.

Supposedly whenever we fly in our dreams we are out of the body. Others say that whenever we dream, period, we are out of the body.

If while you are dreaming, and you do not like what the dream is telling you, what does one do? You can choose to ignore any warnings, or you can choose to find some way to mitigate the effects. I chose to try to find solutions to my upcoming problems.

From a purely Buddhist way, one should not get involved with dreams, as they are illusions. I would rather understand the illusion before I decide not to partake of them.

There are a few websites which have methods to increase awareness in dreams, just do a google search for 'lucid dreaming'. The local public library may also have books.

Me, given the chance, I decide to go flying. But sometimes I have to fly far away because it's always night when I fly. This is opposed to just flying which may just be a dream. (confusing, uh?) This is a combination of an out of body experience and flying, a lucid obe.

The worse part is knowing that a dream concerns headfi discussions and members. I've had quite a few. And sometimes you just have to cut the line and let the fighting fish go, because it just is not worth your time and mental energy expended.

Anyway,

the best way to quiet the mind is clean air, drink plenty of clear/clean water, exercise, plenty of good sleep, and all things in moderation, especially beef and alcohol.

if your mind is too active, it will disrupt your sleep. if your sleep is disrupted, it will disrupt your life. if your life is disrupted, you will think more.

therefore, start with tiring the mind through exercise, which will allow you deeper sleep, which will rest the body, which will fight fatigue, which will keep the mind quiet.

 

[Chinchy]

I think it depends on everyone's personality. Some people are just born thinkers, and I have many friends like that who, no matter how hard they try, can't stop thinking. They are also the ones who find it hard to sleep at night because they can't silence the thoughts. Sometimes they get really stressed out because they also tend to overanalyze everything.

I find I don't have that problem. I can fall asleep in 5 seconds (my brother counted it once). I've also found that I can sometimes selectively turn my brain off sitting there without a single thought in my head.

Then again, this is not always a good thing because I tend to not pay attention in meetings, and things go in one ear and out the other. I also tend to be a bit forgetful. Sigh.

One can never win.

 

[wallijonn]

the more one thinks, the more one should exercise.

there is no way that someone should be able to think if he is so exhausted that he can't walk.

it's like trying to think after a marathon of love making. the body is satiated - so the mind can't bother it.

someone prove me wrong - go for a 5 mile jog, take a warm bath and try not to go to sleep.

if the mind is tense, then the body has to be tense. if the body is relaxed, the mind should also be relaxed.

i usually will do stretching exercises in bed before sleeping and immediately after waking up. I mean - really tense the body like a tightly unwung spring - stretch in every direction. then feel the body relaxing. you should be able to fall asleep easily.

cut a cord of wood at 9pm and then tell me that you couldn't get to sleep until 4 am.

 

[gbeard]

Quote:

Originally by raif: I think there is a difference between the inner voice that pepsione1 origionally described, and the sort of inner monologue that some may be relating it to. I have had the "monkey mind" since I was a kid, always maintaining a running internal dialogue about everything. I think pepsione is more referring to the perversion that adulthood inflicts upon the once innocent ramblings of the human mind. I have no problem having my mind marking time for me, it just seems like lately all the "inner voice" does is overanalyze every action, feeling, and reaction in my life to the point where I can't enjoy silence anymore

Unfortunately my entire life has been spent with my 'inner voice" overanalyzing every detail of my life. I think about everything and its all very detailed thinking too, not just fleeting thoughts. The job, the kids, the wife, my health, the house, the cars, the family, the friends, jeez the list is unlistable. For me its an obsessive thing. I wake up at night thinking "did I roll up my car window? Where's that damn bank statement? Should I sell my preamp? What if I had been a lottery winner, what would I do with all that cash?" It's a constant stream of "what if" and "why not" senarios. Some of true importance and some of the most extreme frivolity.

Lately my biggie has been audio, my God I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with myself about what I should do with my system. I drive myself to total distraction. It makes it hard to enjoy life at times. Excercise does help, so does listening to music. Anything that is a distraction, that keeps the mind occupied externally helps. But as soon as the external stimulus is gone, especially if my mind is fresh, and my body not exhausted, my mind spins like a hard drive. Crap, why'd you guys have to remind me of all the stuff I have to think about?

My inner voice just reminded me that if I had listened to him, I would have bought Microsoft stock 25 years ago. (Bangs own noggin with a hammer...)

As raif said, there is probably a difference between the running monolouge and the inner voice, but mine seem to be keeping very close tabs on each other. My inner voice did tell me not to enter into a buisness deal that would have turned out badly, but he forgot to mention that I should not get involved with headphone gear!

 

[mcgino]

Just finished another great book that might help quite the mind/ego. Creativity Unleasing the Forces Within by Osho. If you can't do it by yourself, I highly recommend http://www.drmamas.com. It's a one week workshop that will change your life. Guaranteed.

For me its about meditation, spending time with my wife, playing with my kids, and helping my friends. Lately, listening to Peter Gabriel's Passion Soundtrack, Coltrane's A Love Supreme, and Songs of Sanctuary by Ademius on SACD through my Twinhead and R10s at work, and watching the movie Baraka run a close second.

 

[Ticky]

Haven't read all the replies in this thread (sorry... but some are rather long), so perhaps this advice has already been given.

There is a difference between the "inner voice," which is your moral conscience and the "inner noise," which is generated by a mind bombarded with too much information or worries. You don't want to shut the first one up... ever. Yes, it might be a pest, but its a part of living responsibly and being mindful of others' well-being. However, the latter one, you might want to learn to switch off every now and then.

Everyone has a different way of shutting up the "inner noise" and so the solution differs. Like Wallijohn, I find exercise to be the best solution for me. (Listening to music works too, but not as well).

Try doing yoga or some martial arts. I practice a bit of karate and entering the dojo does magic to my mind. Essentially, you have to try to rid your mind of those useless chatter. This is, of course, easier said than done. One way I try to empty my mind is to do many repetitions of a form (kata). After about 20 minutes or so, I enter a "zone" where the rest of the world just falls away. Gone are the concerns about school work, exams, grades, career, relatioinships, etc.

The real benefit comes when you stop. Those "noises" return eventually. But somehow they are slightly muted and don't seem weigh you down as much as before.

"A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent." - Goethe.

 

[KR...]

Sure you can!

There are many paths to this, but they all do the same thing and led to the same place. Basically, once you start understanding and accept life for what it really is, then you will have inner peace.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ticky There is a difference between the "inner voice," which is your moral conscience and the "inner noise," which is generated by a mind bombarded with too much information or worries.

I think that people here are referring to something else -- the verbalization that we often have. (If you are multi-lingual, you know what I mean -- you can "think" in multiple different languages.