How to Empty the Mind

[Uma]

Oh my mind - so full of thoughts!
Where is a bulldozer when I need one!
How do I empty this mind?
How do I let go and surrender this ego?

Ideas..........anybody?

LOL I do not have any idea about how to surrender the Ego, sometimes I think I want to keep it.

I cannot empty my mind either, nor shut if up completely, the most I can do is to slow the stream of thoughts... Kind of like fixing a broken faucet, when the water is just spraying everywhere, once it's fixed it goes back to that calm running water.

I guess listening to some kind of soft instrumental music would help, as long as there are no words to distract you. Or get in touch with nature, go to the beach or the forest or the mountains, you'll still keep thinking but it might get a little bit more "organized".

I find that the best way for me to calm my mind is to avoid words. Avoid thinking in words, think instead in sounds and images, don't read, don't listen to any words. Dunno if it will work for anyone else >.<

To truly empty the mind you must perform a fatal act. Anything else is partial and temporary.

Treat your thoughts like clouds... they can be observed but not reached, they move slowly but eventually move on. If you do reach them you cannot grasp them but may be able to gently speed their way.

Take a step back from your thoughts; stand outside your self. Observe your thought process. Do this in silence (meditation). Eventually you will see yourself as small and lost and you will laugh at yourself for all the things you do but have no real control over. Then you will go through a period of deeper angst as you fail to change and control your nature but watch your self continuing the same patterns of behaviour. Then you will learn to accept your self as part of you once more and will become a curious observer of your own behaviour - a silent partner to your own existance which is not you but which you must endure... and you will understand that it is in the quiet times between actions that you can talk to your self and work to change.

anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/01/25/silent-mind-meditation-the-sm-meditations-chapter-12/[/url] ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW. The mind and ego will let itself go when it sees its the source of the problem.

WITHOUT THE [/url] AT THE END

[Xanth]

Try listening to these: http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2012/0...tation-series/

You should have a pretty good idea after that.

No idea of my method will work for anyone but me, but I'll share it anyway.

I tend to just think of a single boring thing or repeat a thought for so long that it ceases to make sense, then I stop thinking that thought and focus on the meaningless of it and then my mind stays quiet for a period of time.

When thoughts emerge again I either gently drag my mind back into focus (or non-focus in this instance) without thinking I've made a mistake (because its natural for the mind to wander when nothing occupies it) or I start repeating the same thought and the cycle begins again.

If all else fails I have ways to trick my mind into stillness.

I focus on my breathing until I forget that I'm breathing altogether because its a natural response, or I pretend I'm falling asleep while avoiding passing out by re-focusing my awareness slightly to keep myself awake if I feel it slipping.

I tend not to meditate on 'nothing' anymore as a goal (because I don't gain anything from nothing) but its really handy for giving my overactive brain a rest.

[psychoslice]

The mind isn't who you are, just stop claiming that its your's, that will be a start for you to contemplate on.

Originally Posted by Uma

Oh my mind - so full of thoughts!
Where is a bulldozer when I need one!
How do I empty this mind?
How do I let go and surrender this ego?

Ideas..........anybody?

I suggest True Meditation with Adyashanti.
In depth explanation how "That" and the mind works. How and why. Also the best guided meditations I have heard (of this kind).

[wstein]

Neither the mind 'chatter' nor the ego is who you are.

I suggest you start with quieting the mind. This will greatly reduce the hold the ego has. Possibly it will get the hint that you are taking control again and return to its proper role.

As to how to quiet the mind chatter, I used the observe the thoughts method. Simply sit and note each thought as it passes. There is a thought about tomorrow. Do not announce the thought, as announcing is a thought too. Simply note that it was a thought. This method won't work for everyone but as this is the meditation section, it will work for most mediators. Note that if your mind is full of thoughts all the time, it may take a while to empty it. Don't despair as any reduction in excess thoughts has benefits.