The inner voice is too silent

[ThatMan]

I just have 24 hours of complete silence in my head, that inner voice is not anymore there, in fact, if I don't "talk in my head", you know, like a doing conscious action, there's no voice there.Somehow I deactivated that autopilot on my inner voice, I only meditated for about 30 minutes today because there's no need to meditate more.I never experienced something like this, I was able only to just slow down that inner voice, but to actually silence it, that's something new.

I was asking myself the whole day where my inner voice has gone, I can, while fully conscious, not in a meditate state, to actually be in a meditative state as the default mode

I'll pass along two pieces of advice I received Saturday from an ordained Buddhist priest.

1 - Don't stop your practice.
2 - Be ever vigilant. Even when the mind quiets the ego can still work behind the scene. Stealth mode if you will. It's very sneaky. LOL!

Just curious but what type of meditation do you practice or favor?

[ThatMan]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

I'll pass along two pieces of advice I received Saturday from an ordained Buddhist priest.

1 - Don't stop your practice.
2 - Be ever vigilant. Even when the mind quiets the ego can still work behind the scene. Stealth mode if you will. It's very sneaky. LOL!

Just curious but what type of meditation do you practice or favor?

Thanks! Your advices are exactly what was on my mind! I am well aware of all its practices, I've been observing myself for more than a year.

This is what I do: I lay down on my back, on my bed, my face pointing upwards, with my arms around my body or my arms on my stomach and I sit there in silence.When a thought comes in my mind, I just let it be there, without feeding it, eventually it fades away.I also experience the hypnagogic state from time to time, it's like playing a movie in your mind and when you "return" back you can't remember much about it but you have this feeling that you were gone somewhere else.Somehow I managed to remember things and this is how I hear voices and remember what they say to me and this is also how I see visions of other people, it's like I am watching their lives, but this happens very rarely.

I use no technique because I love to discover things on my own.I don't focus on my breath, I don't count, I do nothing, I just sit there :))

How do you meditate, your style? I know that meditation is not a "doing" because you actually do nothing.

I must say that this deep peace is still not enough, like it's no the "ultimate thing", there's something more, I am sure of it, something even "greater".I am also happy for no reason, I smiled all day long.. :))

I use a chair. In fact I just bought a nice office chair and it's adjustable five ways to Sunday! Sitting in a chair the two things to keep in mind is an erect posture and straight spine, however not stiff or forced, and hips should be 4 or 5 inches above the knees. The last bit tilts the pelvis and makes the posture much more stable and comfortable.

Early in the day I do either calm abiding or mindfulness of sound. I'll stick with one for a couple of weeks and then switch. Keeps it fresh. Calm abiding is kind of like mindfulness of breathe but not exactly. It's a Vipassana technique which is also Buddhist like mindfulness techniques. One doesn't focus on a single sensation like at the nostrils or count, but on any and all bodily sensations associated with breathe. Mindfulness of sound is just that, focusing on sound. I have several Tibetan singing bowl YT tracks I use.

Early evening I do choiceless awareness. It's also referred to as open awareness, bare awareness or resting in awareness. There's no object of focus. Just be aware of anything and everything that comes into the field of awareness and without clinging.

What's more? That's a loaded question. LOL! You might want to explore some of the traditions and philosophies underpinning the practice and come to your own understanding.

I came about my understanding through a decade of obsessively digging into consciousness and from many different aspects and disciplines - religions (both Eastern & Western), spirituality, philosophy (both Eastern & Western), neuroscience, psychology and physics - and it slowly marinating over the years and decades. I know it's one heck of an odd combination but for me they all contain at least one, if not several, signposts all pointing in the same direction.

If I had to suggest a beginning point you could check out John Butler's YouTube channel. It's from a Christian perspective and has a couple of vids on meditation and lots of vids on Christian philosophy. Then there's Vedanta Society of NY YouTube channel. It's a Hindu non-dualistic approach with a heavy emphasis on liberation and enlightenment through knowledge, though there's also a meditative component.

Another YT vid that's worth the watch is "The Primacy of Consciousness - Peter Russell - Full Version". Now that I have a bit of understanding of Hindu philosophy I see some of the ideas in his talk. He studied math and physics at Cambridge (I think it was Cambridge) before his interest shifted towards consciousness.

Me, I mix and match. Buddhist meditation and Advaita Vedanta philosophy plus all I absorbed from neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and physics. That works for me but I'll throw out just about my favorite Bruce Lee quote:

"Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own."

Another thought is all roads lead to Rome and all religions are pursing the same goal, albeit down different paths. The trick, I think, is having a good roadmap and understanding the map's symbology.

Whatever is, is and individual belief systems won't change that. Just different approaches based on the time, society and culture in which they arose.

You can also check out all the various Religions & Faiths sub-forums. Maybe something in one of them might strike a chord? Resonate with you?

[sky]

Originally Posted by ThatMan

I just have 24 hours of complete silence in my head, that inner voice is not anymore there, in fact, if I don't "talk in my head", you know, like a doing conscious action, there's no voice there.Somehow I deactivated that autopilot on my inner voice, I only meditated for about 30 minutes today because there's no need to meditate more.I never experienced something like this, I was able only to just slow down that inner voice, but to actually silence it, that's something new.

I was asking myself the whole day where my inner voice has gone, I can, while fully conscious, not in a meditate state, to actually be in a meditative state as the default mode

Our inner voice are just thoughts so if you had no thoughts for 24hours who told you....

Your thoughts told you , so your inner voice was still there doing it's job.

[ThatMan]

Originally Posted by sky123

Our inner voice are just thoughts so if you had no thoughts for 24hours who told you....

Your thoughts told you , so your inner voice was still there doing it's job.

Every single time that inner voice emerged, it was because of a conscious action, otherwise, there was no inner voice.This is what I am trying to say, of course I had thoughts but I had them because of a conscious action, I could stare at the wall all the 24 hours without actually hearing my inner voice.For this very reason I could not meditate the way I used to because I was already emptied of my thoughts so no need to meditate more.

Of course I did some experiments, to see how I handle certain stressful situations and the "pressure" that I felt was around 10% of what I used to feel, it was pretty crazy.I had clarity of mind even when the situation was really stressful, I loved it! After repeating the same test for five times, eventually I started to have a headache because I focused too much on certain things Then I took a brake and the headache disappeared and I could sleep with no problem.

I was smiling all day for no reason, even now I am smiling

I agree there's the obvious inner voice that meditation can definitely come close to eliminating, even outside sitting. It's the unbidden inner voice we experience like crazy when we first start meditating. Monkey Mind, if you will. The power of meditation is making us more aware of it when it first begins to arise so as to give us the power of veto and not allow it to take us places that aren't productive.

Then there are more subtle functions of mind that aren't really an inner voice but can certainly have a similar effect and be directly experienced. Intuitions, desires, aversions, feelings and the like. All non-verbal.

Then there's a very deep and more subtle aspect of mind also at work that I'd associate with the Freudian ego. It is part of the subconscious and it really has to be else all its processing requirements would probably take up all of our conscious processing power. In my way of thinking it's what gives rise to the non-verbal experiences above and probable the verbal inner voice too.

That last aspect of mind was what the gentleman was referring to when he told me to be ever vigilant. It will latch onto things that might start out as virtuous or altruistic and bend them to its own agenda. As an example he said just Google Buddhist monks and sexual scandals, especially where there's a power relationship such as teacher/student, guru/follower, etc.. It goes to their heads, so to speak, and I'll leave it to you to decide which one.

I always use to joke about it being okay to talk to yourself, and even okay to answer back, having a conversation. When you start interrupting the conversation is when you should start to worry. LOL!

By the way, very expert meditators like Buddhist monks with tens of thousands of hours of formal sitting can maintain an absolute state of Samadhi outside of sitting if that's their desire. I'm pretty sure that's documented by EEG and fMRI findings carried out by neuroscientific research by the likes of Richie Davidson in his University of Wisconsin at Madison lab with Buddhist monks from Tibet.

The analogy he uses is that of a still lake vs. a turbulent one. That's not to say there's no brain activity but it's a distinct pattern and synchronized across widespread regions of the brain. It's that profound peace and serenity one experiences in deep meditation.

Practically speaking the end-result gives rise to a more pliable and flexible mind with clarity and creativity, love and compassion. Being able to relate to others on a more visceral level. A more discerning mind with a more intuitive grasp of right and wrong action and the free will to execute an appropriate course of action.

A very good YouTube video is "Becoming Conscious: The Science of Mindfulness".

Something else that occurred to me and it ties my above post to what I said in the other thread about motivation for meditation.

From a purist and spiritual perspective intent and motivation shouldn't be for selfish reasons. That arises from that very subtle and sneaky faculty of ego.

It won't even be obvious as I mused ego has a subtle and quiet way of attaching itself to a seemingly virtuous and altruistic endeavor and for its own purpose of self-protection. It doesn't want to be left out and will resist. A sense of pride is a dead giveaway something's going on below the surface. I saw it in myself after my talk with the gentlemen and concerning my motivation to start a meditation meetup group.

That's not to say one should think of it as totally selfless because that's probably the undesirable flip-side of the coin. Take the example of being in an airliner that experiences explosive decompression. It's advisable to tend to one's self first, securing an oxygen mask and using it. Then one can assist others who might be having difficulties. Trying to help others first might help one, but at the expense of one's self and one's ability to help more than just one other.

Anyway, that's my current thinking on the subject.

[sky]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Something else that occurred to me and it ties my above post to what I said in the other thread about motivation for meditation.

From a purist and spiritual perspective intent and motivation shouldn't be for selfish reasons. That arises from that very subtle and sneaky faculty of ego.

It won't even be obvious as I mused ego has a subtle and quiet way of attaching itself to a seemingly virtuous and altruistic endeavor and for its own purpose of self-protection. It doesn't want to be left out and will resist. A sense of pride is a dead giveaway something's going on below the surface.

That's not to say one should think of it as totally selfless because that's probably the undesirable flip-side of the coin. Take the example of being in an airliner that experiences explosive decompression. It's advisable to tend to one's self first, securing an oxygen mask and using it. Then one can assist others who might be having difficulties. Trying to help others first might help one, but at the expense of one's self and one's ability to help more than just one other.

Anyway, that's my current thinking on the subject.

Agree with you....


If you Meditate to feel good then it's ego, if you Meditate to do good then that's a different story...

Once you start obsessing over how long you do it, how good it feels etc: then it's ego based.