Oakville Zen Meditation
Our soundless voice
This soundless voice comes from our brain- mind in the form of thoughts and feelings either positive or negative.
Between 70,000 and 150,000/day. This inner voice is continuous and, coming from our own mind, we are, therefore, talking to ourselves and, on the top of that, we are also faithful listeners to what we are saying to ourselves. Because the talker and the listener are the same person and coming from the same mind, we strongly believe in our inner soundless fictional voice. Crazy situation! Of course we do need to think when judgments and decisions must be taken in our day-to-day activities but these decisional thoughts represent a very small proportion of this silent and relentless mind-made sound track.
Zen teaching is very clear on this wacky phenomenon: “Watch your mind all the time and don’t trust all its thoughts and feelings, since many of them are ego driven, or just dreams and w/o decision “
This is mindfulness in action.
Here are several “recordings” of our mind-made ego-driven inner voice followed by their Zen replies.
I want happiness as much as I can & as often as possible says my little voice.
------Zen: Being happy is fine but seeking ongoing search for happiness, material or not will never stop. This ongoing, never ended search is, by definition, the antithesis of happiness.
I must resist and fight my negative emotions such as anger, fear, grief, resentment, boredom, anxiety, negative judgment. Etc. says the inner voice.
-------Zen: On the contrary. If you do so, you are feeding energy to your negative emotions and pain will increase. This pain is self-created as long as your unobserved mind runs your life. The pain that we created is almost always some form of non-acceptance and subconscious resistance to your feelings. Accepting them is key if you want to deal with them effectively.
I am thinking therefore I am says the little voice. Descartes said that 400 years ago and we believe that.
--------Zen: Not so. When you observe your thoughts you are achieving a higher level of consciousness. You then discover that thoughts are just that and represent only a little part of yourself Rather then believing that you are our thoughts and feelings, be the awareness and observer of them. By doing so, you realize that you not the thoughts but an independent entity from them.
I am in control of my life says the voice.
--------Zen: Only a tiny part of it. It is just a wishful thinking. We don’t control anything such as events and people. Trying to master this outside world is a great source of frustration & unhappiness
I am missing the past and regret dearly my previous mistake says the voice.
--------Zen: The past is dead. Accept it rather then being prisoner of your past all the time.
I am anxious and worried about the future says the voice.
--------Zen: Of course, planning is necessary but the future is not born and still fictional. Negative feelings about its potential events are also a tool of our mind to upset our present moment and making it miserable.
Consider past/present as very efficient tools of the mind to control you and spoiling the present moment, the only reality whatever exiting or mundane.
I am unhappy most of the time says the silent voice.
--------Zen: We believe people, events and situations are causing suffering, dissatisfaction and unhappiness but, ultimately, this is not so. Our resistance and non-acceptance to them are the real culprits since most of these outside factors are not in our control.
Things can last; I have time says the voice.
---------Zen: Nothing , good or bad, lasts forever. Only ongoing change is permanent and everything is transient.
For many reasons, I don’t like too much myself says the soundless voice.
---------Zen: Because of our education to push for better insight and self-criticism, poor self-image is an endemic disease in our Western world. Fixing our flaws is one thing to be done but suffering from an permanent poor-self image is counter productive, even destructive. Accept yourself as you are and don’t identify yourself with your negativities. Rather, express self-compassion and empathy. It will help you greatly to do the same for others.
