589: Compulsive thinking: a Zen perspective Feb 28 26

Compulsive thinking : a Zen perspective.

What is it ? It is our  mind’s unchosen and unstoppable  activity that modern psychology calls default-mode rumination or automatic unwanted thought.

How Zen sees thoughts:

 1- Zen sees thinking as a natural ongoing function, like digestion. It  cannot be stopped.

The problems with our thoughts are the following:

  2- Most of the time, we identify our thoughts with self,  taking them as  “me” or “mine”.

  Therefore, being often ego-driven, they may be delusional, making their content fictional, driven 

  by self-centered desire, hatred, illusion,  memory of the past, and expectations of the future.

 Always keep in mind this: thoughts exist but their contents are not necessary  based on genuine, concrete realities of life.

Compulsive  vs Voluntary Thought:

• Voluntary / compulsory thinking is external directed, task‑oriented, used as a skillful tool whereas compulsive thinking is internal, involuntary, repetitive, intrusive, and often irrelevant to the real situation.
• Zen describes the mind stuck in such a compulsive activity as “day‑dreaming state”, wandering in self‑centered narratives. Zen describes us as “ daysleep walkers”
• Practice aims not at abolishing thoughts or compulsive thinking  but shifting our mind to present‑moment thinking w/o believing too much in our unstoppable day-dreams.

Zen’s  teaching while facing involuntary compulsive  thinking: 

¨During the day:

            Do not resist, argue with intrusive or obsessive thinking:

            Simply be aware of it, accept it then delete it spontaneously.

            Shift your attention from the content of thoughts to something else such as bodily sensation, 

            posture, breath, sounds.

             It will reduce the intrusiveness of the thought and identification with it.

            The “compulsion” will soften as you  repeatedly will return to your immediate surrounding 

             experience rather than indulging repetitive intrusive  scenarios. 

      During meditation:

             Compulsive thinking is  frequent during meditation.

             Thoughts are allowed to arise and pass without suppression, w/o resistance or w/o adhesion 

             meaning to pay attention to them, accept them, and go back to your anchor, such breathing.

By doing so the meditator is controlling her/his mind , and not the reverse.

Conclusion:

Compulsive thinking is not something to be eliminated nor to fight against, but something to be seen through in a mindfulness way.

When seen clearly,  accept it as it is, and do not analyse. It will cease to be compulsory. Compulsive thinking is not a personal failure nor an  inherent flaw especially when it is popping up during meditation.

Always keep in mind this: thoughts exist but do their contents are based on genuine, concrete realities surrounding us?