iMEDITATION

Restless Inner Chatter, Worry , Remorse

Sometimes we assume it is through the inner commentary that we know the world. Actually, that inner speech does not know the world at all.  It is the inner speech that spins the delusions that cause suffering.  Inner speech causes us to be angry with our enemies and to form dangerous attachments to our loved ones.  Inner speech causes all of life's problems.  It constructs fear and guilt, anxiety and depression. It is the high value that one gives to one's own thoughts that is the main obstacle to silent awareness. Even if we go to an enchanted place in nature, but if our restless inner chatter is constantly playing in the background we will not be able to fully enjoy it.  Not only that, but when we sit down to meditate, there will be a problem settling down to stillness. In developing inner silence you are giving up another great burden.  It is as if you have been carrying a heavy rucksack on your back for thirty or fifty years continuously, and during that time you have wearily trudged for many, many , miles.  Now you have had the courage and found the wisdom to take that rucksack off and put it on the ground for a while. You feel so immensely relieved, so light, and so free, now that you are unburdened.

When the mind is thinking all over the place, how are you relating to this? What should you do with this restlessness?

* Put the energy of mindfulness between the knower/ experiencer ( citta) and that restlessness. Notice how you are relating to that thought pattern ( restless inner chatter) in your mind.  Don't go with the aversion or  desire towards the restlessness you are experiencing. For example, " I don't want to be restless" or " This restlessness is good. I am thinking of all these fantasies and plans, about Star Wars or whatever".If you see that you are relating to restless inner chatter with aversion or desire, stop them.  If you see them as soon as they arise, then it is very easy to stop these things. If you are not looking in the right place, you can't stop them.  So once you put your mindfulness in the correct place, between the observer ( the citta) and the observed ( restless inner chatter in this case), it's very easy to see why these things are going on. We can very often say that restlessness comes from discontent and that discontent comes from  wanting something else, wanting something more, not wanting this ( ill will or desire). It's fascinating to see how soon restlessness disappears once you see where it arises, sometimes within seconds; you can just cut the thoughts that easily. Don't use force and effort,because that's aversion. You can't cut restlessness and remorse by being heedless, by waiting for them to stop, because underneath you want these things to carry on, you desire them, and you want them to happen. Look at what's between you and that thing, and then you see what's feeding them.  So put your mindfulness there, and then restlessness doesn't last long.  Nor does remorse, because remorse is always reacting to the past with desire and ill will.

* Wisely removing the importance that one gives to thinking, and realizing the greater accuracy of silent awareness, opens the door to inner silence.

* An effective way to overcome the inner commentary is to develop a refined present' moment awareness.  You watch every moment so closely that you simply don't have time to comment about what has just happened. For example: " That was good." " That was gross." " What was that.".  All of these comments are about the previous experience or past memories of people and events.

* Recognizing the space between thoughts, or between periods of inner chatter.  Attend closely with sharp mindfulness when one thought ends and before another thought begins- there! That is silent awareness! It may be only temporary at first, but as you recognize that fleeting silence you become accustomed to it. And the silence lasts longer. 

You begin to enjoy the silence, once you have found it at last, and that is why it grows.  But remember, silence is shy.  If silence hears you talking about her, she vanishes immediately! 

This is stage 2 of Ajahn Brahm's 7 stages leading into Jhana.