No, not that kind. This isn't a political thread. This is about controlling one's own thoughts.
Is it possible?
For anyone?
For everyone?
When I hear someone talk of meditation and "clearing the mind" I immediately stop taking them seriously. To me that sounds like mysticism. I could sooner manipulate physical objects with my mind than clear it of thought. Are they serious? Can other people actually clear their minds? Think of nothing at all? The concept seems alien to me. My mind is a circus. Sitting in silence with my legs crossed would only give my mind a wide open space to run amok. The mental cacophony of it would be uncomfortable. I prefer to "control" my mind by setting it to a task.
I played a phone game with my daughter last night where you're on a sled careening down a mountain and you have no control. Well actually you do sort of "control" it with a rocket on the back of the sled; if you want to go right, you wait until the random moment that your sled spins so that it's pointing right and then hit the boost button. If that opportunity doesn't come, then you don't get to go right. I was thinking that's sort of analogous to how I control my mind. It's not always something I can steer; it's something I can just poke/prod in the direction I want it to go (if I can remember what direction that is). If it wants to go in a different direction, it wins. Progress in the direction I want (or my employer wants) is halted.
Some people's religious beliefs and indeed my own personal code of ethics dictate that some thoughts are off limits. For years I have mentally self flagellated for my mind's total disregard for the boundaries. But I'm starting to wonder if it's really something I ever had any control over. If I struggle and fail to banish the chorus of "My Sharona" blaring at max volume in my head for 6hrs straight and drowning out more important thoughts, then how could I hope to abstain from a quick mental act of infidelity?
As I type this I have another song stuck in my head. It's one you've never heard. It's one I had never heard until last night. A Nigerian woman sang it to me in a subway station in a dream. She had a deep baritone voice that most men couldn't match. It wasn't in English so I don't know the words and can't remember even what they sounded like, but the tune is stuck in my head, and if I had any musical ability, any way to play and record the song, I think it would be a hit. It was great. But alas, it will die with me. Or, more accurately, within me, probably before lunch.
I also had a dream that a neighbor lady (someone who doesn't exist in real life) asked for my help setting up a tiny home as it was about to be delivered. She was on the phone with the delivery guy, and asked what kind of trailer he had. I didn't hear his reply but She said "that won't work. My gravel driveway is uneven, you're going to need a higher trailer." She argued with him for a minute, seemed confused, and then gave up saying "yeah, I guess we will see." Then I saw the tiny home crest a hill, followed shortly by not one, but two, matching 1963 Chevy trucks driving side-by-side in perfect sync, carrying the tiny home suspended on runners between their two trailers. It was a total surprise, both in the dream and upon waking. I've never seen anything like it. The idea seemed to have come from somewhere else.
I don't think I'm receiving songs and unconventional transportation concepts via long range mental osmosis from a mysterious source in my sleep, but I have no explanation for their origin. It's my understanding that the things we dream are spawned from seeds of reality that our brains shape with artistic license. But what of these original ideas that come in dreams? I would be tempted to say that they're seeded from things we've seen or heard but can't remember, things locked away in deep memory that we can't access in waking moments. But I'm not convinced of that.
Sorry, I know this might not all seem related, and maybe it isn't, but it feels related, and it feels like my mind is not wholly mine. I feel not in control. Is this normal? Is everyone this way? Or am I the weirdo that I suspect I might be? If this is normal then why do so many people claim to be able to clear their minds? Is it just for kudos?
Is it possible?
For anyone?
For everyone?
When I hear someone talk of meditation and "clearing the mind" I immediately stop taking them seriously. To me that sounds like mysticism. I could sooner manipulate physical objects with my mind than clear it of thought. Are they serious? Can other people actually clear their minds? Think of nothing at all? The concept seems alien to me. My mind is a circus. Sitting in silence with my legs crossed would only give my mind a wide open space to run amok. The mental cacophony of it would be uncomfortable. I prefer to "control" my mind by setting it to a task.
I played a phone game with my daughter last night where you're on a sled careening down a mountain and you have no control. Well actually you do sort of "control" it with a rocket on the back of the sled; if you want to go right, you wait until the random moment that your sled spins so that it's pointing right and then hit the boost button. If that opportunity doesn't come, then you don't get to go right. I was thinking that's sort of analogous to how I control my mind. It's not always something I can steer; it's something I can just poke/prod in the direction I want it to go (if I can remember what direction that is). If it wants to go in a different direction, it wins. Progress in the direction I want (or my employer wants) is halted.
Some people's religious beliefs and indeed my own personal code of ethics dictate that some thoughts are off limits. For years I have mentally self flagellated for my mind's total disregard for the boundaries. But I'm starting to wonder if it's really something I ever had any control over. If I struggle and fail to banish the chorus of "My Sharona" blaring at max volume in my head for 6hrs straight and drowning out more important thoughts, then how could I hope to abstain from a quick mental act of infidelity?
As I type this I have another song stuck in my head. It's one you've never heard. It's one I had never heard until last night. A Nigerian woman sang it to me in a subway station in a dream. She had a deep baritone voice that most men couldn't match. It wasn't in English so I don't know the words and can't remember even what they sounded like, but the tune is stuck in my head, and if I had any musical ability, any way to play and record the song, I think it would be a hit. It was great. But alas, it will die with me. Or, more accurately, within me, probably before lunch.
I also had a dream that a neighbor lady (someone who doesn't exist in real life) asked for my help setting up a tiny home as it was about to be delivered. She was on the phone with the delivery guy, and asked what kind of trailer he had. I didn't hear his reply but She said "that won't work. My gravel driveway is uneven, you're going to need a higher trailer." She argued with him for a minute, seemed confused, and then gave up saying "yeah, I guess we will see." Then I saw the tiny home crest a hill, followed shortly by not one, but two, matching 1963 Chevy trucks driving side-by-side in perfect sync, carrying the tiny home suspended on runners between their two trailers. It was a total surprise, both in the dream and upon waking. I've never seen anything like it. The idea seemed to have come from somewhere else.
I don't think I'm receiving songs and unconventional transportation concepts via long range mental osmosis from a mysterious source in my sleep, but I have no explanation for their origin. It's my understanding that the things we dream are spawned from seeds of reality that our brains shape with artistic license. But what of these original ideas that come in dreams? I would be tempted to say that they're seeded from things we've seen or heard but can't remember, things locked away in deep memory that we can't access in waking moments. But I'm not convinced of that.
Sorry, I know this might not all seem related, and maybe it isn't, but it feels related, and it feels like my mind is not wholly mine. I feel not in control. Is this normal? Is everyone this way? Or am I the weirdo that I suspect I might be? If this is normal then why do so many people claim to be able to clear their minds? Is it just for kudos?