Stillness...

Franz · September 11th, 2009, 19:24

Hello everyone. I am sitting here at work and from time to time I close my eyes when I'm feeling a little stressed or not in the right frequency I would like to be in. I breath very calmly watch my thoughts and typically my mind becomes very still.

I have been guiding my thoughts for a couple of months now to be positive so eventually instead of my mind focusing on all the negative things, it will naturally think good thoughts without me even trying. I keep edging closer and closer to where I want to be. Our mind seems to constantly focus on the negative unless we "reprogram" it. So today I did my usual ritual at my desk and closed my eyes and started breathing calmy and watching my thoughts. I noticed without me even trying the dialogue in my head was quite different. It said "What a beautiful day it is. I am so grateful for everything. Life is so good to me and the Universe is always by side..." I started having visions of my family laughing, my girlfriend looking at me in the morning with that glow in her eyes, my awesome friends...the list goes on. I stopped and was a little shocked. Obviously the thoughts followed with a tidal wave a great emotion to the point where my eyes almost got teary eyed which is usually what happens after I meditate.

My question is we typically look for stillness so we can then guide our thoughts to focus on Truth which are typically happy thoughts because we we all know unhappiness is just the lack of happiness or fear the absence of courage, etc... When our mind reaches this point do we still seek stillness? Or is the stillness already there which is why I am able to focus on nothing but the good things in my life and what I am grateful for (Truth). I think I just answered my own question. Wow! I think by writing this all out I have realized that stillness leads you to the truth. The truth is happiness within.

-Franz
Currently on Lifeflow 7, starting 6 next week.

CharlieBrown · September 11th, 2009, 19:31

Originally Posted by Franz

Our mind seems to constantly focus on the negative unless we "reprogram" it.

Many thanks for the interesting post, Franz. I can relate 100% to the statement I quoted above. After this first few weeks of meditation, the thing that is shocking me the most is exactly what you said: every time I sit down, close my eyes and start relaxing and focusing on my breath, with the objective of observing my thoughts as a neutral observer, the same thing happens: negative thoughts (bad memories, fear, negative emotions) arrives. I think I am doing progresses, because I am starting to be able to "observe them", without any judgement or criticism, and without getting attached to them.

However, I am shocked by the fact that, despite considering myself a positive and open person, my mind focus on the negatives every time I give it the chance to wonder free...

Edwin · September 11th, 2009, 20:06

It depends on your goal.

Is your goal enlightenment, then you don't want to focus on happy thoughts, but you want to focus on no thoughts.
Reaching for the stillness inside would be to focus on that which remains when you don't think.
Is however your goal to improve your map of reality, to reprogram it to thinking happy thoughts instead of lingering on the negative side, then reaching for stillness can be a great way to bring the negative thoughts to a halt. But try to remember, positive or negative, they are both thought, and when in thought, you are distracted from the Self.

The negative emotions that are brought up can be considered a manifestation of the "pain body" as Eckhart Tolle describes it. And viewing them from a distance, from silence is just about the only way to handle them. You are doing ok. Try to remember, every pain that is dissolved in consiousness, will not return. It takes time. There is no rush.

Panthau · September 11th, 2009, 20:38

mhm... i tried the same, to think more positive. Today i realized that i did just live (im not totaly gotten rid of it yet) all the garbage that the people around me gave to me when i was a child. To think more positive is a good thing, but i really like it more "not" to think.

For me that means, thoughts that came up (like playing war against people i didnt liked and negative thoughts in general), do still come up sometimes. Instead of thinking them, i let them go and dont bring the sentence to an end. Thats a benefit from my daily meditation, and i really enjoy it. Letting go of useless things is such a big relief :-)

Franz · September 11th, 2009, 20:51

Well in the beginning my goal was to get rid of anxiety and panic attacks. Once that happened I really didn't have a goal. I just kept finding information that led me to dig deeper. Studying the LOA and stillness as Eckhart Tolle describes can seem to contradict eachother if not looked at correctly. I may be wrong in saying this and I am still very new to all this and very excited about everything I am learning but so far this seems to benefit me with this type of approach...

Most people are slave to their thoughts. We are preprogrammed a certain way to dwell on the negative because by doing so we will evaluate everything negative that is possible and try to "fix" it to ensure our survival. All living creatures do this. Humans, being the most evolved are being able to distinguish that this preprogrammed state of mind is most of the time false.

The stillness I think I feel at times is when this portion of thought is silenced. Eckhart Tolle speaks about reaching this silence and being in the "NOW". My mind has been completely quiet at times and I have felt an immense amount of joy in this state. Now with the LOA we can feel the joy and happiness of life by directing thoughts to what you are grateful for "NOW". You see, Eckhart Tolle's says the silence will bring your focus to the "NOW" and LOA tells us to focus on what you are grateful for now. When the positive thoughts are coming to me now when I close my eyes, they all have to do with things I am grateful for "NOW". My family, girlfriend, friends, I have a roof over my head, how great the day is etc...

So from what I gather being in the "NOW" is the way to the Truth. Anxiety about the future is typically false. Negative emotions are typically false.

So what I do is seek silence. Silence brings about answers. I know this because I can feel it. These happy thoughts that cause me to feel awesome inside are true. These are things I have now that I am grateful for. Not something in the future I am worrying about.

LOA goes a step further in explaining how to obtain what you want with right thinking but thats another topic in itself.

So all in all this is my interpretation so far. Silence is the only way to the Truth. Silence to me is felt even when my mind is rambling about negative thoughts or even positive thoughts. Silence is the gap between me and my thought...at least that's what it feels like. When my mind is going out of control I can still feel the silence, peace, and presence there. Typically the stronger this silence feels the more positive my thoughts are naturally becoming because instead of focusing on the false I dwell on the Truth. The only Truth is the "NOW". Right now I am so grateful to have the friends I have, my girlfriend, my health, my career that has changed in the past 3 months etc...

For me stillness originated from the silence. Now I can still feel the stillness even outside of meditation. It feels like I am making progress. It feels real good. Man I keep rambling. Believe it or not I am at my desk supposed to be working. LOL! Such an interesting topic. I love all the feedback. Keep it coming guys!

headless hoppo · September 16th, 2009, 17:46

can anyone tell me what LOA is.never heard that abb before.

GilesC · September 16th, 2009, 18:16

It stands for the Law of Attraction.
It's something that's been around for a long time, but has been popularised recently by the book and DVD "The Secret".

It's about attracting things/situations to yourself through the power of intention.

Hugs

Giles

pollyanna · September 16th, 2009, 23:20

I'm so happy for you Franz, you're not rambling and it's wonderful that you feel happy and excited. Here's a link to a little poem by Dennis Waitley which I put into a different section. I think you'll relate to it.

Personal Development

I wish you continued peace and joy in abundance