Good day, fellow Alchemists:
The inner dialogue that one has with themselves is never-ending and to silence it may seem impossible. But the truth is Alchemist, we can choose to slowly break free from its hold on our lives by seeing it for what it is:
An unnecessary habit.
Of course, our thoughts are important and they provide a context to the story of our lives. And while shutting our minds up completely does not have to be our ultimate goal, allowing ourselves to disengage with the endless inner chatter that goes on in our heads every day can increase our sense of bliss.
The problem is that we are so invested in our life story that we are unable to experience life in the now. We get to a point where we live in a simulated version of reality. One that is far removed from what is true and immersed in illusions of the mind.
Zen masters have long understood the problem that comes with overthinking and intellectualism as a whole. They knew that to verbalize the greatest truths in our world, inevitably corrupts them. Therefore, their teachings involve little explaining and an emphasis on revealing your natural self.
When we think about Zen, we often associate sitting mediation as the most authentic method for stopping thoughts. However, in Zen, there are three dignities of man spoken about that can function as mediation: walking, sitting, and lying.
Taken to a broader sense, we can view just about anything we do as a way of meditation. What's important is the ability to break the chain of thoughts and be deeply involved with what one is doing at the moment. Sure, sitting mediation is very effective and is the most common way to reach inner tranquility, but when we speak of breaking a habit we often expect the change in lifestyle to pervade all areas of our life. If you were to quit eating junk food, for example, it would not be enough to simply not eat it for an hour while still eating it during the rest of the day.
In order to break the habit of incessant thoughts, we must meditate even when we aren't meditating.
The greatest joys of life come from experiencing it with no filters; to play the human game as honestly as we can and find peace within the moment.
With love and sincerity,
The Alchemy by LA Counsel
