Too Much Thinking!
Thoughts are beautiful things but for every lovely notion that might one day hatch into an epiphany there is the swarm of a thousand meaningless opinions, hopes, and worries distracting us from the stunning world as it is by constipating our psyche with clutter. Mantra is the continual repetition of select words or phrases meant to constrain the thought process and induce various effects that benefit meditation.
This torrent of thinking that mantra is designed to slow down is a natural condition of our minds. This mass of thought is like that island of plastic in our oceans. It’s the new normal and therefore nothing to fret over. Why do we think and why do we love to think? Perhaps because that’s how it’s supposed to be, or maybe thinking the same thoughts over and over again until we go mentally deaf is easier than interacting with the content of our inner monologues, or what we really love is knowledge and thinking is the burden of learning, knowing, and creating. Either way, the more we can control this force with intention the more our thinking becomes a tool rather than a condition.
The mind-stuff, as yogi’s call it, is a wall of imperceptible noise, like the hum of a restaurant filled to the brim with words and stories. In the beehive of our thoughts, all we hear is a buzz. Some people take advantage of it and use their thoughts consciously by picking and choosing the most beneficial and necessary. Others are oblivious to the buzz of 12 simultaneous conversations and wonder why they feel a bit off. But most are just overwhelmed, some more than others, doing their best with what they know, believing the annoyance and exhaustion of their mental chatter is inevitable.
Yoga says mental chatter is not inevitable. Yogi says they have learned how to not think. They call it emptiness and believe it’s the true nature of the mind and reality as everything is observed to emerge from nothingness and returns to it. When yogis come back from the long journey into the non-thinking abyss through committed and intense practice they all come back with something especially deep inside their eyes. Yogananda, Hariakan, Murti, and familiar masters like the Dalai Lama and Ekhart Tolle are all examples.
The condition of the mind is in their eyes and as their minds are occupied by whatever an empty mind perceives, those bulging and open eyes, the bearers of their souls, seem to be gushing forward from their sockets trying to embrace every photon possible. If they looked into our eyes they would marvel at the spirit of a restless monkey feverishly looking for a banana. Our eyes would be divulging our innocence as well as our inability to love life’s infinity deeply for longer than 2 seconds.
You’ll hear the mind being referred to as this wild monkey in meditation discourses because it’s unstoppable. The mind is a beast because we were beasts for millions of years and because the mind, especially the sophisticated cortex on top of the brain that thinks and knows its thinking, is a tree that grows very slowly. The taming of the mind has many approaches, 8 of which are the foundations of Yoga. (Postures. Breathing Exercises. Mindfulness. Focus Training. Meditation. Spontaneous Meditation. Ethics. Morality.)
By consecutively repeating the mantra the random stream of thoughts is hijacked and as the yogis continue repeating the mantra their endurance to remain focused increases. As their mind learns to focus they learn to dive deeper into the little blips of thoughtlessness and bliss that exist everywhere; at the top of sneeze, at the touch of cold water, in the belly of a yawn, and every time you blink.
Mantra is also physical. As the mantra is repeatedly sung the whole body vibrates, literally. The body is an acoustic structure. Think of the ribcage as the body of a guitar.
When the mantra in a yogi’s lungs is being pushed through the vocal chords out comes a sound that is also their voice, that is also their prayer to become present and empty-minded. As the yogi sings their sacred sounds, their body vibrates in harmony and emotion. It’s essentially a voice massage and the yogis, the explorers of inner bliss that they were, mastered it. Through there posture and stillness they became iron bells to strike their mantra perfectly over and again.
Mantra is also remarkably precise. The yogis used the mantra the way a surgeon uses a scalpel and developed from that practice astronomical levels of body awareness. They could feel the nervous system and made key insights on where exactly peace and wellbeing exist in the body and how to empower it, versus where it exists in the mind, without ever dissecting a corpse.
After learning to feel the physical vibrations of the mantra through the whole body, the yogis fixated on the roof of their mouth as a floor bed for the brain and third eye. They studied how the tongue moved across the mouth as they chanted and became entranced with the choreography of each syllable.
Despite all of this, the wild monkey has become a gorilla and it does not like mindful repetition. Distracted thinking is increasing and there aren’t many popular solutions outside of medication or sheer willpower to tame the habit. Around 6.4 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and the numbers are rising with a 42% increase in the last 8 years. This means, our biology is adjusting to the breathtaking pace of our times. We are being physical trained for distraction. Whether that will benefit us in the long run or not is up for debate, but what is inarguable is that mantra is an exercise that can counterbalance the effect.
OM is the Biggest Banana
Time to practice. The instructions are easy. Sit down in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Get comfortable and close your eyes. At that point start chanting Om by singing the syllable as a single note for 4 to 5 seconds. You’re hacking the thought process to reduce its volume and complexity.
Try to only pay attention to what your body feels versus your perceptions of what you feel as you chant the sound. Feel the ribcage, throat, and top of the mouth buzz with pleasurable frequencies.
Also, notice how the stream of thoughts can be redirected by the robotic repetition of the Mantra. Remember we love to think because we are inherently curious, imaginative, and intelligent but during mantra-meditation attempt to deny that love for your own thinking.
Stay simple-minded and committed to the time you’ve chosen for yourself. It helps to remember why you’re doing this:
To slow down thinking and see whatever it is those Master’s are witnessing with their lit up eyes and empty minds.
