Buddha: How To Stop Overthinking? | Powerful Buddha's Lesson

Overthinking has become a very serious issue in today's time. There are millions of searches on the internet every day on how to stop overthinking. It is spreading like a deadly disease.

        From young students to graduate degree holders, from engineers to psychologists, from teachers to priests, all fell prey to overthinking. This is the root cause of suffering. All problems arise because of overthinking and unnecessary talking.

Hi, my name is Sandeep and I am the lead author of the Eastern Lucid site. Meditation and lucid dreams are the most important part of my research. I have five years of experience in this field and based on this experience I will tell you how to get rid of overthinking.

Thinking is not a problem

      See, thinking is not a bad thing, but thinking is an important part of life. Just as it is necessary to eat and sleep, it is also necessary to think. So where is the mistake happening? Actually, thinking has become our bad habit, and thinking has become a disease. It is no longer in our control.  

We feel that we are thinking, but the opposite is happening. The mind is forcing us to think. The mind is very smart and clever. 

People think little but fantasize too much. People nowadays prefer to live in fantasy more than reality. Overthinking is the result of unnecessary imagination. Desires, fantasies, and imaginations, all these forces you to think and you go on thinking like a flowing river, just thinking and going, minutes turn into hours and you even do not come to know.

Understanding The Mechanism Of Mind

      See, what is this mind? It is the lack of consciousness. In fact, the absence of consciousness is the mind. When there is a mind, there is no consciousness, and when there is consciousness, the mind disappears. The disappearance of the mind is called awareness.

Right now our condition is completely reversed. Right now we are living on the plane of the mind. We are not aware. Our consciousness is asleep. We are sleeping man who sleeps at night but also during the day. We walk on the street, eat food, work, go to the shop, and work in the market, and we do all these things by being asleep.

We do all the work by being asleep. We don't know what we are doing, where we are, what we are for, and we don't even know who is driving us. Everything seems like chaos; Everything seems like a goof. 

And because we know nothing about who is driving us, we have assumed that God is driving us.

It is like, a mathematics teacher is eating food from the plate but nothing is there on that plate and when you ask the teacher what are you eating sir, there is nothing on the plate. On this, the teacher says, oh fool, I have assumed the food.

How Thought Arises?

      So you have to understand how thoughts come into the mind, how thoughts enter the mind? 

Our mind is very sensitive to events. Whatever happens around you, the mind immediately reacts to it. As soon as some incident happens around, the mind immediately starts thinking about it. The mind does not even allow us to see that event properly.

I try to explain it to you with an example. 

      Suppose you are walking on the terrace, you must be thinking about something or the other while walking. Then on the road, you saw your friend passing by. Now your mind will immediately start thinking about that friend of yours. 

Earlier you were thinking about something else and now you have started thinking about your friend. You might think that your friend's walking style is like that of girls. Then you will start thinking about where he will be going at this time, and you will think that maybe the market will be going.

As soon as you hear the word market, you will remember that oh my mother had asked me to bring vegetables from the market; I almost forgot. Then you will start thinking that after 5 days it is mom's birthday. This time I will give a nice big gift to my mother.

So you are seeing, the mischief of the mind. This mind has brought you from your friend to your mother's birthday. The mind drives man and the man runs after it. The mind is a deceiver. There has never been bigger deceit than this and never will ever happen.

It is only this mind that is a hypocrite who dances and entices a person into the trap of illusion. It is the mind that does not allow a man to become a Buddha; Doesn't allow a person to wake up. It is a great theater of sleep and of delusion.

If this world was not an illusion, then man would be a deity, and the earth would be heaven. 

Monkey's Natura of Mind

       Long ago, there was a businessman. The merchant had raised a monkey and a goat. The merchant used to go to the market very far from his house every day to sell the goods.

The merchant used to tie the monkey and the goat with a rope. As usual, the merchant tied the monkey and the goat and went to the market. 

The monkey was very smart and clever. The monkey untied himself from the rope and entered the house, ate all the food, and also threw the goods here and there.

When it was time for the merchant to come, the monkey opened the rope of the goat and tied himself to a rope. In the evening when the merchant came and saw the house, he was very angry and he hit the goat very hard because the goat was found open. 

The monkey did the mistake but the goat got the scolding.

Similarly, our mind makes mistakes and the body has to suffer. Our mind does arbitrariness and we get the punishment. 

That's why we need to wake up. If we remain asleep, the mind will continue to do its own thing.

Buddha and Aanand's Story to Stop Unnecessary Thinking

      Ananda stayed with the Buddha for years. Ananda was very close to Buddha and used to do all the work of Buddha. Perhaps this would be the reason why Buddha loved Ananda so much. Apart from being an assistant to the Buddha, Ananda was also a promising disciple.

Once upon a time, both Ananda and Buddha were passing through a path. After walking for a long time, Buddha felt thirsty. Buddha said, Ananda now we should rest for a while. I'm thirsty. You go ahead and see if there is any pond or river around? 

Anand went in search of the river with a pot. After walking for a while he saw a river and when he went near the river, he saw that many animals were passing through the same river. 

He saw that the water has become completely dirty, the soil below has got mixed in the water, a lot of grass and leaves were floating over the water, and the water was not drinkable at all.

Then Anand proceeded to find another river. Even after walking for a long time, he did not find any river, then disappointed and returned to Buddha and said sorry, Buddha could not bring water for you. I had found a river but because of the many wild animals passing through it, the water of that river had become dirty. That water was not fit to drink.

Buddha said, no Anand, you bring me water from the same river, I will drink water from that river. Anand said very politely, Tathagata, the water of that river is not fair, it can spoil your health. 

Buddha said, Anand, you go to that river and sit on the bank of that river for a while. After that, you bring water from there. Following the Buddha's orders, Anand said, as your command, Lord.

Anand again took the pot and went to the same river. Till now also, the water of the river was muddy. So Anand sat for a while on the bank of the river. He was sitting and looking at the water. He saw that the mud which was mixed in the water, the dust which had been mixed in the water, was slowly sitting down now. Slowly the water was becoming clear, absolutely clear. 

Grass and leaves were also flowing slowly now with the flow of the river. Everything was getting clear with the flow of water.

Anand was very happy seeing this. He started to dance with joy. In no time the water became completely clear. It became so clear that the ground below was clearly visible.

Ananda filled the water with great pleasure and brought water to the Buddha. Buddha quenched his thirst by drinking that water. There was a wave of joy on Anand's face. Buddha, you were absolutely right that I should go there and sit on the shore for a while and I did so. I saw that the water was slowly clearing; Slowly the soil mixed with the water was sitting down. And after some time the water became completely clear.

Watchfulness of Mind

     Then the Buddha asked, what do you learn from the incident that happened to you Ananda just now? Anand said that I have not learned anything. When I couldn't get water for you in the beginning, I was very upset. My mind was very restless but now I am feeling very good after bringing water to you.

Look, Anand, this incident reveals a very effective method of calming the mind. Anand asked very curiously how is that Tathagata? 

Just as the soil mixed with water slowly settles on the bottom of the river while waiting, in the same way, the mind becomes calm by looking at the mind. By looking at the mind, the thoughts start decreasing gradually and by looking at the mind continuously, the thoughts stop coming.

You and your mind are different. You are not the mind. When a thought comes, don't try to remove it. Just look at it, watch it with a witnessing attitude. You must not react to your thought at all. This thought is good, that thought is bad, don't do this with your thoughts. If you do this, you will go on getting caught in the mind's web.

Thoughts are very shy. After seeing a little, they stop coming. In the beginning, it will be very difficult. You will miss it again and again. Whenever you remember this, while doing anything, then immediately start observing the mind. Watch each and every thought coming to you. Don't get carried away with thoughts.

You have to look at your mind like a person standing on the side of the road looking at the passengers. That person has nothing to do with the passengers on the road; He simply looks at the passengers; He just keeps looking.

Don't Try to Control Your Mind

     So the main point here is to observe your mind. You have to watch every single thought that comes to your mind. This is the only method that will prove to be effective in this case. Don't try to control the mind. Unfortunately, this cannot be done. You just have to watch your mind. You just have to look at it. You don't have to control it.

If you go to control the mind, you will be defeated. You will lose very badly. The more you try to control the mind, the stronger the mind will attack you. So you remember this. You just have to see the mind. Don't try to control it.

You have to put more and more power into it. You have to watch your mind with full awareness, you have to observe your mind with full of consciousness. You have to look at every thought that arises in your mind. Let no thought be such that escapes your observation. Do not fight with thoughts, just observe them.

When you start observing thoughts, you will know the difference between two thoughts. When one thought comes to mind, after a while, another thought comes. Although you will not know this at all in the beginning. You will feel that the thoughts keep coming. In the beginning, you will not know the difference between the two thoughts.

By and by, as you become adept at observing the mind, you will find that when the first thought comes, a few moments later the second comes. And when you go on seeing it, you will find the gap between the two thoughts is very long.

You will know that the thought is going to come even before the thought enters the mind. When the thought is created, at that very moment you will know that the thought is now to come. And when you come to know that thoughts are about to come, then immediately the thought will disappear. And your mind will be completely blank, will be completely empty. Your mind will become like a mirror in which no reflection falls.

It's all about watching. You can change yourself just by observing. You will be able to meditate. Look at the mind and you will find many things. You will understand the working mechanism of the mind.

Thus the Buddha described Ananda as a very simple way to calm the mind. This route is very simple. You can practice it at any time. Whenever you get time, observe your mind, watch it, and watch its restlessness very consciously. This Powerful Buddha's Lesson will definitely help you to make your mind peace.

That is meditation. This is the best method of meditation. In this way, you can able to stop overthinking habits.

This is our lovely little fickle mind, it desperately needs mediation.

Poetry on Mind

 "Lack of awareness is the mind"

The mind acts arbitrarily,

The mind is the friend of the mind.

Mind swinging mind insane,

Mind's wonderful way.

Someone has rightly said that:

       Losers of the mind are defeats and

       victories are won by the mind.

Neither the illusion died nor the mind died,

The body had become dead

Hope, craving did not die,

Said Das Kabir.

Conclusion:

The mind is very fickle and unstable. We should treat it like a child. Instead of controlling the mind, it should be observed. By observing the mind, thoughts stop coming. Mind is the root cause of Illusion. 

It is because of the mind that this world exists. When a thought arises in the mind, it should be seen, it should be observed; Don't get carried away with it.

We cannot give the freedom to think about anything to the mind. This will only hurt us. The mind is very naughty and rambunctious. It has to be explained in its own language.

Thank you very much for reading this post. See you again friends, till then keep practicing awareness.