Don’t Trust Your Thoughts!
Why your monkey mind is a distraction
I remember the first time my philosophy tutor advised us to question our thoughts.
How could I do such a thing? My thoughts were me! My essence, my soul, my inner being making itself known. How could I mistrust such sacred entities?
I gave it a go and found that his advice worked. My thoughts — the babblings and ramblings of my mind — weren’t as good as I thought they were.
Often shallow, often wrong, often judgemental.
Some things I know in my heart. They resonate. The beauty of a rainbow, the smile of a child, the tranquillity of a walk in the forest. I don’t need to study over them or weigh them. They just are.
But that meandering, nagging commentary from within? Forget it. Ignore it. Lose the attachment.
If it doesn’t ring bells in my heart, it’s just a petulant child crying for attention, and may change its mind in a moment.
Ignore the monkey
That chattering commentary is just bubbling up from the peanut gallery. It rarely has anything useful or thoughtful to say. Certainly, nothing based on reason or research.
Maybe it’s true — “Ooooh, look at that lady; her hips are enormous!”, “Geez, look…
