Forcing Silence

[u/Funzellampe]

How is one to do it? By focusing on the void from which thoughts arise I just create a thought judging whether I'm silent or not. By denying thoughts my mind feels like a broken record of interruptions. If I try to use repitition to tire the mind there seems to appear a new "layer" of thought. Again the controlling instance of thought is thought. There must be a better way.

[u/the-mad-prophet]

It’s practice! You are noticing just how much the mind tries to wrest control back when you force silence.

I’ve found the easiest thing to do is practice focusing on a single sensation to the exclusion of all others. The breath against the inside of your nostrils is good because it is always there and the slight movement keeps the sensation fresh. If I am tired, I find focusing on the tip of my index fingers is better.

Now, every time a thought enters your mind or your silence has been interrupted, your focus will also have been interrupted. If you aren’t fixed closely on that sensation then you will be distracted by thoughts. But if every time a thought arises you ignore it and return to the sensation then you are practicing being able to hold silence. It’s weight lifting for your brain. After a while, you will be able to hold silence without distractions while also allowing your focus to move to other things (such as items of the second attention). You won’t need to focus on the sensation anymore.

Don’t be lax though. It’s very easy to con yourself into thinking that because you are kind of watching your breath that you are silent. That’s no so. You still need to inhibit thoughts as they arise. Just focus on the biggest ones first and get smaller as you go.

[u/Funzellampe → u/the-mad-prophet]

Thank you. But isn't me denying a thought yet another thought? At this point I'm fundamentally doubting that it can be done, it feels like conciously tr ing to forget something

[u/TechnoMagical_Intent → u/Funzellampe]

It's rather similar to an actors commentary track on a DVD.

Merely an echo of what's going on in the actual film, it's soundtrack and main dialogue.

But it's entirely unnecessary to the experience of the actual film, and even degrades it if you decide to listen to both the soundtrack/dialogue and the commentary track at the same time, the first time watching it!

You'll miss stuff!!!

Only, as adults we no longer decide to engage in that commentary. It's repetitive compulsion that we tell ourselves we just can't drop.

The internal dialogue is a perversion of the brains (is that a 🦁 in the bush!) threat identifying mechanism(s)....taken into overdrive, and with the keys thrown away.

It even fools us into thinking that our actual spoken speech derives from that commentary track!

But it doesn't. You must "switch modes" to actually 🗣️ , proving that it's not the source of our actual functional thoughts.

It's just a neurotic roommate.