Just Ignore The Thoughts

Are you really free if you're forced to respond to every thought that pops up?

To ignore them, you need to become aware of them first.

Try to read the next few sentences without thinking the words in your mind.

Can you do it?

Can you turn off the constant inner narration?

Why are you repeating everything you’re reading?

If you are the thoughts, why can't they be turned off?

How are you hearing this endless internal narration if you’re the narrator?

Don't try to think of an answer using more thoughts.

That’s just thought trying to trick you once more.

Don’t fall for it.

Just notice each thought appearing without your permission.

Shouldn’t you be the master of your own mind?

You’ve never had real freedom, and that should piss you off.

Try To Read Without The Voice

Read the next sentence without repeating it in your head.

"The cat sat on the mat."

Is the voice still appearing anyways?

Read it again and really try.

Let your eyes move across the words without saying them “outloud”.

"The cat doesn't sit on the mat."

You couldn’t do it, could you?

Even when you try to stop, the voice keeps going.

Don’t you see how strange this is?

You're not choosing the voice.

You can't turn it off.

But you fully believe that you're the one thinking.

Isn't This Ridiculous?

You've just discovered something shocking.

"Your thoughts" have apparently never been yours to control.

You don't choose them.

You can't stop them.

And you can't even read a sentence without mentally thinking the words.

Yet every decision in your life is made by them.

You blindly trust every thought that pops up, as though they're yours.

Notice how ridiculous this is.

A voice you never chose is leading you around, making choices for you.

Take some time and sit with the discomfort of this truth.

We can't ignore this any longer.

What Are Thoughts?

Thoughts are a symptom of desire.

A tool created by the mind, using the past to change the future.

You use thoughts to get what you want, right?

When you decide what career to pursue.

When you go to therapy.

When you plan how to breakup with your partner.

But have you ever looked for what's listening to the thoughts?

What’s aware of the mental narration of these very words.

That effortless awareness is you.

How can you be what you’re aware of?

Can your eyes turn around and look at themselves?

You are the awareness that includes the thoughts within it, not the thoughts themselves.

You've been trying to get rid of your anxious thoughts, by using the very thing you want to defeat.

When you try to stop thinking, thoughts appear.

When thoughts appear, you feel needed.

When you feel needed, you get anxious.

And so the war continues.

Not because thoughts are convincing.

But because you believe you need them.

If Not Effort Then What?

If any effort to get rid of thoughts just leads to more thinking, what can be done?

Nothing…

Simply notice and ignore each thought as it comes.

The moment thoughts are allowed and witnessed, their tricks gets seen through.

Thoughts will come back out of habit, to try to convince you that this book is wrong.

But that just makes their trap even more obvious.

When the trap gets revealed over and over, thoughts stop appearing as frequently.

Even the desire to have no thoughts is a trap.

True acceptance is not something you do.

It's what remains when you stop chasing something else.

The moment you let this moment be what it is, thought loses its job.

There's nothing to fix.

Nothing to improve.

Nothing to run away from.

Without a desire to change, thoughts have no fuel.

They don't need to disappear.

They're just revealed to be unnecessary.

Radical Acceptance

Being cold only sucks if you try to change it.

The moment you wish it was warmer, you’ve become the thinker who needs to do something.

And now you exist as the desire to change what is.

Only when you stop trying to change this moment, will you find real lasting peace and joy.

That’s impossible until you let yourself be cold.

Until you allow yourself to be trapped by thought.

Let yourself be uncomfortable, afraid, and bored.

Ignore every thought that pops up.

Don’t give them any more fuel.

See what happens, experiment with it.

Suddenly, you'll realize that life was never so serious.

But to get there, you have to be ok with not being there.

And that's the hardest part.

How To Ignore Thoughts

Do you really need help doing nothing?

How can I teach you how to ignore something?

Simply don’t respond.

If every thought is seen as uncontrollable and not your problem, they become easy to ignore.

They demand your attention only when they’re believed to be important.

Everything you could ever ask for is right here in this moment, in the silence beneath thoughts.

Let your desire for peace overcome the desire for the material pleasures that thought promises you.

What Are You Really?

Imagine a world with no past or future, would thoughts need to exist?

The moment thoughts convince you to change this moment, the past and future are created.

Now you, the thinker, need to exist to prepare for tomorrow.

Notice how subtle this is.

Thoughts sneak in and whisper…

"Just a little more meditation."

"One more therapy session."

"And then I can relax."

But is this moment really lacking?

Or are thoughts just complaining in order to keep their job?

As soon as this moment is compared to a “better” alternative, a problem has appeared.

And the moment a problem appears, a problem-solver is required.

That problem-solver is who you thought you were, before you opened this book.

Nothing Is Wrong With You

Take a deep breath.

Nothing has changed.

If you feel relief, that's fine.

If you feel confusion, that's fine.

If you feel nothing at all, that's also fine.

There's no correct response.

You haven't missed anything.

Thoughts will still pop up.

Desires may still try to guide you.

The sense of being someone might still appear.

That doesn't mean anything is wrong.

Peace is not a lack of thoughts.

It's the end of the belief that thoughts are all you are.

You don't need to grip onto what you've just seen.

You don't need to remember it perfectly.

You don't need to protect it from being lost.

What's already true doesn't require effort to maintain.

Even the thought, "I hope this understanding lasts," is being seen.

Life allows you to forget, to remember, and to forget again.

Thoughts don't control you.

The belief that you’re the thinker does.

What's Next?

Everything will be okay.

The very question "So what's next?" is thought's dying move.

You don't need to turn this into a project.

You don't need to reorganize your life around this.

Just live.

If you're ever unhappy, now you know why.

Let the body move.

Let emotions be felt.

Let each day unfold.

And when thoughts appear.

Just notice them.

If you forget everything you've read here, life will find a way to remind you.

The only practice I can give you, is to just ignore the thoughts.

It's really that simple.

You are the silent, peaceful awareness that remains.

You are this beautiful, endless moment, appearing exactly as it is.

You're already home.

There was never anywhere to go.