Rarely do I find a follow up as insightful as its A+ precursor. Well done!!! I’ll be revisiting this often. What a gift to us all that you’ve put your life’s lessons & practices into a piece this clear and digestible.
At times, I definitely noticed a desire not to fall into the classic trap of banger opener -> terrible sequel/season 2. So this means a lot to hear - especially from you, Isabel!
Wow, rarely do I read an article that so perfectly articulates the prison of obsessive thinking. This was wonderful and so beautifully written, thank you. I especially appreciate the reference to the spiritual gifts of recovery programmes and how much detail you’ve given about the remedies. Thank you so much.
Recovery was how I got into this whole shebang, so it will forever remain the most dear to my heart. And thank you, Zahira, I'm so glad to hear it was useful. Appreciate you.
"Sit for a moment and listen for the next thought to arrive."
I realized I was an addict when I sat there for a second and then thought "wow this is amazing I'm having no thoughts!" Which took me a few seconds to realize was a thought! Good job on me for catching it though!
To be honest, much of this is familiar, but it’s incredibly helpful to read it in the way you write and the novel ways you combine different lenses, especially recovery and somatics.
The unfinished activations or thwarted responses bit is particularly interesting. It reminds me of latches from the QRI guy. I’m blanking on his name right now. I’d have to dig it up to see if there’s really any overlap there.
There’s something about this path that’s both completely obvious and something I need to hear again and again and again. Hearing it distilled the way you do helps it sink in a little more deeply.
And it's also got my curiosity going and looking forward to getting back on the cushion :)
Believe you're thinking of Michael Edward Johnson, the latches guy. Fascinating stuff, essentially gives a concrete biological mechanism for the dharma and somatic-trauma-release lens.
Something like: trauma gets stored as semi-permanent clenches in the muscle around our blood vessels, and the right types of meditation can release them, which is basically what I'm trying to get at in this essay series.
Jonny Miller did a breakdown of his most recent research, but can't find it now. Will ping him and send it your way, think you'll dig it.
And thank you so much for this, Haydn, I'm so glad it was helpful. May the sits flow.
Great overview, as with yourself, getting sober and chucking things at walls until something helps…Zen in practice and Philosophy and let’s be honest years of paradox and staring at a wall.
A good start is like/dislike, I’m afraid that child ( me @ 54 ) does not get much sway anymore. Just do what is right…. And tantrum all you like little boy. Great work though thanks.
After 20 years of meditation, I reached the end of the Buddhist path in 2018. The end state is peace, clarity, and silence. It's not bliss, except compared to the crazed, habitual mind. The end state becomes the new normal. It's voidness, where nothing bad touches you psychologically. To get there, just be gently aware of mental and bodily movements.
Interesting. What lineage were you practicing in? And in your experience, does that voidness mean thought largely falls away, or that your relationship to thought fundamentally changes? And generally, does what I'm writing here track with your experience?
Sorry for the late reply. I practiced a meditation technique taught by Luangpor Teean. He lived in Thailand. We don't close our eyes during meditation. We cultivate awareness by continuously being aware of our mental and bodily movements. My dark night of the soul lasted the first 4-5 years. By year 10, my mind was in a good state. 70% of mental suffering was permanently eliminated. At that point, I stopped formally practicing because my mind was no longer fabricating thoughts and images during meditation. However, I was still pestered with random mental stuff during daily life. After several years without much progress, I did daily breath-holds and took cold showers while cultivating awareness. (I developed the practice myself.) I quickly noticed spiritual progress, although it was extremely painful and hellish. (My mind felt like it was about to shatter.) 18 months later, I reached the end of the Path. No inner critic and virtually no random thoughts and images. No sense of self, either. What thoughts remain feel like a billion miles away with no persuasive force. Last year, I shared my experience with our monks. Recently, I researched breath-holds. It seems to be shrouded in mystery. It's a pranayama practice. From what I read, though, my routine is different and much harder. I think it can work with practioners who are in good health and feel stuck, but it may trigger unpleasant thoughts that they can't handle. (At times, I felt like I was alone at night in the middle of the ocean. At other moments, I felt like was I was drowning and being crushed by dark forces. The sense of death was a daily occurrence.) Now my mind is serene. It feels like I'm walking in a secret garden.
Throughout my adult life I have repeatedly tried to battle digital addiction, which has had very clear negative impacts on me. There have many months (even whole years)that I have been quite successful at being digitally minimal, with attendant improvements in wellbeing and productivity. But I have always relapsed back to hours and hours and hours of screen time and the inability to go even a little while without a podcast on or looking at my phone. If your thesis is right, then maybe the reason I kept relapsing was not focusing on the thinking addiction. Maybe if I try again but focus on thinking I’ll have more success.
I think it's a both/and here, as the screens definitely feed the thinking addiction. If you've had success in the past with reducing your screen time, and it resulted in higher wellbeing, I might start there again, while simultaneously trying any of the above thinking practices that resonate.
BTW, you have one of the best Substack names I've seen, and I say that with no hyperbole.
Thanks for the reply, and thanks for the compliment about my substack name! The term is not original to me of course—it’s a term from Vernor Vinge’s sci-fi novel, and refer to a remnant fragment of a long dead superintelligence. I don’t remember much about the book, but that name has stuck with me over the years. It is very evocative and resonant (at least to me, and seems to you too).
There's a book that expands on this even more called The Power of Now By Eckhart Tolle. I don't know much about Tolle himself, but the book touches on this topic quite well. This was a great essay, thanks for writing!
I love this piece so much. It's clear how much love and care went into it...and how it captures the transition from years of eager seeking into an arrival at welcoming abiding.
May many others find the same gifts in it that I have and may the tools grant a freedom from thought they never knew possible. Even on this first read, I can feel a deeper settling. Truly love it.
This is great. But I can’t help but wonder (there I go, thinking again), as someone who had to work the 12 steps for other reasons, if real results can only be had if I go and make amends to all those whom my thinking has harmed in the past. I’ve been told, “Joseph, don’t think; when you’re in your head you’re behind enemy lines.”
I see Step 8 and making amends as fully compatible with this because you're taking action to get your life in order and, hopefully, no longer ruminating as much about the ways you've caused harm to others.
You remind me that I wanted to have a section in this about getting your life in order (cleaning up, step work, right sila in Buddhism) - because without those basics, it's much easier to overthink.
babe wake up it’s another revelatory banger for healing our individual and collective consciousness from alex olshonsky 📣
Babe go back to sleep, it's 5.5k words, collective consciousness will have to wait
and you would know :) thank you for everything, truly
Rarely do I find a follow up as insightful as its A+ precursor. Well done!!! I’ll be revisiting this often. What a gift to us all that you’ve put your life’s lessons & practices into a piece this clear and digestible.
At times, I definitely noticed a desire not to fall into the classic trap of banger opener -> terrible sequel/season 2. So this means a lot to hear - especially from you, Isabel!
Wow, rarely do I read an article that so perfectly articulates the prison of obsessive thinking. This was wonderful and so beautifully written, thank you. I especially appreciate the reference to the spiritual gifts of recovery programmes and how much detail you’ve given about the remedies. Thank you so much.
Recovery was how I got into this whole shebang, so it will forever remain the most dear to my heart. And thank you, Zahira, I'm so glad to hear it was useful. Appreciate you.
Yes, that's me.
Yes, that advice is good.
I already know I won't follow it.
Elite-tier honesty
"Hate yourself and carry on".
The only mantra that even vaguely withstands contact with reality!
"Sit for a moment and listen for the next thought to arrive."
I realized I was an addict when I sat there for a second and then thought "wow this is amazing I'm having no thoughts!" Which took me a few seconds to realize was a thought! Good job on me for catching it though!
Yes, that's literally the move - you did it! Keep catching :)
Alex, ThanksI! This is fantastic.
To be honest, much of this is familiar, but it’s incredibly helpful to read it in the way you write and the novel ways you combine different lenses, especially recovery and somatics.
The unfinished activations or thwarted responses bit is particularly interesting. It reminds me of latches from the QRI guy. I’m blanking on his name right now. I’d have to dig it up to see if there’s really any overlap there.
There’s something about this path that’s both completely obvious and something I need to hear again and again and again. Hearing it distilled the way you do helps it sink in a little more deeply.
And it's also got my curiosity going and looking forward to getting back on the cushion :)
Believe you're thinking of Michael Edward Johnson, the latches guy. Fascinating stuff, essentially gives a concrete biological mechanism for the dharma and somatic-trauma-release lens.
Something like: trauma gets stored as semi-permanent clenches in the muscle around our blood vessels, and the right types of meditation can release them, which is basically what I'm trying to get at in this essay series.
Jonny Miller did a breakdown of his most recent research, but can't find it now. Will ping him and send it your way, think you'll dig it.
And thank you so much for this, Haydn, I'm so glad it was helpful. May the sits flow.
Yes that's him. Thanks!
Great overview, as with yourself, getting sober and chucking things at walls until something helps…Zen in practice and Philosophy and let’s be honest years of paradox and staring at a wall.
A good start is like/dislike, I’m afraid that child ( me @ 54 ) does not get much sway anymore. Just do what is right…. And tantrum all you like little boy. Great work though thanks.
Staring at a blank wall for hours has helped me a lot, too.
After 20 years of meditation, I reached the end of the Buddhist path in 2018. The end state is peace, clarity, and silence. It's not bliss, except compared to the crazed, habitual mind. The end state becomes the new normal. It's voidness, where nothing bad touches you psychologically. To get there, just be gently aware of mental and bodily movements.
Interesting. What lineage were you practicing in? And in your experience, does that voidness mean thought largely falls away, or that your relationship to thought fundamentally changes? And generally, does what I'm writing here track with your experience?
Sorry for the late reply. I practiced a meditation technique taught by Luangpor Teean. He lived in Thailand. We don't close our eyes during meditation. We cultivate awareness by continuously being aware of our mental and bodily movements. My dark night of the soul lasted the first 4-5 years. By year 10, my mind was in a good state. 70% of mental suffering was permanently eliminated. At that point, I stopped formally practicing because my mind was no longer fabricating thoughts and images during meditation. However, I was still pestered with random mental stuff during daily life. After several years without much progress, I did daily breath-holds and took cold showers while cultivating awareness. (I developed the practice myself.) I quickly noticed spiritual progress, although it was extremely painful and hellish. (My mind felt like it was about to shatter.) 18 months later, I reached the end of the Path. No inner critic and virtually no random thoughts and images. No sense of self, either. What thoughts remain feel like a billion miles away with no persuasive force. Last year, I shared my experience with our monks. Recently, I researched breath-holds. It seems to be shrouded in mystery. It's a pranayama practice. From what I read, though, my routine is different and much harder. I think it can work with practioners who are in good health and feel stuck, but it may trigger unpleasant thoughts that they can't handle. (At times, I felt like I was alone at night in the middle of the ocean. At other moments, I felt like was I was drowning and being crushed by dark forces. The sense of death was a daily occurrence.) Now my mind is serene. It feels like I'm walking in a secret garden.
Throughout my adult life I have repeatedly tried to battle digital addiction, which has had very clear negative impacts on me. There have many months (even whole years)that I have been quite successful at being digitally minimal, with attendant improvements in wellbeing and productivity. But I have always relapsed back to hours and hours and hours of screen time and the inability to go even a little while without a podcast on or looking at my phone. If your thesis is right, then maybe the reason I kept relapsing was not focusing on the thinking addiction. Maybe if I try again but focus on thinking I’ll have more success.
I think it's a both/and here, as the screens definitely feed the thinking addiction. If you've had success in the past with reducing your screen time, and it resulted in higher wellbeing, I might start there again, while simultaneously trying any of the above thinking practices that resonate.
BTW, you have one of the best Substack names I've seen, and I say that with no hyperbole.
Thanks for the reply, and thanks for the compliment about my substack name! The term is not original to me of course—it’s a term from Vernor Vinge’s sci-fi novel, and refer to a remnant fragment of a long dead superintelligence. I don’t remember much about the book, but that name has stuck with me over the years. It is very evocative and resonant (at least to me, and seems to you too).
Yeah, it's psychoactive indeed, I effin love it.
🥰💕 I relate to this and want to let you know that you’re gonna be ok. Take my hand as we do this together. I love you
Thank you! That’s very sweet
Excessive noise disrupts the coordination of the hive.
The workers stop working for the whole and are carried away by the panic of the moment.
Respect the bee logic
Systems that survive the noise seem to know this intuitively.
Beautifully written and super helpful article! Love this holistic and compassionate mind-body-spirit approach to overcoming compulsive thoughts.
Thanks so much, Sandi!
There's a book that expands on this even more called The Power of Now By Eckhart Tolle. I don't know much about Tolle himself, but the book touches on this topic quite well. This was a great essay, thanks for writing!
Tolle made a cameo in Part I of the series here :)
I have that part saved but yet to read it, should've known haha
I love this piece so much. It's clear how much love and care went into it...and how it captures the transition from years of eager seeking into an arrival at welcoming abiding.
May many others find the same gifts in it that I have and may the tools grant a freedom from thought they never knew possible. Even on this first read, I can feel a deeper settling. Truly love it.
Oh yes, so much eagerness in there, ha. And damn, how beautifully put. Thank you immensely for this incredible note. Love you man.
This is great. But I can’t help but wonder (there I go, thinking again), as someone who had to work the 12 steps for other reasons, if real results can only be had if I go and make amends to all those whom my thinking has harmed in the past. I’ve been told, “Joseph, don’t think; when you’re in your head you’re behind enemy lines.”
I see Step 8 and making amends as fully compatible with this because you're taking action to get your life in order and, hopefully, no longer ruminating as much about the ways you've caused harm to others.
You remind me that I wanted to have a section in this about getting your life in order (cleaning up, step work, right sila in Buddhism) - because without those basics, it's much easier to overthink.
A new earth
An epic book that I haven't read in years. Say more?
Your writing echos exactly his whole philosophy.
Okay, might revisit it.
olshonsky! so lovely to dive headfirst into substack (joined a few weeks ago) and to come across this powerful piece. hope you’re doing so well
Clara! What! Insanely cool to see your name here. Let's catch up sometime.
would love that. i'll dm ya