Path Of Creator Videos

[Transcript]

Hi, I am Jonny John.

Today, let us talk about what wandering thoughts are and how to address them.

To begin, let us understand what wandering thoughts are.

So What are wandering thoughts?

So we can consciously create a thought. For instance, we can tell ourselves to think about how to solve a problem. And we can also subconsciously create a thought. For instance, we can find ourselves thinking about something we didn't even tell ourselves to think about.

Wandering thoughts are the latter—they can seem to happen spontaneously. For instance, when we daydream or when we catch ourselves thinking about something.

Now, wandering thoughts can happen all the time, so we can experience them quite frequently.

But how many of us know the importance of addressing them?

So, this video was created to help you to become aware of the importance of addressing them; it may never really occur to us the importance of addressing wandering thoughts until we realize how it can torment us.

For instance, wandering thoughts about an upcoming job interview can affect our sleep, wandering thoughts about someone who angered us can make us remain in negativity, wandering thoughts can also take our focus away when we try to work.

Meditation is actually quite a good practice to make us aware of the importance of addressing them.

Because through meditation, you will realize how much happiness you can experience when your mind is still and in the present moment and how wandering thoughts can take that happiness away.

Now to address wandering thoughts, we have to understand how they are created.

So how are they created?

Wandering thoughts is like a habit.

Most of us will have a habit of a wandering mind.

Why is this?

This is because this habit pattern is a reflection on how we live our lives.

For instance, in life, when we have nothing to do, we would always try to find something to do. And as a result, we have cultivated this habit pattern of always having to do something.

So you can guess what happens when your mind has nothing to do.

It will start wandering off.. finding things to think about!

To stop a wandering mind, we have to take action. We have to recognize that we are the boss of our minds. Like a workplace, realize that if there is no manager to instruct the workers, then the workers will just wander off into chaos and getting no work done. And likewise, when our mind wanders off, it can be very difficult to focus on the work in front of us and get it done.

So we have to transform the habit pattern of our mind by instructing the mind to stop wandering off.

And meditation practices can really help with this because that is the essence of the practice—to Still the mind!

In life, to transform the habit of always wandering off, you can start giving the mind more instructions when there is nothing to do or when there is something to do.

For instance, to tell the mind to just focus on what you are doing without wandering off, or when you sleep, tell your mind "no more thoughts" rather than letting the mind go wild with thoughts. Or, when you find yourself worrying, tell yourself to stop worrying.

At first, it can feel like we have to make a lot of effort and the mind is just not listening to us, but gradually through time, it will become more and more effortless.

Let us look at the benefits of not having a wandering mind.

This will help to motivate you to train your mind.

First, it not only helps you to get things done quicker but you will also feel less tired. This is because needless thinking can drain a lot of energy.

It will also help you in your path of Self-Transformation. This is because having a mind cleared of surface thoughts will allow you to see things clearer and also penetrate deeper into the mind.

And on your journey of Self-Transformation, you will become aware of the wandering thoughts which bring negativity to mind. These wandering thoughts are driven by Negative Ideas.

For instance, the Negative Ideas "it is not ok to fail", "it is not ok to lose money" will create the fear of failing and losing money, and then out of fear and negativity, the mind will start producing wandering thoughts associated with it.

Thus the difficulty in releasing these wandering thought is because of the attachment we have to the Negative Ideas within.

So, to truly release the wandering thoughts, we have to ultimately transform and release the Negative Ideas!

In summary, wandering thoughts need to be addressed.

Practices such as meditation thus can help a great deal. Because through the practice, the mind is trained to listen and follow your instructions.

The 5 Present Breaths (in the Self-Transformation Course), is a meditation course I have created can definitely help you to develop Stillness, to become aware of your habit patterns so that you know what needs to be addressed. And through the practice, you will be able to learn how to naturally discover and release the wandering thoughts which bring negativity to the mind.

If you already doing some kind of meditation and have problems with wandering thoughts, I would suggest you to add the declaration "I will focus on the practice without any wandering thoughts" every time you begin your meditation sittings.

Ill see you in the next video!

Exercise

Now, using the Worksheet from Video. 16 Using writing to Know The Self, you can also use your wandering thoughts as a gateway to discover your Negative Ideas.

So instead of using life experiences, you can use the wandering thoughts that you have become attached to, for instance the thoughts that you often dwell on, whether it is about someone you dislike or about something you crave and desire—basically realize that when you are attached to thoughts it means there are Negative Ideas at play.

It's a good idea to become aware of our attachments; through the practice of meditation, we can find ourselves dwelling on thoughts again and again, accelerating The Self-Knowing.

If you do not yet know what kind of thoughts you are attached to or the Negative Ideas behind your attachments, don't worry, just be aware that behind your attachments are Negative Ideas.

You can ask yourself questions such as:

"Why can I not let go of these thoughts"

"What is not Ok that makes me not want to let go?

-Jonny John Liu

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