Quieting Your Mind vs. Using Your Mind

Have you ever heard of the term “monkey mind?” It’s basically when your mind is running amok and your thoughts are going crazy. When that happens, what to do? What to do?

Well there’s two schools of thought (no pun intended) that we can discuss:

1) Quiet your mind

2) Direct your mind deliberately towards better feeling thoughts

Both techniques are designed to help you release resistance, experience your true self, and express your natural radiance as you live your life from moment to moment.

That said, there are some key differences such as the nature of free will, as we will explore some of these differences below:

Quieting the Mind

In this camp you’ve got teachers like Ramana (who I’ve quoted below), Mooji, and Gangaji who all come from the same lineage in Advaita. (Ramana taught Papaji who taught both Mooji and Gangaji.) The “goal” in this tradition is realization of the Self and the discovery of freedom in the recognition of your true nature as nonconceptual awareness that always is. Awareness and the Self are emphasized over thought.

He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?

-Ramana Maharshi

This is basically the ultimate “Let go and let God” outlook and even the surrendering of one’s free will with the understanding that Creation is its own independent entity which we are to surrender to. In this tradition, it is taught that free will is actually an illusion. “What to do and how to live your life” is not directly taught in specifics. Instead you are given suggestions and pointers to look within and out of that you’ll find that decisions and actions will arise naturally and spontaneously, as if you are being lived rather than deliberately choosing what to do. “It is not I but the Father with me who does these works.”

Reaching for Better Feeling Thoughts

In this camp you’ve got your self-improvement people and your Law of Attraction people. To summarize this perspective, I’d like to share with you the following wonderful video by Abraham-Hicks.

Questioner: I want to stop the monkey mind. Help me stop my monkey mind.

Abe: We don’t want to stop your monkey mind. We just want to help you train your monkey mind because thoughts that are going with the flow are ultimately more satisfying than no thought.

But think about what meditation is. Meditation is a releasing of thought and in the releasing of that resistance there’s this natural turning and going with the flow. That’s the advantage.

What we always say about the subject of meditation is we would rather see you in appreciation because in appreciation your mind is active and aligned and that’s a fuller use of the creative you than having a quieted mind which is offering no resistance, but we would encourage if your mind is scattered and it is taking you in opposition then of course you’d want to quiet it, but if your mind is active and it is moving you in the direction of the call of Source then of course you’re wanting to encourage that.

“I’m going to direct my mind and if I can’t direct it the way I want to, if I can’t easily direct my mind into a really good feeling place, then I’ll quiet it instead.” That’s the way we would use meditation.

Those who would say, “I’m going to meditate for many hours in a day. I’m gonna withdraw,” are those who have decided not to direct their mind, really. You’re a creator. You didn’t come forth to be on pause. You are a creator, but pause is better than moving upstream… so how ’bout this? “I’m moving upstream, I pause, turn my boat, and then I focus on things I want.” That would be a good application of meditation.

The main focus here is to focus your attention solely upon things that you want, things that feel good. Rather than deliberately focusing within back towards awareness, awareness is deliberated focused out into the world and inner being is deliberately allowed to actively flow into the world. Basically you go out and live your life in joy.

Emotions are not a mysterious problem that simply need to be surrendered to, but with the conscious understanding of one’s emotional guidance system and that emotions are simply an indicator telling you how in alignment with Source energy (or the truth of your being) your thoughts are, you can deliberately align your thoughts with Source and thus create a better life for yourself.

Rather than recognizing that all stories are untrue, made-up, and thus dismissing them as illusion, one decides to actively use the mind as a tool by telling better stories and better stories and better stories, evolving and strengthening this character running around on the planet. For example, personal development blogger Steve Pavlina recently posted an article on How to Build a Stronger Ego which (for people who are taught that the ideal state is egolessness) contains a number of surprisingly excellent points.

But remember, when it comes to manifestation, living the life of your dreams, and choosing better feeling thoughts, it’s not about “getting there” that is the point. The manifestation itself is not actually the point. It’s about enjoying the process itself NOW by aligning yourself to the energy of Source that is You through the deliberate focusing upon what you want and the resultant flowing of Source energy through you. THAT is the real point, to experience that feeling of creative flow, that enthusiasm and joy and zest for life. The manifestational goal is just the bait to get you moving. As is often said, life is about the journey, not the destination. The energy of the Absolute is allowed to flow into the world of the relative and the two operate in harmony together.

Relationship with Desire

You can’t permanently quench your ego’s continuous hunger for more. Every time you get what you want, you’ll find you’ve now arrived at a new place which creates a new asking and a new desire for yet even more.

In the “quiet your mind” camp, this is generally seen as a problem to overcome and part of the cause of suffering and therefore the spiritual path involves finding the eternal presence within that’s innately satisfied by its very nature for it already IS everything, infinitely everything, and thus doesn’t require that you obtain more in order to feel good, including any particular experience or state of being. When you don’t believe your thoughts at all in the first place, what then when it comes to choosing better feeling thoughts?

In the “reach for better feeling thoughts” camp, that hunger for more is seen as a good thing for it is what continues the eternal drive for creative expansion. It is how we actively and deliberately take advantage of our innate creative powers. There is no end to infinity and given that we are infinite beings, this desire calls us to experience more and more and more of ourselves.

Both perspectives acknowledge that it’s not about the getting of the thing that leads to happiness. Both stress the utmost importance of inner being. It seems the main difference is one’s relationship to desire and how desire is seen… as a beneficial thing to pursue or not.

What Do You Choose

Happiness via silent awareness or happiness via aligned thought?

I’m not here to set it up as an either/or thing by any means as I’ve found tremendous value in both. In fact, it even seems that there can be a happy marriage between the two.

What’s your take on the matter from your own life experience? What have you found thus far to be the most effective way for you of living your life in this world?