5 Ways
I listened to another excellent talk last night, this one by Akincano Marc Weber, in which he outlined five ways the Buddha offered to deal with distracting or obsessive thoughts….the ones that come either while we’re meditating or while we’re just trying to live a good and peaceful life! (Listen to the talk here)
5 Ways to Deal with Obsessive Thoughts:
#1. If it’s possible, just ignore them.
#2. “Fight fire with fire”…by replacing intrusive thoughts with more useful/helpful/wholesome thoughts.
#3. Remind yourself that you’ve “been to this movie…and know how it ends.”
4. Undermine the power of the thought (or emotion) by making fun of it or exaggerating it or giving it some kind of ridiculous persona.
#5. As a last resort, apply “brute force.” (Sometimes you just have to tell your mind to SHUT THE F@%K UP!)