Thinking, thinking, overthinking

As the title of this article indicates, we are going to discuss something that nearly all of us tend to do. Overthink.

Let's think about this for a moment... Haha, no! Just joking!

But seriously, before we dig deeper into this, we want to say the following - there is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking. Thoughts are how we create, is this not true? Our whole reality is created by thought. Also, we can use thinking in skillful ways, to be creative or solve problems. 

So, thinking is all fine, but overthinking is the one that beats us up! Especially these thoughts coming from the ego-mind. Lama Thubten Yeshe used to tell a story, something like this. He said that if someone keeps harming us, surely we would do something about it, won't we? We won't allow this person to harm or hurt us all the time. Yet, the biggest harm-doer to us is the ego-mind. It beats us up, day and night! Instead of doing something about it, we just feed this ego-mind with more and more ideas. It keeps beating us up, but we still invite it to come into our homes. We offer it some tea, we offer it some cake, and so on.

An avalanche of thoughts

As we know so very well, overthinking starts with a little thought. Just a little idea about something. Then, it starts to get interesting, it gets really juicy with details, we feed it more and more, it gets so delicious with fine details of thoughts and emotions, and before we know it, this snowball turned into an avalanche!

The next thing we know, we are caught under the snow, we are anxious and we are stressed. All of this can happen in as little as a few moments!

This does not only happen on a mental level, but it manifests physically too. We mutilate ourselves by biting our nails, pulling out our hair, or whatever it is that we do... It becomes a reality for us. 

What is it that creates anxiety and stress? It is thought. Consider how problems only come into existence when we start to label them as such, labeling them with mental concepts. In other words, thoughts. 

It is so easy to get caught up in overthinking, we know this. The worst of all is that it completely consumes us. It brings us anger, sadness, or unhappiness. It brings suffering, but not only to ourselves, no. When we are anxious, we tend to close ourselves towards others, we think only about ourselves and we end up bringing suffering to those around us too. It creates a ripple effect, and before we know it, we have created a whole environment of suffering! Honestly, it goes like this. We can check up.

The author once heard a spiritual teacher saying something like the following... That the fire at the cremation grounds burns up the dead body, while anxiety burns up the living body.

This is so true.

Before and after

Throughout all of the overthinking, one thing we may want to consider is the following. 

Our thinking mostly, if not always, involves the past or the future. We think of what happened in the past, what we should have or could have done, or what if something happened like this rather than that. This brings guilt, unhappiness, and other emotions that beat us up.

Alternatively, we think about the future. We think about what we shall do when this or that happens, how to prepare if this or that happens. Expectations. 

See, both of these scenarios, they are not real. The past does not exist, it is gone forever, and the future is unknown. Both concepts of past and future are illusions, dreams. They are not our reality. The only reality we have ever experienced is the here and now. The precious present moment. The eternal now.

Have we ever experienced anything besides the here and now? See, even when we think of the past or the future, we think of it now. Thus, why don't we simply surrender to the present moment, and experience life accordingly?

The author is simply planting this seed here, as something to consider. 

The common factor

Someone recently told the author that they wish to stop all the overthinking they are doing because it is really creating a lot of unhappiness. 

All of us can probably relate to this person. Overthinking brings us unhappiness. So, how do we deal with this? Do we simply stop thinking? Of course, that sounds like the obvious solution, but it is not the ultimate solution. 

Let's consider how the overthinking usually starts. It goes something like this...

What if my...
How will I...
What will my...
Can I...

See, there is this common factor amongst all of these thoughts. It is this me, this my, the I. It always includes this notion of ourselves, this idea we have of ourselves. Is this not true?

If this is the common factor in all of our overthinking, have we ever considered investigating this character, this me? 

Self Inquiry

We are not going into too much detail on this, as it would be too much for one article. The author intends on doing a follow-up article, but for now, let's shed some light on the following.

We say that the common factor in all of our overthinking is the concept we have of ourselves. And, this concept makes us suffer. Actually, it is this illusion of a separate self that has been the source of all our unhappiness and suffering since we can remember!

So, we investigate. Who is this me, who is this I that we believe we are? 

We start simple. We ask, am I this body? We search for a place in the body where we can potentially locate this the I. Upon investigation, we shall realize that the I does not reside in the body, so we can renounce the idea that we are this body. 

Next, we check the mind. We look for the I in the mind, and we shall see that all that comes up, are ideas. Ideas or thoughts we have of ourselves, but we simply cannot locate this me, can we?

We can even check up on our emotions. It is the same. 

As with the body, the mind, the emotions, it all keeps changing, it all keeps coming and going, but we know that we are not any of this because there is this experience of them coming and going, but we remain. So, we are clearly not the mind or emotions, and not the body either.

We peel the layers of the onion until we get to the Source of it all. There is a Sanskrit term called Neti Neti, which means "Not this, not that". So, we check up, Neti Neti, we are not this, and neither are we that... 

What is left? 

When we realize that this idea of a separate self was all the time and illusion, what happens then? The overthinking revolving around this separate self dissolves too! Simple, like that!

By shattering this illusion of a separate self, we do not simply stop the process of overthinking, but we open the door to a whole world of inner peace and happiness. Self-inquiry the most rewarding thing we can ever do, because it brings us true peace and happiness!

As an ending note, the author would like to add that the meaning of Neti Neti does not mean that we eventually come to the conclusion that we do not exist at all, that we are just nothing. It simply brings us to the realization that we have been living with a false understanding of who and what we truly are, all along. 

When we discover who we truly are, we realize that we are free from suffering, free from unhappiness. We are fulfillment itself! 

Instead of overthinking the scenery, wondering how the trees came there, how long it took to grow, how the water came there, and how old the mountains are, we can simply enjoy it for what it is. The difference between mind fullness, and mindfulness. 

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