Escaping the Thought Trap

[@federicoandrademarambio2913]

There are no enough words to express how immensely grateful I am for this video. Thank you Doug, thank you so much.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Federico, so glad you found it helpful!

[@Giantcrabz]

Seconded :)

[@k.k.2749]

The part about misperception of identity at 12:45 is very important to understand the core of buddhist teachings! Thank you very much for the video. It is much appreciated!

[@Giantcrabz]

Well articulated. Gives me some hope as an atheist caught up in cravings and aversions, mental proliferations and junk. May Doug and his loved ones be well 😊 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks, very kind of you! 🙏

[@gplol284]

Doug, thank you so much for doing this, i recently feel an interest for buddhism and you are teaching and helping me a lot, i literally binge-watch your videos!!! Really, thanks a lot!! ✌🏼❤

[@DougsDharma]

You’re very welcome! Glad they’re helping you out!

[@paulh2468]

Excellent video. I've been a Buddhist since the 1980's, but this has helped to fill some gaps in my understanding.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Paul, glad to hear it. 🙏

[@ReptileAssylum]

Thank you kindly 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

You are very welcome

[@dinafachin4391]

Wonderful, so well explained, and thorough. I practice MBSR, and we usually get to these during silent retreats. A gentle and firm reminder on feeling tones and the workings of the mind. Thank you, Doug!!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome, Dina! 🙏

[@toni-6673]

Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

You’re very welcome!

[@timnitz2654]

"What you feel you perceive" - I love how ahead of his time the Buddha was in terms of understanding neuroscience. “Perception and hallucination have a lot in common. You could say that we’re all hallucinating all of the time, and when we agree about our hallucinations, that’s what we call reality.” - neuroscientist Anil Seth. While I think Buddhism takes it too far that all of what we think of is real is actually mind/ideas (do I have that right?), I agree that much of what we think we perceive is actually projection. And once you see that in yourself, you become much more humble in your beliefs.

[@DougsDharma]

Well the notion that all that is real is mind is not common to all of Buddhism. Indeed, there is some dispute as to whether that's at all what even the Yogācāra school really meant. (They are the Buddhist school perhaps best known as being "mind only" though again this is disputed). The Buddha doesn't seem to have taken any particular position on the issue, though I think he tends towards a kind of realism. I wrote a paper on this awhile back which you can find at my academia page.

[@realdaybreaker8013]

Yes, Buddha was much ahead of his time..... He was preaching about his experiences he'd had with the mind, trying to understand the nature of thoughts and figuring out a way to calm those..... While the progenitors of other great faiths were busy making false claims about the nature of universe.

[@ConexionHumanaOficial]

Thank you very much excellent teacher. This class is more than marvelous to me, you have helped me a lot. Blessings. Lotus for you. Evangelina Cortes.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for watching and commenting Evangelina!

[@pacman470]

19:30 - this is VERY TRUTHY, I probably dint listen to my own guidence(cause I never know where the healthy conscience end and where the fear starts) - and push the boundries of the counscience too many times - it eventually came back in this form

[@kunalgulati3358]

Thoughful video, you explained the teaching well👍👍

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Kunal, glad you found it useful! 🙏

[@addiepowell716]

Thank you so much. I’ve been debating whether I want to follow the path of the Buddha for a few months now and your videos have helped me make the decision to fulfill a wiser kinder and less stressed life.

[@DougsDharma]

Wonderful, Addie. Thanks for the comment!

[@someoneelse6618]

Sadhu sadhu Thank you for all the wisdom!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome, thanks for the comments!

[@logikgr]

Although many people think that the H.A.L.T. (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired) technique is for only persons in recovery, I've found it useful in my everyday life as a way to quickly probe any unpleasant thoughts or feelings that suddenly arise throughout the day. This leads to me KNOWING "Okay these thoughts arose because XYZ and that's okay. I can do ABC to alleviate that train of thoughts." In my daily life, I've found that usually when one of those four parameters is out of whack is that causes my mind to generate negative thoughts. Hungry? I eat something small. Angry? I practice 4-7-8 breathing a few times, even while doing work or another activity. Lonely? Call or text someone, talk to the nearest person, listen to a video like this one. Tired? Get more sleep or take a break and nap as soon as possible. Coffee, tea or energy drinks might help in the moment, but do not help with getting in the habit of getting enough rest.

[@DougsDharma]

Good advice, logikgr. Thanks!

[@Giantcrabz]

great insight. I also struggle with bouncing between exhaustion, lonelineness, hunger, boredom, etc and focusing on the breath is a good way to recalibrate

[@realdaybreaker8013]

I still suffer with intrusive thoughts, this is adversely impacting my sleep cycle and focus.... This has been going on since my childhood.... I couldn't overcome this problem, meditation just makes it worse, sometimes I feel like taking a sleeping pill or consume alcohol to calm my mind, but too afraid to do it

[@DougsDharma]

I'm sorry to hear it. You may want to ask your doctor for a reference for good, professional psychological help. There may be something straightforward that you can do to overcome the basic problem. Then it would probably be beneficial to find an experienced meditation teacher to help as well. All the best! 🙏

[@gerhardbraatz6305]

I am new to mindfulness meditation and I have become aware during the day that my mind is often making judgements which I suppose is coming from all the wrong ways of thinking in my past. I think this constant awareness of judgements is some sort of progress but I'm not sure. This is a quandary, not having guidance and attempting meditation on my own.

[@DougsDharma]

Well it certainly sounds like progress for sure, if you're aware of some aspect of your ordinary thinking that you hadn't known about before. Now, how does it make you feel? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? What thoughts accompany it? It's a place for investigation.

[@RP-mm9ie]

Thanks 😢

[@wilsel1394]

I really like you Doug, thanks x

[@DougsDharma]

Thank you kindly William! 🙏

[@pacman470]

14:20 I never thought that, I actually wish I could - in my view unfortunatelly nothing is this way, I feel like being lost in the foggy forest trying to mimic people who I see, who eventually when I ask don't know where theire going, but feel something during the road.

[@DougsDharma]

Well do your best pac, we all have to start somewhere. 🙂

[@djmileski]

Very helpful to hear this. have had many inclinations in regards to this but to hear it articulated is helpful.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad to hear DJ!

[@SamBellGuitar]

Thank you!

[@DougsDharma]

You’re very welcome Sam!

[@Iknowonlywhatimtaught]

If my opinion means anything, my thoughts are we tend to try fooling ourselves many times, think. Honesty in one's life is the root of change. Just like selfish people covet all the time and will share only too their own benefit, to curry favor is one example. We have to change our heart (mind, soul) to benefit. Doing things with wrong intentions never produces a good end result. I'm a chronic depressive. PTSD I'm under a doctor's care. Have been for what seems like forever, but self reflection as we meditate helps us see the dangers in our personalities and how we preceve of our selves and others, if that make sense. I think I have come a long way in identitying these traits in me, though not specifically these issues. I have never been a person that has craved (covet) things or what someone has. I'm not greedy, self, self centered, to the contrary. My family is wealthy, but I shun that wealth because they us it against me and I would rather do without then dance to there demands of me. Not going to go in detail about that, but I'm my own person and I will live my life on my terms as much as I can. If we do this I will give you that kind of thing. There has to be a balance of life without resentment and we should take responsibility for this. Being truthful in our actions thoughts is so important. Remembering this has help make me a better person, in staying honest with everything in my life.

[@DougsDharma]

That's right Margaret, thanks for your message and be well!

[@soterobahia]

Thank you Doug

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome!

[@awsomrapper]

These videos are flames

[@DougsDharma]

Well, I hope they're helpful flames anyway!

[@awsomrapper]

@@DougsDharma yea, flames are good

[@rajivbaisoya4292]

the Buddhism most important concept explain of craving and unhappiness with own thoughts

[@DougsDharma]

Yes it's our own thoughts that are the problem in Buddhism.

[@Sereneis]

Thoughts can be neutral, and they can be obssesive too, like innocent memories can be. They are for me, and they exhaust me too.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes in that case meditation can help.

[@Ozeanruderin]

Doug, if you allow me a question: On one hand, the scriptures state that the Buddha found these teachers the most dangerous and heretic, who denied the existence of a free will and considered life basically predetermined (like Makkhali Gosala), - one the other hand, he states that all thoughts and things arise due to the circumstances alone ... "if this arises, that will be" ... nothing is by itself, nor has a "self" (Anatta) - everything is dependened and ephemeral (Anicca), so it is empty (Sunyata), which causes suffering by clinging to it (Dukha). So ... at times you agree that the mind is more like a computer, doing its thing (Input - Output), without control, which has to be discovered by meditation; at other times you state that we have a choice in everydays life. Could you do a Episode an the issue of "Free Will"? Do we have a free will, has Karma a relevance or is it all up to "the grace of god"? ...

[@DougsDharma]

I did an earlier video on free will in early Buddhism, check that one out and see if it at least begins to answer some questions for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpeUdmxnrrCnrLM

[@tasospanagiotou7823]

If I have understood it well the reason that negative or obsessive thoughts are persistent or keep coming back is because we are resisting them. If that is correct do you think that being mindful of negative thoughts is preferred compared to trying to remove them? On the other hand, being mindful of the bad could reinforce the bad, couldn΄t it?

[@DougsDharma]

In being mindful we learn to let go and let be. It is a long process however!

[@tomlowe628]

Great stuff Doug!

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Tom!

[@originhealing]

What about being obsessed with enlightenment? Going to retreat after retreat. Obsessive meditation practice to hasten insight. Listening to more teachings. I think this is why Zen talks about letting go of the desire for enlightenment

[@DougsDharma]

Well it depends on the case. If someone really is dedicated to attaining enlightenment then that can be a good thing too, so long as they aren't "over-efforting". Certainly that's how the early teachings tended to portray it. See for example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIXUmpWCgr5kgq8

[@timnitz2654]

Moran, have you heard this term? "Spiritual Materialism". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_materialism

[@mjn-l5v]

Did you notice that the way he speaks, he inhales a bit of air before talking? I wonder if this is a technique or something to speak more confidently and expressively. I saw other people doing that as well, will search later :)

[@MrSimp75]

I lot of things are focused on mind and analysis of it. Very few are focused on translating thoughts into action and managing actions.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, that's where the precepts come in MrSimp75. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJ-zm4eeo5mLqNU

[@MrSimp75]

@@DougsDharma There is a difference between thinking and acting. For example, all the mindful thinking goes out when say practicing Marshall arts (to put it mild example, other examples can include executive meetings etc.) I am looking into Shaktism and Buddhism, the nexus if any.

[@yolandacroes5491]

I’m really enjoying your videos and learning a lot. But I’m old fashioned and learn more by reading pen and paper books. Can you please recommend an introduction into the Buddha’s life and teachings, from a secular p.o.v.?

[@DougsDharma]

Hmmm ... I'm not really sure about that. There are several good intros to the Buddha's life and teachings but they're generally traditional in scope. The problem is that if you're going to do a thorough history of the Buddha, you're going to have to get into some stuff that's not very secular, since it's in the early suttas. I did a course on the Buddha's life over at onlinedharma.org/ that's relatively secular, but it's not a book, unfortunately! You might want to check out some of my videos on books since I do discuss several that are good intros. Here's a link to my books playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRjBKHxKj98qtSmcLpBmDWkL

[@yolandacroes5491]

@@DougsDharma thank you. I’ll check them out.

[@raffaelelaserra573]

Is It safe to be generous and kind in nowadays world, where others try to screw you up only to preserve their interests? Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

Sure, generosity and kindness is the bedrock. But you also have to be kind to yourself, which means not allowing yourself to be walked all over.

[@snookydidit]

What do you think about the utility of papañca as a means of design, planning, or facilitation? On a practical side, I imagine a bridge builder might utilize the nature of papañca as a kind of energy source to be thorough and consider every necessary element of a place and design in order to build a bridge in a particular place to stand safely for a number of years. On a less practical, but culturally valuable area, art. In art's many forms, isn't papañca a good explanation for the means by which a composer or a painter conceives of a work, builds and destroys parts over and over, considers, and finally executes an artwork? When I have sewn okesa, considering the properties of the material within an allotted work period is seldom adequate, and without applying effort--that is feeding the thought as it may arise--insights come. And so it is as a composer (which I have also studied.) Do you think that poorly utilized, or left to run amok, papañca also explains an important aspect of anxiety? In conclusion, do you suppose papañca may have a positive aspect in addition to the somewhat negative connotation we can read in a term like, "over thinking?"

[@DougsDharma]

I get your point, sometimes we need to think a lot about something for us to get it right. Papañca though is I think partly understood ethically: it's usually self-absorbed thinking that has no real goal to it. It's just obsessive thinking and ruminating over matters that aren't helpful to us. Sometimes we have a problem at work (as you say, building a bridge or something) that needs a lot of analytical thought. I wouldn't consider such thought papañca.

[@uuutuuube3691]

Hi Doug Apologies for contacting you through the comments. Anyway I was thinking about the five aggregates and was wandering if the there is a deeper dive into volition in any parts of the dharma. why what drives us drives us?

[@DougsDharma]

Well the general picture is that we are driven towards sense pleasure and away from sense pain. That leads to attachment.

[@uuutuuube3691]

@@DougsDharma yes I get the general picture. I think I'm asking the question wrong. I'll go away and think about it.

[@frankm.2850]

Its worth noting that Thanissaro Bhikkhu no longer considers his translations on Access to Insight to be authoritative. You can find a more recent translation of the Ball of Honey Sutra here: www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN18.html

[@DougsDharma]

That's right Robert, thanks for the update. I keep forgetting to check his later translations.

[@frankm.2850]

Doug mentions a sutra where the Buddha introduces his teaching to a layperson. I'd like to read this sutra (and possibly take the course) but he doesn't seem to have linked to it in the description. Anyone know which sutra he's referring to?

[@DougsDharma]

I don't recall what the context was where I mentioned the sutta in this video, but I imagine from your description that it was my course on the Introduction to the Buddha's Teaching. That revolves around the Upāli Sutta (MN 56), so that may be what you are after. The course is over at onlinedharma.org.

[@gregflockerzi330]

I’m trying to learn about Buddhism and I couldn’t help but notice you look like Ryan Reynolds but in like ten years

[@anjalib2210]

If you are interested you should read The Buddha and His Dhamma written by Barrister Dr BR Ambedkar Because there are some books available with the wrong information Or you can follow Mr RajRatnya Ambedkar on KZbin Namo Budhhay

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, I've done a video on it already: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p52rkKSfmqiaeaM

[@williamcallahan5218]

it's the seeing that frees.... J Krishnamurti

[@DougsDharma]

That's right, a very deep seeing.

[@williamcallahan5218]

@@DougsDharma an unobstructed seeing

[@BoomiestBomb]

Meditation book: Don't use concepts or labels while meditating. Also meditation book: Now tell me if your breath is long or short.

[@DougsDharma]

I guess it depends on which meditation book one's relying on, there are many different ways to meditate. For example Mahasi Sayadaw, a very eminent Burmese meditation teacher, taught that we should label each thing that comes into our mind while meditating. An example of this would be to label a breath as "long breath" or "inhalation".

[@anjalib2210]

Buddhism is the 2nd oldest religion in India after Jainism Samrat Ashoka had constructed around 84000 Buddhist monasteries in India along with Pakistan Afghanistan Bhutan Nepal Cambodia Myanmar Sri Lanka Namo Budhhay 🙏🏻

[@Giantcrabz]

The rat race in Atlanta certainly feels like being in a hamster wheel designed to exacerbate clinging and craving. I just want to be free and calm and for others not to suffer

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, unfortunately that's how the rat race works. Can we escape the wheel?

[@pragatibhushan8697]

Vipassana..... I think it must have been basis of Buddhism before it was destroyed in india

[@DougsDharma]

Actually Pragati, Insight or Vipassana Buddhism is a relatively recent development. See my earlier video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hn-9g3eGpditoas

[@nsbd90now]

Ha ha! Even before I watch this I'm gonna guess "thinking too much" links up nicely with "scholarship conceit"!