Return to the one that is not touched by the circumstances of the world. The one that lives in this world but not of this world. Drop the meditator, drop the form and just sit without any rigid model. There is no reconnection or creation of an experience or paradigm, it’s ordinary and easy to do.

• Just sit
• Don’t try to do anything
• Accept, accept , accept
  
• Be compassionate with the mind noises
• Invite them in for tea and cake
• Don’t try to create a quiet mind
• Don’t try to let go
• Don’t try to do it right
• Be breathed
• No special tools required
• No special words or prayers needed
• Just be you.

A stillness practice does not need to be another task or your list, just sit and be there with what is and don’t resist whatever comes up. Just embrace all arising phenomenon as it is and sit with what is. You are not here to accomplish anything or get anything right,  just be and remember all thought is just thought and all pain  is arising phenomenon. Breathe and accept. Breathe and be. Breathe and return to intimacy.

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A Quiet Mind was founded by Robert Jackson in December of 2005 with the help of a friend who suggested Robert start a podcast to help people to meditate, relax and quiet their minds. In February of 2004 Robert had a profound spiritual insight that lead him to investigate the truth or who we are, why we are here and what happens when we die. The podcasts explore all of these questions in a format that allows the listener to put into practice tools to quiet the mind and cultivate inner peace and stillness.

Do you have a barking dog mind that wont shut up?

Are you trying to distract it with treats, and other bribes?

Do you ignore his barks and try to drown them out with other sounds?

Do you numb out with television, alcohol, food, games, internets or other drugs?

Are you tired of the non stop yapping?

Are you ready to learn how to quiet your inner barking dog?

Then read on, or listen to the podcast below.

At present we can observe that we have a very noisy mind, it barks day and night, even in our sleep. We’ve tried a million things to quiet it and it never stops and in most cases it gets even louder. If we can be honest with ourselves and see that the present methods of taming the inner canine have failed then we have reached the first step accepting what is so. Up to this point your methods have failed, or they are temporary and fleeting at best. Can you drop your old ways and open to something new? That is the second step. The third step is to introduce new ways of thinking about your mind barking.

So we have these steps to take.

• Accepting old methods are not working.
• Make room for some new ideas
• Introduce a new way to look at your present state of being.

When we accept things and stop fighting our own minds the brain has a chance to rest and settle. When it settles we can reach a point of clarity and stillness that allows for a certain freshness, a hollowed ground so to speak, a place to plant new seeds?

When we let go of ideas and preferences we can make room for newness to enter into our experience. When our minds are full there is simply no room for new ideas. Can you suspend your beliefs and have an open mind? If so continue on.
Congratulations you have moved on and you are ready to test out some new ideas and concepts. That’s right we are going to test things out for ourselves. A wise teacher once said, “You don’t have to take my word for it. Simply try it for yourself.” And this is very true, we should always try a teaching for ourselves and see if it fits.

New ideas.

• You are not your thoughts.
• You are not who you think you are.
• You can be free from you barking dog mind.
• Know that most of what we see and experience in others is also barking dog mind.

Presently we think that we are the thoughts that stream through our minds. They come and go and sometimes never leave us alone. These thoughts are just like radio signals, we can choose to tune in, or tune out, or tune off. Can you try out this new way of thinking?
The new way to think is, “I’m not my thoughts, or the voices arising from this mind and I can let them pass”

Try this out for a week and report back to share your insights.

Barking Dog Mind [ 16:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The invitation to arrive in this moment is constantly being offered to you.

It’s up to you to take it.

• Breathing in I accept what is so in this moment.
• Breathing out I accept what is so in this moment.
• No resistance to what is so.
• Just being in this moment radically accepting what is so.
• Know the rat-mind, from the heart-mind.
• Embrace the path of no resistance.

The mind wants to believe that we can’t live without it and when we begin to see that we can,  it’s soft underbelly is exposed and vulnerable. In this state it’s first reaction is to strike back against it’s attacker and  use all of it’s defense mechanisms. These defense mechanisms come in varied form but in most cases it uses fear as it’s primary weapon. It may also use numbing tactics like immersing  oneself in a mindless television shows, playing a video games, or getting drunk, or high.

What can we do?

When we use our breath to come home and check in we can catch ourselves before we use a tactic, habit or substance to escape the rat mind. When we catch ourselves before we engage in that habit we can instill this practice,  the practice or  activity of just observing. Observing silently, without judgment and letting the thoughts pass by. Try sitting today for just two minutes. If your mind say’s it’s bored, then just sit there and be as bored as you can. Do boredom all the way. If your mind wont stop spinning,  just let it spin and don’t try to do a thing. Do nothing all the way everyday for just a few minutes. There is no need to have a formal meditation practice, just sit quietly, watch, listen and breath.

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