That Thought You Can't Get Rid of? You Already Know How to Ignore It.

We all have a mind, and we all have a brain. But many of us do not know the difference between the two, or what these two things do. Understanding this is, in my view, crucial for our health, because we already know that there is a deep connection between the mind and the body.

The problem for so many of us is that we feel trapped by our own thoughts. We feel we can't ignore them. But I am here to tell you that this is not a very big trick. It's a small matter which all of us can do. In fact, you are already an expert at ignoring thoughts, and I'm going to show you how.

Your Mind Is a Piano

Let's start with a simple analogy. Our mind is like a keyboard or a piano. If we press a key, it makes a sound. Once that sound comes from it, what should we do to stop it? The answer is: nothing. If we do not do anything and just keep quiet, the sound will stop on its own. But if we try to stop the sound that has come by pressing the piano again and again, the sound will just keep coming, again and again.

If we understand this, we can easily understand the mind. The sound called "thought" comes from the piano called "mind." If there is a mind, some thoughts will keep coming from it. If we do not do anything to a thought that comes—that is, if we do not mind it and simply ignore it—that thought will disappear on its own.

In this way, many bad thoughts such as anger, fear, tension, and envy, and also many good thoughts, come into our mind. If we do not mind these thoughts, they will go away on their own, and we will not be affected by them. But if we pull some thoughts towards us, observe them, and accept them, then those thoughts will cause good or bad to us.

The Busy Street of Your Mind

Here is another way to think about it. Imagine you are sitting at the entrance of your house, observing the people who walk across the road. A lot of people cross your house, but they do not do any good or bad to you. They just pass by.

Now, what happens if you call out to someone crossing your house and ask them, "Who are you? Where are you going?" Then they will come near you, share their joy or sorrow with you, and then go. You will feel good or bad after that encounter, depending on the person you called and the words you spoke.

The thoughts in our mind are exactly like the people on that street. The thoughts that we choose to ignore will not have any positive or negative effect on us. They just pass by. Only those thoughts that we call towards us will come and do good or bad to us and then go. So, if we learn to ignore the thoughts which can harm us, our mind will always be peaceful and calm.

The Surprising Proof That You Are Already an Expert

At this point, I can hear some of you saying, "We already know this! Our problem is that we are not able to ignore some of the thoughts." We can understand this. So what can we do if we are not able to ignore a thought that comes to our mind?

Let me give you some examples that will prove you are already a master of this skill.

• If you stand on the terrace of a hundred-floor building and look down, you will get a thought in your mind. You will think that if you fall from here, you will die. Do you really fall from there and die, breaking your head? No. What do you do with this thought? You just do not do anything about it. You ignore it and leave it, don't you?

• Similarly, every husband, when he is tortured by his wife over the phone, gets a thought that he should go home and slap her. Every wife, when she gets a cold response from her husband, gets the thought that she should thrash him. What do we do with these thoughts? Can we implement them? You simply do not do anything about it. You ignore it and leave it, don't you?

• Every worker may get the thought that he should beat up his boss. Does he implement it, or does he choose to ignore the thought?

We can give several examples like these. The truth is, we choose to ignore thoughts coming to our mind in several matters all the time, and we leave them alone without any choice. By understanding that we already possess this skill, we can start to apply it to the bad thoughts created by anger, tension, and fear.

Even if this may appear to be a little difficult to start with, if you sit alone and think about it, you will understand it by yourself. If you start today and practice it for six months to one year, then you will not be affected by any bad thoughts, and you will always be calm and peaceful.