Why can’t I stop my mind from thinking? Ashtavakra Gita

Why can’t I stop my mind from thinking? Ashtavakra Gita

Author Name:Anand Universe Official

Youtube Channel Url:https://www.youtube.com/@ananduniverseoffical

Youtube Video URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbTeWEdhqWc



Transcript:
(00:00) Nobody explains the mind like Ashtavakra. This will change how you see your thoughts. If a seeker were to ask Ashtavakra, "How can I stop my mind from constantly thinking?" According to the Ashtavakra Gita, the sage Ashtavakra would say, "You are not trapped in thinking. You are trapped in believing that you are the thinker.
(00:21) This is the first illusion." Right now, thoughts are happening. Not because you chose them, not because you control them. They are simply appearing. And yet, the moment a thought arises, you say, "This is my thought." This one sentence is your prison. Look deeper. If it is your thought, then stop the next one. Right now, stop it.
(00:43) You cannot. And [clears throat] that is your first glimpse of truth. Because what you cannot control cannot be you. You are trying to stop the mind like a man standing in a river and trying to stop the current. He struggles. He resists. He drowns. Not because the river is too strong, but because he refuses to step out.
(01:05) Ashtavakra would say, "Step out of the river. Not outwardly, but inwardly. Stop standing inside your thoughts. Stand apart. Watch. A thought appears. Instead of entering it, simply see it. Do not continue it. Do not resist it. Do not modify it. Just see it. At first, this will feel impossible because your whole life you have done the opposite.
(01:29) Every thought came as an invitation, and you accepted every invitation without awareness, without question. Now, for the first time, do not participate. Not by force, but by disinterest. A thought says, "Go to the past." You remain. A thought says, "Worry about the future." You remain. A thought says, "Fix this. Become that.
(01:52) " You remain. Slowly, something begins to change. Thoughts lose their grip. Not because they disappear, but because you stop energizing them. Ashtavakra would say, "The mind is like fire. Your attention is the fuel. Withdraw the fuel, and the fire settles on its own. You are not asked to destroy the mind.
(02:16) You are asked to understand it. That is enough. Now, observe directly. A thought arises. Before you follow it, notice it. Is it you, or is it something appearing to you? Do not answer with words. Just observe. If observation becomes clear, a gap is revealed. A silent space between two thoughts. That silence was always there. It was never absent, only unnoticed.
(02:43) You do not create silence. You uncover it by no longer interfering. Understand this clearly. Thoughts may continue, but you are no longer inside them. Just as clouds move in the sky, yet the sky remains untouched. Ashtavakra would say, "You are the sky, not the passing clouds." When this is seen, even faintly, a shift happens.
(03:10) Thoughts become lighter, distant, almost insignificant. And at times, without any effort, they stop. Not because you forced them, but because you stopped feeding them. This is paradox. The more you try to stop thinking, the stronger it becomes. The moment you stop interfering, it begins to quiet down. So, the question was, "How can I stop my mind from constantly thinking?" Ashtavakra's answer is, "You do not stop the mind. You stop identifying with it.
(03:43) " And in that clear seeing, the noise loses its center. The struggle ends. And what remains has always been silent.