Inner Peace | Remez Sasson Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth

Do You Need All Your Thoughts?

July 6, 2009 By Remez Sasson 5 Comments

By Remez Sasson

- Are you aware of the thoughts that pass through your mind?

- Do you remember what you thought a few minutes ago?

- Do you know how many thoughts pass through your mind in 24 hours?

- Do all your thoughts originate in your mind? Are they your own thoughts or other people’s thoughts that you think are your own thoughts?

Thinking is very useful in every area of life, but people go too far with it. It has turned into some sort of slavery. Instead of thinking about what you want, when you want, you think all the time, every hour of the day. Every word you hear, everything you see brings thoughts to your mind. The mind is always busy, most of the time thinking meaningless thoughts as a reaction to external stimulus.

People have lost the ability to stop thinking when they don’t need to. Thoughts come and go whenever they want, distracting the attention, spoiling concentration, and keeping the mind in a state of endless mental activity. It is like a machine that is never switched off.

Many of these thoughts are negative, causing anxiety and worries, wasting one’s time and energy.

Instead of using thoughts to help in your affairs, you are being used by thoughts. They take your time and they take your energy, without giving you anything in return. They constantly produce noise in your mind, preventing you from experiencing real inner peace.

Are you able to stop thinking negative thoughts? Are you able to stop all those thoughts that keep moving your attention from one thing to another? Do you keep worrying, and do you expect the worst? Does your mind keep busy with what someone said about you, and do you keep thinking how life is bad for you, because someone at work got promoted, and you were not?

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Filed Under: Inner Peace Tagged With: Inner Peace, mind, thoughts

Morning Peace and Free Time

June 5, 2009 By Remez Sasson Leave a Comment

By Remez Sasson

Morning Peace When do you wake up in the morning?
Do you wake up early or late?

If you usually wake up late, try waking up and getting up early in the morning for several days. Not just wake up, but get out of your bed and wash your face.

You will discover that the early morning hours are so peaceful, beautiful and relaxing. It is so peaceful outside and inside the house.

There is such a pleasant quietude. No kids yelling, no cars and trucks, no loud noises and no errands to run. You have time completely for yourself, which you can use to meditate, think, read, write, walk or do anything you like, with no one to disturb or distract you.

It is a time to enjoy the peace before starting your day.

It is a time you can enjoy peace and some free time for yourself, doing what you love doing.

You will find the morning peace so pleasant and relaxing, but it will also supply you with energy for the day ahead.

You can also arrange your time so that you can eat breakfast and drink a cup of coffee, quietly, and with no rush.

Soaking yourself with the peace and quietude of the morning will affect your entire day, making you more focused, alive, happy, kind and peaceful.

When you get up early you enjoy the morning peace and have some free time for yourself!

Want to enjoy more peace in your life? Read Peace of Mind in Daily Life.

Filed Under: Inner Peace Tagged With: free time, morning peace

Watching Thoughts and Being More Mindful

February 9, 2009 By Remez Sasson Leave a Comment

By Remez Sasson

Thoughts keep pouring into your mind. Memories keep welling up. For hours, and sometimes days, you go on thinking about things people said about you, discussing them in your mind, and sometimes reaching completely unreal conclusions. You dwell on hurt feelings, real or imaginary, and let mental images of fear, failure and problems arise in your mind. Do you recognize this situation? Do you like it?

Our mind and thoughts carry us away, constantly pulling us here and there. Our thoughts are like a butterfly that flies from one flower to the next, never being still more that for a few seconds.

This situation distracts our attention, wastes our time and energy, makes us tired mentally and physically, and brings stress and strain.

How can we change this situation? By becoming more mindful and attentive of what goes on in our mind, developing the skill of watching our thoughts and feelings without being pulled by them, and by developing some degree of inner detachment. Doing so, will free us from the constant mental chatter that occupies the mind, and would strengthen our control over our mind.

Here are a few suggestions:

- Try to be attentive of what is going inside your mind.

- Watch the state of your mind and your emotions when talking with people. Ask yourself why should you let their thoughts and emotions affect you.

- Understand that you don’t have always to react impulsively or automatically to thoughts, words and actions. You can learn to choose your reactions.

- By watching your thoughts you will not be so compelled to be carried away by every thought that enters your mind.

- Watching your thoughts as they enter and occupy your mind brings calmness and inner peace into your mind.

Here are two excerpts from the book Peace of Mind in Daily Life relating to this subject:

First excerpt

“The mind is a wonderful tool, much more sophisticated and powerful than the most advanced computer or software, but too often it is undisciplined and impatient.

It is usually quite restless, and cannot stand still for a moment. This is why it is so difficult for most people to concentrate their attention on one thought or subject, for more than a short moment. No wonder the mind has been compared to a monkey, because it jumps from one thought to another, just like a monkey that jumps from one branch to another.”

Second excerpt

“You can learn to remain calm and relaxed, and prevent undesirable emotions and thoughts from affecting you without your control or consent. You can learn to listen peacefully to someone recounting his problems or painful story, without feeling tense, without getting emotionally agitated, and without letting the other person’s emotional state affect you. This technique is called detachment.”

Filed Under: Inner Peace Tagged With: being mindful, mindfulness

How to Clear the Mind of Thoughts

December 14, 2008 By Remez Sasson 1 Comment

By Remez Sasson

A visitor to the website has asked the following question:
“So you are saying once our mind is cleared, we start experienceing inner peace, but what is the most important thing to do to clear your mind? I have read a lot at many websites, but still can’t understand the subject.”

Here is the reply:

Concentration, meditation and the development of inner detachment help clear the mind of thoughts, making room for inner peace.

There is no instant inner peace. In order to attain and enjoy inner peace, work and effort are required, but not everyone is willing to invest the necessary time and energy into this project.

Concentration
The practice of special concentration exercise improve the ability to focus the mind on one single thought or subject and reject unrelated thoughts. This ability helps you gain the skill of opening or closing the mind at will to the constant flow of thoughts.
Information on Concentration
Concentration exercises

Meditation
In meditation you use the skills gained through the development of the power of concentration, in order to free your mind of thoughts. There are may forms of meditation, which all help clear the mind of thoughts, and which ultimately lead to the ability to meditate without thoughts.
More on Meditation

Detachment
Without some inner detachment there is no inner peace. You need to learn not to be affected easily by what people say or do, and not let your emotions rule your life. I am not talking about being indifferent and uncaring. It might seem a paradox, but you can be compassionate, helpful and full of love, and at the same time display inner detachment. It is a mental attitude which leads to common sense, better judgement, more understanding and inner peace.
More on Detachment

You can find in-depth information, instructions and exercises for developing the skills leading to inner peace in my book Peace of Mind in Daily Life.

Filed Under: Inner Peace Tagged With: clearing the mind, concentration, detachment, Inner Peace, Meditation

How to Calm Your Mind

November 24, 2008 By Remez Sasson 13 Comments

By Remez Sasson

Why should you want to calm your mind?

- Do you get easily nervous and irritated?

- Do you have fears and doubts that cause you to suffer?

- Do you have difficulties falling asleep at night?

- Do certain thoughts keep obsessing your mind, giving you no rest?

- Do you get agitated in every situation?

- Do you have difficulties focusing your mind?

If you experience any of the above situations, then you certainly need to learn how to calm your mind.

Frantic thinking, restless thoughts, impatience, fears and worries cause lack of inner peace, lack of concentration and the inability to think clearly. This leads to making errors, confusion, the inability to make decisions and to failure.

If you want to achieve more in life, you must know how to calm your mind, so that you stay focused and think clearly.

How to calm your mind:

Spend time doing something you love
Find some time each day to do something you love doing, such as a hobby, reading, listening your favorite music, etc.

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Filed Under: Inner Peace Tagged With: calm your mind, Inner Peace, Meditation