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Getting rid of nasty images

Fran45Fran45
edited May 2010 in Buddhism Basics
I have been accidentally exposed to some very nasty and sick images from a horror film banned in the UK, but on release in the US. Several of my students are also having nightmares, can't sleep and have felt very, very ill; I'm having flashbacks and a desire to seek out more information about the revolting film (It's an attempt at mastering the anxiety). I really want to get rid of these images and thoughts about the concept of the film. It's not the first time that I've seen deeply disturbed stuff and I really want to 'clean' my mind. The Dalai Llama talks about the mind being poisoned with a lot of the stuff that's in the media - what is the remedy once it's in your mind?

I found the advice offered previously on a separate issue really helpful and I would like to tackle this while it is 'acute'.

Namaste

Comments

  • shenpennangwashenpennangwa
    edited May 2010
    Fran45 wrote: »
    I have been accidentally exposed to some very nasty and sick images from a horror film banned in the UK, but on release in the US. Several of my students are also having nightmares, can't sleep and have felt very, very ill; I'm having flashbacks and a desire to seek out more information about the revolting film (It's an attempt at mastering the anxiety). I really want to get rid of these images and thoughts about the concept of the film. It's not the first time that I've seen deeply disturbed stuff and I really want to 'clean' my mind. The Dalai Llama talks about the mind being poisoned with a lot of the stuff that's in the media - what is the remedy once it's in your mind?

    I found the advice offered previously on a separate issue really helpful and I would like to tackle this while it is 'acute'.

    Namaste
    Mindfulness should help.
    Just practice and be aware of whats going on in your mind.
    What movie was it?
  • patbbpatbb Veteran
    edited May 2010
    Fran45 wrote: »
    I really want to 'clean' my mind.
    Just don't nurture them, reminding yourself how terrible it was etc.. or want them to disappear.

    By wanting them to disappear, you give them attention, and strengthen the memory.

    just take note, and know that this to will pass.

    just like any other thought.
  • Fran45Fran45
    edited May 2010
    Mindfulness and recognition of impermanence. Excellent advice.

    Thank you.
  • thickpaperthickpaper Veteran
    edited May 2010
    My thoughts...

    The movie was an illusion, I guess we are taught to extinguish illusions by understanding them and seeing them as they are, the above advised mindfullness is surely key to this process.

    Also remember, most negative things are never as important as they seem to the ego eye:)

    And be sure to let us all know when it is available on HD and 3D. Ok, Maybe not...

    namaste
  • still_learningstill_learning Veteran
    edited May 2010
    Hi Fran45,

    I recommend using mindfulness to "program" your subconscious mind. Whenever bad thoughts pop into my head, I tell myself that I shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that because.... whatever the reason is. After a few more times of that, those bad thoughts don't show up any more.

    :D
  • upekkaupekka Veteran
    edited May 2010
    Fran45 wrote: »

    I'm having flashbacks and a desire to seek out more information about the revolting film (It's an attempt at mastering the anxiety). I really want to get rid of these images and thoughts about the concept of the film.

    each time this happens try to remind the mind this is a 'thought comes into the mind, nothing else'

    at the beginning you will be absorbed in thoughts without remember to reminds the mind but whenever you remember reminds then it will stop then and there to involve in that thought any more

    try to do this each time you remember that you are absorbing in thoughts of the film

    by degrees you will be able to remind the mind this more quickly than the earlier instances

    after a while you will be able to see that each time the thought related to the film comes the mind itself remind the mind to 'let go' without your forceful reminder

    enjoy the sort of 'vipassana meditation' with 'your ;) film'
  • lightwithinlightwithin Veteran
    edited May 2010
    This is the very reason why I can't watch horror movies anymore. The disturbing images pop into my head when I close my eyes at night, for months after I saw the movie.

    I just decided to make a clean cut a while ago and completely stopped watching anything that might creep me out and I've been successful at avoiding such things for the most part. No more disturbing images for my brain!
  • Fran45Fran45
    edited May 2010
    I don't watch horror films for the same reason. I saw the images by accident when another person was showing her friends the trailor. I told her what I thought of the concept of the film and the images that I glimpsed and she was sorry, but could not understand why I and several others were so upset when she found it very funny.

    I guess the fact the she found it funny, as do others of my students shows that there is nothing 'intrinsically' depraved and vile about the images and sounds, it is what we project onto it. They are just a collection of sounds, colours and shapes...
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited May 2010
    I actually take it into the realms of what the film is doing. It's acting.
    So I imagine these people in front of a director, a camera crew, a microphone, a dozen different hot lights, a continuity girl, make-up..... and I imagine them getting their lines wrong....
    I 'humanise' it.
    There is already so much abhorrent horror in this world, that to realise that this is the result of somebody's warped thinking, and how it is transferring to celluloid, is just a way of making the unreal... even more unreal....
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited May 2010
    The more you try to get rid of them (react) the more power they have. Thats from a psychology as well as buddhist perspective. That which we react to strongly is MORE likely to come up again. Its a subtle point to get the right touch to let go of something like this. I think the clearest advice I can give you is to see these images as thinking. By realizing they are 'just thinking' that takes a lot of the energy and conviction out of them.
  • LincLinc Site owner Detroit Moderator
    edited May 2010
    patbb wrote: »
    By wanting them to disappear, you give them attention, and strengthen the memory.

    just take note, and know that this to will pass.
    Agreed.
  • questionfulquestionful
    edited May 2010
    I think you should think about it, because you have to get to the root of the problem for it to go away. Simply contemplate mindfully. You gotta find out exactly what it is you're clinging to so that you can let go of it. If you avoid thinking about it, it will stay in the back of your mind unsolved because you would be clinging to peace of mind.

    Unless you think you're better off finding this particular root later in your practice.

    "If you don't go into your own confusion,
    You may just be a materialist in practitioner's clothing.
    Constantly go into your own confusion
    And put an end to it -- this is the practice of a bodhisattva."

    There are more of these that apply to this thread imo

    http://www.unfetteredmind.com/translations/37.php
  • patbbpatbb Veteran
    edited May 2010
    delete, i misread the post i replied to... again :)
  • questionfulquestionful
    edited May 2010
    sorry if i was unclear, i didn't mean the op should picture nasty images for the hell of it
  • Fran45Fran45
    edited May 2010
    What is clingy for me is the sheer horror of what the people who are 'tortured' in the film are/would be going through. It is also the idea that someone has thought this particular torture up and spent energy, time and money to put it onto the screen. The writer/director also has a sequel in production.

    It is known that there is a curious 'attraction' to the frightening and disturbing. It may be related to innate curiousity and a desire for mastery. I 'had' to read the plotline on Wikipedia to 'satisfy' my desire to 'know' and to 'end' it in my mind. Otherwise the nastiness remained unresolved - as it happens the horror remains remains unresolved anyway in the film. No happy endings in the postmodern world!

    Fede, thanks for the suggestion - one of my students uses the same technique and finds it very helpful!
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