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journalling
Hello! I wanted to ask if it is advisable to journal. Sometimes I have so many problems zooming around in my head that I can't keep track of them all, and as a result I get overwhelmed and terribly stressed out. Is it okay to write down all my problems and get them on paper and out of my head, or will this lead to more suffering somehow?
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It's absolutely a great idea. I find it to be a very cathartic exercise in organizing my thoughts. It makes you a better writer in the long run too.
It is very helpful in planning things out, reflecting on events in your life, and it can be fun as well.
On a personal note, while I enjoy occasionally writing down my thoughts and ideas, I really hate reading them again later on, especially if those ideas didn't turn out well. For instance, if I write down what I'm planning to do for work or even write about a woman of interest, I will normally throw away the journal entry several months later...especially if my plans didn't work out! :winkc:
But that's just me. I think everyone would agree that anything you do that makes you more aware of your thought process and that helps you to reflect on your thoughts and feelings is a positive thing.
If you are wondering if an idea is a good one, just try it out. If you find writing your thoughts down to be distracting on some level or another (thus making you "suffer"), simply stop doing it!
In the meantime, it appears to me that journalling entails pinning down and focusing on our thoughts ... a focus that borders on self-preoccupation. And Buddhism entails releasing our thoughts, as well as moving from our habitual self-preoccupation into compassionate concern for the well-being of others.
I cannot see how journalling reflects the spirit or goals of Buddhism, and it appears to me that the two pursuits cancel each other out in overall effect. Not everything that is "good psychology" is "good Buddhism".
I don't know the nature of these problems (and I'm not asking to know) ... some problems require definite action, such as (1) completing a term paper, or (2) finding a good nursing home for a relative with Alzheimer's.
Other problems are, from a Buddhist perspective, not the circumstances themselves, but are instead a problem with how we are reacting to the circumstances. This is the "meat" of Buddhism and the true cause of all our suffering. The solution to these problems is NOT fixing the problems, but fixing our response. For this category of problems, I would suggest allowing them to zoom around your head without trying to keep track of them ... acknowledge their existence, but don't try to grasp onto them. You could, for instance, envision your self as a rock in a stream, and your thoughts as the water that approaches, slips over, and then slips away from the rock. Writing down these types of problems only reinforces the thinking that makes them a problem to begin with.
It is human nature to think that getting what we want will make us happy. And to think that avoiding what we DON'T want will keep us from being unhappy. Buddhism teaches that this is not so. Buddhism teaches that our attachments and aversions are what cause our suffering. It teaches us that when suffering occurs, this is not a "mistake" that needs to be "fixed". This is a revolutionary attitude, running counter to everything we strive for, but it is the core of Buddhism ... and it works!
If the idea was to pin thoughts, the process would require the writer to actively make up new thoughts around the same, old topic - thus creating stress and suffering.
That is not how I understood the OP, though. I think of it like channeling out thoughts. When you close the book, the thoughts stay in there.
If you are a serious practitioner then as foible full says, it is not 'good buddhism'; but if you are on a journey of development then it can be a useful tool. Just don't cling to it and don't neglect Buddhist practice as a result. Natalie Goldberg writes about using her Buddhist practice in her writing. I've read both Writing Down the Bones and Long Quiet Highway: Waking up in America. Both excellent.
metta
But then, I am new to the practice and here to learn. Setting aside my preconceptions is a good start.
(I think I read about it in one of Lama Surya Das's "Trilogy" works....)
He was keeping a journal.
The lama leading the Retreat and meditations, asked him,
"What is it you are doing there?
Ginsberg replied that he was journalling his thoughts, to keep track of his meditation, and to be able to look back and to remember the experience. He was writing "bubbles" of thoughts....
May I see?" asked the Lama.
Ginsberg handed him the book.
The Lama promptly threw it into the fire.
"Bubbles burst! Not important! Looking back not good! Look here, see now!"
I used to keep a journal, until I discovered, that in my case, while it seemed therapeutic to write everything down, in actual fact it was doing more to keep me stuck there, rather than letting me move on.
You do as you feel best, as you feel now.
In time, it's likely you'll see things in a different light. What that light will be, nobody can tell.
But sure as eggs is eggs, in time, you'll think differently.
That is contrary to my own experiences, but to each his or her own.
At the risk of derailing an interesting thread, if journalling is frowned upon, what is the recommended way to overcome attachments or stop clinging to events in the past?
I think federica is basically saying the same thing that behavioral psychologists are so fond of pointing out ... "The behavior you attend to is the behavior you reinforce." And journalling is one (of many) ways to reinforce a behavior or thought-pattern, even though we think we are "getting rid of it" by writing it down.
It is not that journalling is frowned upon by Buddhists ... oh my, we ALL do things that do not further our progress down the path! Continually! This is because we are not enlightened! So, no frowning upon allowed!
Rather than trying to throw away or get rid of those emotional and mental habits that we do not want, we set NEW habits/imprints by doing our Practice.
The way to overcome attachments/stop clinging is to (1) meditate regularly, (2) practice mindfulness through the day, and (3) be patient and compassionate both with others and with ourselves. Access to a teacher (either sporadically or regularly) can be of great assistance in understanding what we need to do, and in making corrections as needed.
Thank you, that put a smile on my face.
What you say makes perfect sense from a long-term, big picture perspective. Over time meditation, mindfulness and compassion/kindness is essential to overcome suffering. From a North American quick-fix perspective, talking about something or writing it down helps right now.
There was a Canadian comedy group called the Frantics that did a wonderful skit that sums up the Western mentality:
Master: Approach students. Close the circle at the feet of the master. You have come to me asking that I be your guide along the path of tae-kwon-leep, but be warned. To learn its ways, you must learn the ways of your own soul. Let us meditate on this wisdom now.
Ed: Uh sir... sir... ooo! ooo! Sir!
Master: Who disturbs our meditation as a pebble disturbs a pond?
Ed: Me. Ed Gruberman. No disrespect or nothing, but like how long is this going to take?
Master: Tae-Kwon-Leep is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.
Ed: So like, what, an hour or so?
Thanks for the laugh!
I have found this to be the case for myself in some extremely challenging past situations. So essentially it was like:
Troubling thought in head causing problems --> Write it down ---> No longer any troubling thoughts in head. --> no more problem. Worked like a charm really. However, the papers weren't being saved for later review, analysis or anything like that. I think I threw them in the garbage soon afterward. I think saving it for review or later analysis could easily cause it to persist and prevent the letting go. I think keeping a journal could be beneficial as long as you tear out the pages every night and burn them.
Yes, there is no doubt that journalling - putting a problem onto paper - can take that problem out of your head. However, we still retain this habit of making problems out of things, and taking one particular problem out of our head does not cure this overall pattern of problem-making. More will quickly move in to fill the void.
Think of this habit of making problems as being a rash. When we itch, all we recognize is that particular instance of itching, so we scratch. This scatching temporarily makes the itching go away, so we mistakenly think that scratching is the solution. But, of course, the rash does not go away if we keep scratching it. Any doctor will tell us to stop scratching so the rash can heal.
There is where we say: Buddhism is the doctor. Dharma is the salve that cures the itching, and the sangha (ordained) show us how to apply that salve.
Thanks FoibleFull... very good analogy... I had thought of journaling a while back but didn't because I came to this conclusion... It is the same with people who "vent" to there friends and claim it helps them to "get it out of their system", unfortunately this is the exact opposite of what it does... it only serves to re-enforce the situation into an attachment to it... the story is told over and over to other friends... whatever was vented becomes a part of that person... sometimes it is altered in the telling... after a while that which was altered seems a reality until eventually it reflects little of what was... The person is often unaware after a while of the alteration and believes the altered story to be true.