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mind loops, mind loops, mind loops ...

ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
edited July 2010 in Buddhism Basics
Hello sangha :)

I have come across something in my life that happens from time to time and is something I am sure many people have had. I have tried to study it from a buddhist prospective and looked inward at my mind but cannot seem to draw a conclusion to why it occurs. I am curious to know if anyone here can suggest reasoning for this matter?..

Basically it is something quite simple and not very problematic but tends to annoy me some what. I sometimes get a phrase or a line from a song or poem or whatever that is jammed on repeat in my mind. I could be riding a motorbike or washing and it will be said over and over in my head. It can go on all day with this one phrase or lyric and it does get quite annoying. I have not had it happen to me for maybe a year or so but today I had a line from a prodigy song that says, ''I don't need nobody, it's no good for me'. lol I don't think I am insane but it really does annoy!! Tom :)

Comments

  • DazzleDazzle
    edited July 2010
    Hi Tom,

    I think its probably something that can happen to us all with regard to elusive song lyrics!

    It's not really important, why be annoyed?..... just relax and let it go again.... :)

    .
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    edited July 2010
    lol, I guess I could just roll with it. I am curious to know why this happens though, and I must admit the lyric that was stuck on my mind today was very appropriate :p
  • TreeLuvr87TreeLuvr87 Veteran
    edited July 2010
    The brain is super weird; I have given up on trying to understand why it does the stuff that it does. As long as you're not holding on to it being annoying and turning it into some reactive cycle where you get upset at yourself for it, when you really can't help it, then you're fine. Just roll with it like you said. I guess it's a lot less annoying than other things that could be going through your head! One of my friends has the type of OCD that makes her constantly think about killing people. Ahhh!
  • aMattaMatt Veteran
    edited July 2010
    What I've found is that there is a synchrony between stuck mental loops and some clinging we are struggling to release. If we look into the message of what our brain is telling us, we can either see where we've been clinging and have the antidote spinning, or where we've finally released clinging and the mind has the old pattern spinning. I don't think it usually takes long to discern the difference.

    Though, of course, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Especially pop hooks... goodness they're crafted well!

    With warmth,

    Matt
  • mugzymugzy Veteran
    edited July 2010
    I have the very same problem ThailandTom, bits of songs are especially bad at getting lodged in my mind for some reason. I've never been able to find any useful information about it online. If you find some info on being able to quell this issue I would be interested to read about it.
  • JetsFan366JetsFan366 Explorer
    edited July 2010
    One thing I've done to fight songs stuck in the head is to sing parts of other songs one after another in quick succession. Whatever you can think of, like -
    "Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today... How does it feel? To be on your own, like a rolling stone?...All along the watch tower princes kept their views...Layla! You've got me on my knees, Layla!..."
    At the end of ten or so sometimes you forget what you were singing and none of the other songs stay in there since you switched them so quickly.
  • GlowGlow Veteran
    edited July 2010
    It happens to everyone and, as Dazzle noted, it's not really that big of a deal. If it begins to bother you, what you can do is work with it in the same way you work with other thinking in meditation: observe its arising and passing away without getting engaged/seduced by its content. Listen to the lyrics in the same way you observe the breath -- moment-to-moment, without judging it. You might even refine your attention, listening to each individual syllable/phoneme, at which point it becomes easier to let it pass away.
  • DeshyDeshy Veteran
    edited July 2010
    ThailandTom wrote: »
    ''I don't need nobody, it's no good for me'. lol

    Lol You will like this. :lol:
  • treederwrighttreederwright
    edited July 2010
    the mind is clear and knowing, whatever is put into it , it will display in action. Just put something else into it. The most important thing to realize is that it isn't personal its just the way a mind works. Just put the "mani" mantra or say OM alot. This way you won't be worried about the "personal significance" of the lyrics. This is my thing as well and then i realized that it was actually a self-reinforcing phrase, like attachment or something i mantra'd to get a result or mental outlook.
  • DaozenDaozen Veteran
    edited July 2010
    Definitely the best idea is to "roll with it" - the question is, how?

    One technique may to dissociate yourself from the thought. Every time you hear this thought in your head, just be conscious of it and say to yourself "I am having this thought (x). Thanks brain." Once you acknowledge it like this (and you may have to do it a few times), you may start to realise that this thought is not 'you', it's just like a cloud passing across the sky. Watch it come, watch it go. Good luck.

    Namaste
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    edited July 2010
    Thanks everyone, I can see how focusing on the thought too much and getting annoyed by it only causes suffering. As it may arise it will also pass will it not :p
    Today I spent several hours totally by myself in the quietest surrounding possible to spend some time with just me. I wanted to gain insight to my mind and I noticed something I had never noticed before. I am curious to know if this is something anyone else has come across. I studied it and I almost felt bad because I felt that it was not normal or it was lay of me to keep having this enter my brain.
    I would be contemplating my mind, teachings of buddhism such as present moment, impermanence etc, and often my train of thought would suddenly slip to something in the future or the past. But it would not just be a mere thought, it would be a role play of what had happened or what may happen. For example I found myself running through a situation which was a conversation that took place with my friend a few days ago. I would say what I said in my head to him and vise versa. When I realised what I was thinking I would stop myself and be aware of it and focus once again. The thing is this kept happening from time to time and I was starting to drive myself insane with this. I did genuinely feel a bit bad and disappointed in myself, silly it may sound...

    P.S, very funny clip deshy :p
    Tom :)
  • UnlikelybdstUnlikelybdst
    edited July 2010
    ThailandTom wrote: »
    The thing is this kept happening from time to time and I was starting to drive myself insane with this. I did genuinely feel a bit bad and disappointed in myself, silly it may sound...

    Relevant quote from "Mindfulness in plain english" (about Vipassana practice):

    "Ancient Pali texts liken meditation to the process of taming a wild elephant. The procedure in those days was to tie a newly captured animal to a post with a good strong rope. When you do this the elephant is not happy. He screams and tramples, and pulls against the rope for days. Finally it sinks through his skull that he can't get away, and he settles down. At this point you can begin to feed him and to handle him with some measure of safety. Eventually you can dispense with the rope and post altogether, and train your elephant for various tasks. Now you've got a tamed elephant that can be put to useful work. In this analogy the wild elephant is your wildly active mind, the rope is mindfulness, and the post is our object of meditation-- breathing. The tamed elephant who emerges from this process is a well trained, concentrated mind that can then be used for the exceedingly tough job of piercing the layers of illusion that obscure reality. Meditation tames the mind."

    Keep taming ;)

    Peace,

    Peter
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    edited July 2010
    That is in fact a great analogy I must say. I think that I have given very little time to taming the mind in my life like the majority of people in this world. Meditation is something I do find quite hard as I have notoriously had a very over active mind and personality throughout my life so far. It is just a matter of putting in the effort and time I assume, this elephant will carry people across the world and be happy doing so :p

    Tom
  • zendozendo
    edited July 2010
    Dazzle wrote: »
    It's not really important, why be annoyed?
    I agree there's no need to be annoyed; but in a sense, the phenomenon you describe is indeed important, because it stems from a fundamental human problem that Buddhism specifically addresses.

    One of the biggest hindrances to progress on the Path is the so-called "monkey-mind," or untrained mind. The vast majority of us have such untrained (or undertrained) minds: rather than controlling our thoughts, we allow our thoughts to control us. Mental "grooves" repeat themselves over and over like a broken record, often for years: values, beliefs, ideas, flying under the radar of our conscious awareness, yet controlling our lives at a subconscious level, like an "automatic pilot". Addiction, dysfunction, bad habits, conditioned thinking, etc. are all examples of this unconscious process.

    "Awakening" from this unconscious state starts with becoming aware of our thoughts. Becoming aware of our thoughts is the first step to gaining control of them. To gain control of the mind is a great achievement, and results in a higher level of being, which in the Dhammapada is called self-mastery. Oh, to reach that stage of freedom!

    For more information about sankharas (habitual mind-patterns), check out S. N. Goenka's book The Discourse Summaries (which is also a "user's manual" for the ten-day vipassana retreat he founded some decades ago). The book is a treasure-trove of wisdom and insight about how sankharas work, and how to free yourself from them.
  • CristinaCristina
    edited July 2010
    You know what's interesting? I've only noticed this somewhat recently, maybe in the past year, but almost every single time I have a song or something stuck in my head, it's totally relevant. Like...well I can't think of any examples actually, except for the one that is happening right this very minute! There's this line of a song, "you make me wanna die," that keeps repeating along with the music, and I know that it relates to how my dad putting me down makes me feel. Maybe look next time, and see if it means something! That helps me to not be so annoyed by it at least, I see it as a soundtrack to my life, or some clever way my subconscious likes to communicate with me. :)
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    edited July 2010
    No I was thinking this exact thing this morning lol. Also with my example of 'I don't need nobody, it's no good for me'. I was contemplating relationships and attachment that day and this lyric was literally stuck in my head for hours lol. This morning I woke up, got into the shower and I had a lyric which I have forgotten now, but I have not heard this song for years and it randomly was there in the morning... It is quite interesting how the mind uses what is around it or has been around it to relate to current situations.
    About your dad Cristina, I am really sorry to hear you feel this way or something similar to this. You have to realise that your dad probably does not hate you or dislike you, he is suffering in delusion himself. Just as the majority of people are. Everyone has expectations and feel they have the right to judge others. When we judge others we in turn judge ourselves naturally. This will make him suffer to some extent also. Just because you do not do something in the way your dad expects doe snot mean you are a bad person or a failure, far from it. You are you and that is all that matters. try not to get angry at him for this or at yourself as it will just carry suffering through your days. Just remember your dad will be uptight and stressed himself, you can let go of this and become happy with yourself :)

    Tom
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