The Inner Voice/Monologue

[Maxmars]

(Maxmars responded) 

... The inner monologue, the silent voice that speaks in our heads. "Us".

A constant narration "oh i wonder if it will rain today hmm i need to check the tire pressure on my car if it doesn't i wonder if this yoghurt is still good aargh these flax seeds get stuck in my teeth yikes i should floss more ouch my ankle hurts ..." blah blah blah. Even while sitting doing nothing, the little voice keeps commenting.

This is what people meditate to try and still, or tame, or control. It's said that some people don't have one! They think visually, or in other ways. Is anyone here like that, naturally?

That seemingly constant stream of narrative monologue within our mind is part of the process and  function of the human experience. 
I have always hesitated to accept characterizations of it as a 'flaw' or 'weakness' as misdirected judgement against intent. 
I agree that it can become distracting and counter-productive to circumstance, but it is also a fundamental aspect of communication, not just between people, but also between the true and undecided self. 
Of all judgements that must reflect reality, those about our inner-selves manifests here... in the mind's monologue.

I've done yoga for many years and can still the constant inner voice at will. Simply exist in the moment without everything being chewed up with a part of the brain that won't let up. It's really quite peaceful, and it makes the difference between brain and consciousness so apparent. Most people seem to think they're the same thing. I'm a consciousness experiencing the brain, ego, voice, and no longer identify with that as being "me".

It was to me, a stunning realization that the 'pause' of the stream, the quieting of thought, the exercise of passively experiencing the stillness of the mind, is as refreshing and empowering as sleep... without the torpidity. 
While mediation, prayer, and orchestrated stillness may not sufficiently satisfy all the needs of physical sleep; it does allow the mind to rest in a receptive. non-struggling sense. 
In my opinion, the monologue we are usually quieting is the ego clinging to the proverbial "me." 
That process which bolsters our impulse to formally concretize 'identity.' 
In the peace of meditation we find the perspective that the "me" obsession, the drive to create an image of ourselves in our mind, is often wasted effort... we are who we are... narratives alone can't ever seem to reach equilibrium... and rarely lead to a peace from within, an inner peace.

The mind is like a muscle. It's said that in earlier time, the mind was still by default, and only activated when there was something to think about, addressed it, then went quiet again. Before the times of "civilization", agriculture, large social systems. Then, humans changed so that the mind was constantly active, the inner voice awake all the time, like a muscle constantly being clenched. We could still focus on a single thing without distraction, a state known as single-pointedness in meditation. This was the age that birthed mysticism and religion.

In more modern times, the inner voice has become distracted, no longer able to focus on a single thing for any length of time, flitting around like a hummingbird with too much sugar. Like a muscle in constant spasm. The voice just won't shut up, and leads us on constant tangents. It becomes infatuated with sensory experiences, spiraling into desire, distraction. All this happens as we have lost the "muscle control" of calming our inner voice.

I find myself resisting the metaphor "The mind is like a muscle."

I can't know how literal you are being there, but I feel it may also misdirect certain ideas towards adopting inappropriate tropes... like the idea of 'exercising' the mind, and 'using' the mind for things... whereas the mind is more of a lens of interpretation, and not simply the experience of "interpreting." 
The mind is in use as long as we are conscious... there is no 'turned off' mind unless we are not conscious in an active sense... not being 'who we are'...

I have found that even in people whose minds race more or less continuously, the manifestation of a "pause" can be evoked, and eventually coaxed into repetition... then experienced as the 'quite stillness' where it was perceived as impossible before. 
Control is ultimately a matter of intent, in my opinion; 'intent' can often be prostituted by desire...and thus new avenues of the struggle to control can manifest... breaking the "quite stillness" and engendering frustration.

But that "pause," once experienced, will mark the entryway to a new focus.

It's though by some that the inner voice is not us, but a projection into us, speaking to us. That kind of disassociation isn't always productive, but it can help those who are lost in a maze of trying to figure things out with narrative to break free. Our voices tell us narrative, give us models to communicate, and they are a tool, but if we let the tool control us we may never find peace.

Many find ways to characterize and develop the inner monologue into something which we can either embrace, control, or struggle against (all in the midst of the ongoing monologue.) 
The thought process to envelop the experience within a reasoned litany of parameters can become disassociated... but so intensely a personal experience must be unraveled from within the Gordian knot.  Each must face that process alone, if it is to come to an unraveled harmony. 
That silent quietness serves as a leverage point.

Some have experienced an "otherness" within the monologue... I cannot judge, since I am not them. 
Perhaps we become sensitive to another stream of information that our narrative-laden lives can't rationalize... Sprits, Forces, God, other humans... many are the subject of speculation... but again.. .any such experience is too personal to pretend to flatly understand.

Do others here experience the "inner voice" this way? Anyone here naturally "narrative free"? Any other thoughts about the "inner voice"? I am just going to post this little ramble without proofreading, haha.

I have upon occasion, felt I had experienced "inner voice"-free moments...

When I was younger, I flattered myself thinking I had 'achieved' something remarkable... but in truth, such a state cannot manifest fully and freely in our "social" world. 
Most people are unconcerned with another persons' inner state of affairs, so accommodations and adjustments to it in the human world are relegated to retreats, monasteries, and 'special' gatherings of the like-minded.

Some will call it enlightenment (which is sometimes a narcissistic and exclusionary idea.)  Some simply embrace the peace of the experience... to great and calming effect.  Others are so moved by the realizations that flow that it might change them at their core.




The voice to which we refer is actually not a voice. 
It a thought. 
It is that thing which tyrants want to eradicate and replace with their own narratives. 
It the fearful beast that challenges faith-following... called personal reasoning. 

Some say it's not 'safe,' some say it's a vital skill to be honed. 

Ultimately, it is the singular thing that is actually and truly 'free,' the motivator of speech, the conductor of action,
and simultaneously the slave responsible for the narratives we create so we can live with ourselves.