Six Thousand and More
Research conducted by psychologists in Canada reported that we have thousands of thoughts floating through our heads any period of time during the day. Their experiments revealed that these thoughts stream through our minds like a spool of thread unwinding rapidly. Although the intention was not to detect the content of the material passing through our brains, they did discover that the average human being experiences over 6,000 thoughts per day. That’s a lot of mental activity. Most of which is uncensored and unconscious.
From my research and understanding of this mental process, many thoughts are replays of past experiences (pleasant and unpleasant). A bunch more are made up stories of what we think about other people or our perceptions of what they might be thinking about us. Some might have relevance to a project we may be working on but that still leaves a lot of extraneous thoughts floating around that cause us to be reactionary, unkind, or just plain ignorant of actions in which we are engaging, without considering the effect on others. And I might add that from a lifetime in the field of dance and studying the movements of others there are thoughts that I believe don’t go anywhere and get lodged in our bodies causing distortions—physical, mental and spiritual—that lead to di-ease or pain.
Since we can’t purge all of these thoughts because they are a natural process we can develop practices that allow us to monitor some of them. In Just This, Richard Rohr identifies a number of contemplative practices to address those free floating thought phantoms that could cause harm. One practice he calls “noticing the furies.”
According to Greek mythology the furies were several female goddesses who thrived on their own vindictiveness by setting traps for others and watching them suffer. Their main expression was punishment, retribution, and confusion. With awareness we can intervene in these eruptions of our not-so-pleasant selves, inviting us to pause before we seek to carry out an act of vengeance whether that be in our minds or for real as played out in life in actions of domination or control over something or someone else. The practice is simple and requires a full-bodied awareness of what’s going on in a situation and an intention—a choice to act differently. You merely notice your reaction to a person or event and pause allowing the opportunity to breathe and truly assess where the overreaction is coming from; it takes a few seconds to detach from the emotion and find a better way of behaving. You have caught your fury.
The 21st century seems to be a staging ground for heightened levels of hostility or need for retribution. Even the best of us might feel a bit of rage from time to time at all that we see around us—the homeless, wildfires, food shortages, starving children—and wanting to blame someone else or take the whole mess into our own hands. At those moments we need to neutralize our thoughts and free ourselves from fury-bondage one action at a time. Becoming aware of our thoughts is a beginning step.
At the dawn of early Christianity the emergence of monasticism was an attempt (I believe) at personal initiation to free oneself from the bonds of society. The Desert Mothers and Fathers sought monasticism “not as a retreat from the world but as an entry into its beating heart,” said one Abba. It may have appeared that they were running away from social woes, but they were in fact seeking to reform themselves by letting go of life as it appeared and designating long-term silence in nature to facilitate acute awareness and in some way reconcile all that was happening around them with what they knew deep within their hearts to be the goodness, the beauty, and the love that truly existed in the universe.
The visible and invisible gifts that the cosmos provided then is still available to us today. Like mist rising over the top of mountains, clarity begins with awareness and contemplation. There is value in removing excess thoughts or at least knowing where and to whom some of them are directed in order to function in the Presence with love.
Given our current societal and cultural revelations, it would seem that a major shift in thinking might be of some benefit. That engaging in a little internal excavation, restoring ourselves to harmony and equilibrium might be a holy idea. You may not have any interest in going on a retreat, sitting in the woods, or meditating for that matter. But you still don’t have to be at the whim of all of those more than six thousand thoughts—find something that calms your nervous system that is not entertainment. With the experiential knowledge that has been gifted us from the early Christians we can assume that we are moving toward Goodness. And from that Source generate a steadfast determination to change ourselves and some aspect of our beingness in order to exist in identifiable periods of equipoise.
Hildegard of Bingen, one of my ancient guides is recorded to have found inner solace in yearning for God, which doesn’t come easy in a fast-paced and consumer-driven age. Dr. Wighard Strehlow who has authored several books on the 12th century abbess writes on the benefits of paying attention to our thoughts by recognizing our physical well-being. In Hildegard of Bingen’s Spiritual Remedies, we learn that Hildegard acknowledged that as temples of God we also carried within us the gift of the Holy Spirit, thus healing thoughts and actions flow through and are available to us. Those thoughts that express respect, understanding, and wisdom can override injustice, instability, and discord. Quoting Hildegard, Dr. Strehlow writes:
Heavenly joy reigns in companionship with God. All people have an (ab)original yearning for the “kiss of God” and an embrace of their Creator, because he has poured this tender love inside all creation.
Ah, what a beautiful thought. Hold it in your heart for several days, weeks, or months. Journal and keep track of what you notice. Awareness takes practice and patience, but the “kiss” will eventually come.