Hello and welcome.
This is Beth with Divine Me Time,
Here with your Alignment for May 2026.
The title of today's sharing is The Appetite of the Mind.
Let's get into it.
And if you enjoy this talk and practice,
Please be sure to follow my profile here on Insight Timer.
Are you familiar with the expression,
Monkey mind?
In meditation,
It equates the ceaseless energy and curious playfulness of a monkey to the mind's constant hunger for stimulation,
Ideas,
And information.
There's no controlling it,
And efforts to suppress it often lead to frustration.
Spiritual maturity invites a wiser relationship with that voracious appetite,
One born of a detached awareness.
The mind is always eating.
If you hung a sign in your mind that said eating prohibited,
The mind would chew on that.
In other words,
It's the nature of the mind to think.
It snacks on thoughts,
Stories,
Opinions,
Worries,
Headlines,
Memories,
Plans.
Even when the body is still,
The mind is rarely fasting.
When we sit down to meditate or even attempt to simply relax,
It often feels like the noise in our headspace grows.
This isn't a personal failure or human flaw.
The mind was designed to scan,
Compare,
Analyze,
And seek novelty.
It's like a 24-hour radio station that's always picking up signals.
We don't always notice how noisy this space can be because we're identified with every thought.
We aren't even aware of what we're thinking because we assume we are the stream of thoughts,
The commentary,
The judgments,
The fears.
When we enter a spiritual practice like meditation,
Something shifts.
An awareness grows.
We begin to see the mind moving almost compulsively from one bite to the next.
Munch,
Munch,
Munch.
What's next for lunch?
It can be very unnerving and uncomfortable to discover,
But it actually is a sign of progress.
Don't fight it.
Naturally,
Many seekers assume the point of meditation is to silence this monkey once and for all.
That's a misunderstanding.
They exert great efforts to try to control it or fix it.
Such efforts can result in frustration and irritation when they fail.
Then comes the belief I can't meditate or I hate meditation.
Ironically,
This is just another one of those monkey mind thoughts we can attach to and believe.
The mind will always seek the next thought and chew on it.
Trying to dominate it into a quiet submission only creates more tension,
Struggle,
Inner conflict,
And,
Ironically,
More noise.
Realizing this is a turning point because suddenly,
A real choice becomes available.
Instead of getting pulled first this way and then that by every thought,
We get a glimmer that maybe all that mental noise doesn't even merit our attention.
Let discernment replace control.
Very little of what the mind thinks is actually helpful.
Reliving drama,
Gossip,
Impossible-to-solve conspiracies,
Fear-based narratives,
Endless comparison.
These kinds of thoughts may feel stimulating,
Even addictive,
Or helpful,
But they don't nourish.
They deplete and exhaust the nervous system and distort perception.
By contrast,
Other inputs have a very different effect.
Wisdom teachings,
Clear inquiry,
Which means investigating your experience.
Beauty,
Inspiration,
Grounded,
Aligned ideas.
These don't overstimulate the mind.
They orient and align it.
They are,
However,
Still just thoughts and not the experience of deep connection and tranquility that we crave.
This is why mantras,
The constant repetition of holy phrases or prayers,
Can be so beneficial.
It's like giving the mind a chew toy.
It's so occupied on one thing that your deeper awareness has a better chance of coming forward.
Eventually,
Gradually,
With practice,
We can starve the monkey mind of our attention,
And it will not have the power it once did.
Our acceptance of its nature makes it less desperate.
And frantic.
And slowly,
Gradually,
Even though it continues to stuff its face,
Any noise recedes into the background of awareness.
Attention is sacred.
Quote.
It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray.
Of the mind,
Do not be mindless.
Takuan Soho As a journaling practice this month,
As often as possible,
Pause and gently observe your mind throughout the day.
What conversations,
Media,
Or internal narratives is the mind chewing on?
No judgment,
Just journal about the effect that each input has on your body and energy.
Keep notes about the mental foods that you habitually consume,
Noting how they shape your emotional and energetic state.
So let's enter now a beautiful meditative practice together.
Please sit comfortably and begin to relax your body.
Feel free to keep your eyes open or closed,
Whatever's most comfortable.
And allow any tension to begin to melt under the gaze of your awareness.
Relax.
Now for the next several minutes together,
Imagine that you are sitting beneath a clear bright blue sky.
Breathe in the light of that clear blue sky.
And as you exhale,
See the color of the blue sky intensifying.
Focusing on the sky,
You may notice thoughts like clouds drifting through your mind.
Each time you notice a cloud of thought,
Chant the sound or mantra,
Aum.
It doesn't need to sound a certain way.
Just breathe in and for the full exhalation,
Let out the sound of Aum.
Or if it's easier and you prefer,
You can make short little sounds.
Aum,
Aum,
Aum,
Aum.
So if you've been meditating for a long time,
You might have the experience of bright blue sky throughout this entire meditation.
If you're new to meditation,
You might find more often your mind is going in different directions at certain times.
Each time you become aware of that cloud of thought passing through,
Return your attention to the sound of Aum and use it to break through the thoughts,
The clouds,
The distractions.
Each time the cloud clears,
Focus again on that clear blue sky until the next thought comes.
I'll ring the bell at the end of the practice.
Every so often,
I'll say,
Clear blue sky,
Just to remind you of the focus of the meditation in case you've lost your way.
This is a practice.
If it's not coming easy for you,
If it's difficult to imagine or to focus,
Just stay with it.
Let's practice now in silence together for the next few minutes.
So how did you do?
Was it easy to keep clear mind?
Don't worry if a lot of thoughts came.
Remember,
That is the nature of the beast.
And sometimes it takes quite a bit of practice before we understand how to withdraw attention from that constant noise of the mind.
A tranquil,
Quiet mind isn't born of exertion and control,
But of simply depriving it of attention.
Accept its nature and realize you're the witness.
And from that place of deep awareness,
The mind stops being a tyrant and starts becoming the loyal servant of your inner wisdom.
Thanks for practicing with me.
I'll see you in June for our next alignment.
The topic will be Social Detox and Deeper Connection.
See you then.
