Working With Catastrophic Thoughts

Our happiness is so easily destroyed by the feeling that everything is doomed. The climate, nuclear war, fuel poverty, recessions, on and on it goes.

Entangled in this kind of thinking will never bring peace. I first give a talk and then we reflect on our worries in a guided meditation.

Let's meditate together and find freedom from all of this.

Transcript

I frequent a Buddhist monastery. I've been going for many, Many years, Over a decade, I believe. And the well revered monk who established it, He speaks often about this impending sense of doom that arises within us. It's always lurking in the background, Whether we see it or not. And it says things like, Things are going to be really bad here. Or it might be, What is this pain in my chest? It feels serious. It's on my left side, This could mean I'm going to have a heart attack and die. I don't want to die this way, It's a terrible way to go. The pain will be unbearable. What if I'm alone when it happens? My final minutes will be absolute hell. I won't get to say my goodbyes. And on and on the mind goes if left unchecked. I've noticed this myself having recently had an ECG, Which came back a little worrying. I'm still awaiting further tests. Out of interest, I started looking for pains in the right side of my chest. Because I was noticing them all the time in my left. So I switched it. And sure enough, After a couple of days, I found that I had as many pains in my right side as my left. But I was hyper-vigilant to the left side because of the ECG reading I'd received. The thing is, I've been doing a lot less stretching of my ribcage lately. Because I've had so much on that my yoga practice has suffered. And this happens if I don't do yoga for a while. I get pains in my ribs. As the body contracts back. And I wasn't noticing the pain. They're small pains in the right side because they didn't alert in me danger. My mind wasn't even registering them. And we do this all the time. One of the cruel things about this impending sense of doom is that not only does it arise when things look bad or neutral. It also arises when things look really good. We look at our lives and how well they're going and we fear that everything is going to crumble around us. To end. Leaving us in a dark pit of misery. What will I do when you leave me? Thoughts like this can creep in. Even if we reason, They will never leave me. They are devoted to our relationship. It creeps the thought, Even so. One day they will die. What will I do then? So this impending sense of doom is not really dependent on our circumstances. It haunts us irrespective of events. So what to do? Let's reflect on this in a meditative manner. So come to a seated posture and allow the eyes to gently close. Tune into stillness. Just relax. Here and now. Be still. Notice the breath rise and fall in the body. As it comes in, You can say rising. Say that in your mind and as it leaves, Falling. Rising. Falling. And feel it. Feel the rising of the body with the breath and the falling. Mindfulness is a wonderful way to approach this inner demon. The one we're calling an impending sense of doom. Maybe you're experiencing it now. If not, Simply reflect on what I say. We can see that this fear of an unknown future is only a thought. A thought that's arisen and will soon pass away. Are we this thought? Or is our true nature close to that which sees the thoughts? We don't have to engage and carry on thinking it. We can drop the thoughts. If it wants to carry on, Fine. Let it. We don't engage with it. We just watch it from the vantage point of stillness. Its energy cannot last forever. It will run out of steam. We can see that the thought isn't our reality here in the present moment. Rather, It's the fear of an uncertain future. We can ask ourselves, Has anything ever turned out exactly as we imagined? Anything? It's highly unlikely. We can name the thoughts and call it out. Hello impending sense of doom. I see you trying to destroy my day. Say it every time it arises until it leaves. Without suppressing it or pushing it away. We grow interested in it. And it can't really bear the light of our awareness. It relies on the dark recesses of our mind. It can reflect that there are myriad ways things can go. And that our mind will almost always show us the worst case scenario. We can remind ourselves that when the impending sense of doom shows us horrific futures, We forget how resilient we are. Or that we have so much time around these unlikely occurrences. Time in which we can make wise choices. Even the inevitability of death needn't be feared. Because when it comes, We won't be as we are now. We will likely have lost the vigor that enables life in this world. Can we gracefully accept this and trust that what is within us is all in order? Who knows, We might even welcome that soft drift into the great mystery we call death. And why does death have to be a negative thing? We don't understand it. What if it's a great release? A great letting go into something more real, More beautiful. Embrace the mystery of all of this. Letting go of our fears and boldly accepting the ever unfolding present moment. Seeing that every moment holds value when rightly viewed. In letting go, Something greater always fills the void it leaves. And now bringing the meditation to a close. Allowing the eyes to open and coming back into the room you're in.

Reviews

What a wonderful gem this is. There's not a more relevant meditation for me. I absolutely love calling out my negative thoughts. I learned how to do this whilst labeling my thoughts which is something you showed me how to do Chris.
It's a wonderful feeling recognising the thought, telling it you are aware of it and then moving on. It's like catching someone about to pull a prank on you. That naughtiness that your brain has. A trickster!
5 stars as always Chris. Thank you

This was the perfect meditation for me today. Thank you. ❤

Thank you. In my country it's common to say, when something is going just fine and everyone is happy: " Shhhh, don't say, the Evil might hear you!" I understand that as a reflection of always present fear that something will go wrong.
There's so much to learn. Thank you for helping us find our ways in these difficult times.
I'll listen often, it's very calming. Bless you 🌷☀️🙏