Default Mode Network

At the satsang, Premasudha talked about the Default Mode Network, the inner monologue that begins once we don't have much to do.

It is basically our ego talking and is best observed, rather than considered truth.

It can rerun our past in ways that set off stress responses in our bodies which is the reason learning to witness it is so importsnt.

Also prayer, meditation, chanting weaken this dreary storyline; reverse our body's stress response; and heal our bodies and minds.

Please never judge yourself for the contents of this network's storyline. That just adds to the stress.

Transcript

The default mode network. All of us run this inner monologue. Really, As soon as we stop being busy, It starts. And it will replay. Things from the past, It will replay grudges against people, Our families, It goes all over everywhere. It's kind of our stream of consciousness. When it's running and if we're replaying. Story. From the past. It will. Activate. Our stress response in our bodies. You know, We gear up to fight. Okay, You guys, This is what many of us are running all the time. And the reason I'm spelling it out is I'm, I'm wanting you to do this to help you witness what I am not wanting, And I really want to spell this out that supposing you're struggling with. Thoughts that are running and old memories and everything. And then you go, Oh, And I'm stressing my body. Oh, Look at me. What a bad girl. Tongue! Do that. That will increase the price of the chemicals in your body. These thoughts are not you. A big deal, You guys. Our inner monologues, We think it's us, And it's not. It's basically just our ego. You know, Driving all around. But is based on nothing true. At the deepest level. You know, We can think, Oh yeah, I fell and hurt my knee when I was four and nobody picked me up. So we have that. But on another level, This whole experience we're in is illusion. This over time. Yeah. Listening to this stuff for years and years and years. It builds big reps. And the ruts get deeper as we get older. Oh my goodness, It's sort of like eating garbage, A lot of it, You know. We let this run. It actually stops us from bringing in new positive things. Memories. To weave in to change our patterns. So we get even more lots. In this kind of what turns into kind of small-minded. Feeling threatened. And lots of times, You guys, There's default mode network. Will skew. Our perceptions towards being threatened, Towards being criticized, Towards being hated, When it isn't even there. The person that we're, The way we treat, We're totally. Putting our old, Our ego stamp over a fairly neutral situation. This happens over and over. I'll tell you, If you really step back to witness yourself, If you go far enough, You will see this. It can be very shocking. And it's also why I'm really big on reality testing. If you're upset with someone, Go back and go like, I've just been feeling a little, You know, Bothered or upset. And I'm just wondering, I just want to check that this is what you meant. By what you said. It has to be done very gently, Very humbly. And it has to be the right person that you do it with, Like you have to, The person has to be honorable enough that they can respond to you at the level that you're doing it. And if they're not honorable enough, I would say, You know, Just make space. That's what I would do in my life. If I couldn't reality check with somebody, I would make space. It's a very, Very powerful thing to do because lots of times you get whole new information that you never even considered because you were running from your defaults. Mode network, Which is basically your eco recycling, It stops. You guys, It can make us humble if you get this, That your thoughts are a lot. Fueled by your ego and a little twisted that way, It can make you humble, Like open to learn in the best way. The cure for all this. Yes. Even 10 minutes of meditation. Morning and night 20 minutes better saying your mantra chanting because as soon as you start bringing in this You know, The meditation chanting. Prayer. I mean, Even the prayers, When you speak them, The vibrations are transmitted through the tissues in your throat and everything. They go down to the vagus nerve. There's another really, Really important thing that prayer does, And I feel like this is Absolutely crucial. And what happens during prayer or chanting, The blood flows to our periphery of our body more. And this leads to feelings of. . . You know, Being safe. To feeling meaning. Yeah, And that we're safe. Meaning and predictable. Things are predictable enough. When we pray and chant. The psyche feels, Oh, OK, We're going to be safe for a while. Relax. The blood goes to the periphery. You stop. Feeling threatened. You stop. Feeling defensive, You start experiencing what is outside you. As more. Get a part of you. That is the state of realization. Okay, If you keep playing there. That is what the self-realized person walks around in. That everything is them. That's why it's a really important state to cultivate. To help your body get used to. This kind of thinking that I'm expressing to you silences the defaults. Mode network. It's like ill-equipped, It can't run. It's just, It stops. At least for a time. Prama Sutta came to this way of thinking through feeling every emotion, You know, By feeling all the dreariness, All the negative emotions, Feeling them, Journaling them, Watching them. Until they all went away. Please understand this, Any negative emotion you've got running, Any grudge, Any hatred, If you just feel it, And watch it. What will happen is the diamond at the core of that. Emotional. Complex. Will release out and you'll get the gem. You'll get a soul understanding coming through. Like you get past a diamond. Every time you do this you guys. That's why it's important not to go, Oh, No, This is terrible. I feel this way. This is terrible. My network's getting bigger. Oh, No, Don't do that. Just feel it all. And you will get the. The gems. Now, The other thing that happens, You guys, Is when you start to witness, What can happen is the ego starts to resist, So it can even seem to get darker. So you just have to keep. Keep the prayers going, Keep the meditation going. And your ego will let go. And it will get lighter. The thing I don't want you to do is to fight this inner monologue, Because if you're students of the awareness satsang, You know that whatever you fight gets bigger. And if you're fighting your ego, It's a mugs game because the part that's fighting it is the ego. It's just the ego being tricky. Trying to get you to fight all this so it can get bigger because it will get bigger. You know, It's very like somebody who's wanting to take over a country. And they will do unfair things and provoke. The population, And then when the population rises up and, You know, Acts badly, Then they bring in martial law. And there's more loss of freedom. You see, What goes on in us is also going on in the world and also in the physical world. It's all one. You know, This might be hard to follow with your head. All of it. But please know you can get the energy with which it's spoken. You can get the heart of what I'm saying. You are getting the intention with which I'm speaking, That is being communicated to you as well. At the foundation of this. Default. Mode network is the. The grief. Of our separation from the divine. Peace! Default mode network is built on top of your biggest gift. It's built right on top of what your meant to bring forward in this life. You'll do it this life or another life, But you will come forward with your true gift at some point. Sometimes we start on it in a life and maybe can take two or three lives actually to free it. And I'm saying that not to discourage you, But to give you like, Just space. But if you really want it, You will tend to get it too. This default mode network is the result of countless lives, Countless experiences, Countless impressions. And this is what our soul works with. All the time in us trying to. Get through it enough to communicate with us. And our souls are so happy. They have a a body. Who's willing to listen. Like that is for the soul that is just a, A a personality and a body that's willing to transform. For the soul it is. Nirvana.