HOW TO STOP OVERTHINKING | Buddhist Story

friends if you find yourself unable to focus constantly feeling anxious and your heart racing due to excessive thinking and negative thoughts frequently Cloud your mind then today through the story of a Buddhist monk we will help you find a solution to this problem watch the story in its entirety so that after listening to it you too can find relief from your troubles so let's begin today's Story Once in a part of China there was a large monastery where about 500 monks lived they were all practicing self-awareness under the guidance of their Master One Day a

young man came to the monastery to become a disciple he said to the master master I want to know myself I'm in search of the truth I want to find out what the truth is the master looked at him and said if you want to know the truth you will have to stake your entire life on it it might take your whole life to discover the truth and even then there's no guarantee that you will find it in this lifetime are you prepared for that the disciple replied master I did not come here to turn

back I am ready for it the guru said if that's the case then I have a task for you in this Monastery there are 500 monks you will grind rice for them just do this task from morning until night and when you are tired go to sleep wake up the next morning and and start grinding rice again don't do anything else don't think about anything else just keep following this path and don't come back to me I will come to you when needed the young man followed the guru's orders and started grinding rice the monastery

required a lot of rice to be prepared daily for the 500 disciples so he would wake up very early and grind rice until late at night when he was tired he would sleep in the same room where he was grinding rice he didn't talk to anyone and no one approached him either for the first few months old thoughts kept coming to his mind but without any new subject to dwell on they gradually faded away over time his thoughts began to decrease after a few years he even forgot his name he remained silent and thoughtlessly continued

grinding rice he never meditated or read scriptures and the other disciples thought he was a fool 12 years passed this way one day the master announced my time is near and I must choose a successor who will lead the monastery after me therefore any disciple who feels that they have attained self-realization and knows themselves completely should come to my door at night and write a few lines on this wall that sum up their entire experience of Life many disciples thought about doing this but one of the senior disciples who was very knowledgeable about Buddhist scriptures

went and wrote some lines everyone believed he would be the next successor he wrote the mind is like a mirror which gathers dust from thoughts and desires meditation is the process of removing this dust and when the dust is gone the mirror of the mind is clear leading to Liberation the next morning when the master saw these lines he said which fool has written this nonsense on my wall the disciple who wrote it remained silent though the lines were full of knowledge they were all bookish the disciple was clever enough not to sign his name

because he wasn't sure if it was correct the master completely rejected the lines leaving everyone in the monastery surprised this event became a topic of discussion among the disciples as two disciples were discussing it they passed by the one who had been grinding rice for 12 years upon hearing their conversation the rice grinder chuckled the two disciples asked him why he was laughing to them he was just a simple insign significant monk who knew nothing but rice grinding the monastery had many learned Scholars but the rice grinder didn't interact with anyone so the two disciples

were puzzled to see him smile they asked again why are you laughing he replied I laughed because the master is right these lines are garbage they hold no value the disciples were shocked and asked can you write something better than this the rice grinder replied no because I am illiterate but yes I can say a few lines and if you can write them down for me I'm willing to go with you the disciples agreed and took him to the Master's room the rice grinder spoke a few lines which the other disciple wrote on the wall

signing them as the rice grinder they expected the master to be angry again but the lines he dictated were remarkable the mind is just an illusion neither is there a mind nor is there any mirror of the mind and when there is no mind where will the dust settle the one who understands this knows the truth when the master saw these lines he got up in the middle of the night and went to the rice grinder the rice grinder was sleeping and the master woke him up saying here take my staff and my robe from

today you are my successor but leave this Monastery and go far away because many scholars here consider themselves Superior to you and they will kill you they cannot bear the fact that a simple Rice grinder is more enlightened than they are you have attained the same knowledge that I have and I know that wherever you go people will flock to you because when a flower blooms its fragrance spreads everywhere he touched his master's feet and left the monastery that very night if we reflect on our own lives we'll realize that many people believe that meditation

can only be done by sitting in one place with closed eyes but in reality that's not the case meditation can be done while walking or even while doing some work in essence meditation means being completely immersed in whatever you are doing just like the rice grinder who was so absorbed in grinding rice that he lost awareness of everything else even himself through this he achieved self-realization living in the present moment and not overthinking is key the Mind exists as long as thoughts exist when thoughts cease the Mind disappears and when the Mind disappears you truly

begin to know yourself to truly know your real self you don't need any other practice just get completely absorbed in whatever you are doing so that your work itself becomes meditation for those who struggle with overthinking we'll now share another mysterious story that might help you in a village there lived a man who was an expert at breaking locks whenever someone needed to break or unlock something his name was the first to come up one day some wise men decided to test his skills and informed him that he would be called to unlock something on

a specific date when the day came he was told that he would be placed in a box that would be submerged in water and he had to unlock the box and come out if at any point he felt he couldn't unlock it he could press the emergency button and be brought back up but he would lose the competition he agreed to the rules and went underwater as soon as he was submerged he took out a wire from his pocket and tried to unlock the box after trying four or five times he kept failing and the

lock wouldn't open he was finding it increasingly difficult to stay underwater because holding his breath was becoming harder finally he used all his mental energy for one last attempt but he failed and pressed the emergency button he slowly came back to the surface and when the Box was brought out and given a slight push it opened he was astonished and thought Why didn't it occur to me to push it open it's possible that the Box wasn't even locked this is what happens when we overthink we complicate things unnecessarily sometimes Solutions are simpler when we don't

overthink that's why it's said those who do nothing achieve wonders yes friends this is true sometimes when we keep our minds calm and think with a cool head we find better Solutions now let's discuss the main causes of overthinking number one worrying too much about the past or the future when you divert your focus from the present moment to dwell on the past or worry about the future you become prone to overthinking number two excessive stress from work when there's too much workload the mind starts to race leading to stress and unrelated thoughts begin to

arise making you a victim of overthinking number three constant fear whether it's fear of losing a job not getting promoted failing in work or financial loss this fear can lead to excessive imagination and ultimately overthinking number four lack of confidence when a person feels uncertain about a task their confidence diminishes allowing negative thoughts to take over leading to overthinking and worry number five negative thoughts outweigh positive ones when a person starts focusing more on the negative aspects of small things they gradually fall into the Trap of overthinking now the big question can you get rid

of overthinking the answer is yes though it might take some time if you follow the steps outlined below you can overcome the problem of overthinking steps to overcome overthinking number one acknowledge that you overthink accepting that you tend to overthink is the first step once you acknowledge it you'll prepare yourself to overcome it become aware of overthinking and whenever you catch yourself doing it stop immediately and Trace back to where you started this will help you realize how much time and energy you're wasting on unnecessary thoughts number two focus on positive thinking instead of dwelling

on what could go wrong think about what could go right negative thoughts create fear and anxiety but positive thinking empowers you and and helps you take control of your mind number three practice yoga meditation and exercise these activities keep both the mind and body healthy make meditation a part of your daily routine as it's particularly beneficial number four live in the present moment people often dwell on past events or worry about the future leading to stress learn from the past and prepare for the future but focus on the present moment number five write down what's

bothering you there's a strong connection between how you think and how you feel write down what's troubling you why it bothers you and whether worrying is the solution if not find a solution or Let It Go gradually this practice will help you stop unnecessary thinking number six control your emotions this doesn't mean suppressing your emotions but you need to manage them effectively controlled emotions help you see reality clearly while uncontrolled emotions fuel unnecessary thoughts number seven engage in creative activities instead of wasting time on unproductive thoughts engage in activities you enjoy like reading listening to

music singing or spending time with friends and family number eight accept your best self overthinking often leads to negative self judgment remember no one is perfect accept who you are continue to learn and stay positive number nine keep your mind calm in today's fast-paced life stress has become so common that people don't realize how it's affecting their mental and physical health if you want to get rid of overthinking learn to keep your mind calm three stories to change your perspective now let me share three stories that will change the way you think AO one the

blue stones value a poor man once approached a wise Sage asking for help with his financial struggles the sage gave him a shiny blue stone saying this is a precious gem go and see what price you can get for it the man took it to various people including a fruit seller a utensil Merchant a jeweler and finally a diamond Merchant the responses varied from offering a th000 Rupees to a lack but the diamond Merchant finally said this is priceless even if I sell everything I own I cannot afford it the lesson here is that our

value is not determined by what others think of us we are as valuable as we believe ourselves to be never let others negative opinions diminish your self-worth two the frog and the pit a group of frogs was hopping through the forest when two of them fell into a deep pit the other frogs shouted that they couldn't escape and should give up one of the frogs eventually listened and stopped trying but the other kept jumping and eventually made it out it turned out the second frog was deaf and thought the others were encouraging him the lesson

is to believe in yourself and keep trying no matter what others say three the eagle and the chicken an eagle's egg once fell into a chicken Coupe and hatched among the chicks the eagle grew up thinking it was a chicken scratching the ground and never flying high one day it saw another Eagle soaring in the sky and asked its chicken mother why it couldn't fly that high the chicken told it you're a chicken you can't fly like that the eagle believed this and lived its life like a chicken never realizing its true potential the lesson

here is to believe in your abilities and not let others limitations Define you friends I hope these stories help you change your thinking and find solutions to your overthinking problem if you learn something valuable from this video please share it with your friends give it a like And subscribe to our Channel thank you for watching this video