Mental Chaos?

It’s hard to know what life was really like for people in the past—and perhaps even harder to imagine what their innerlives were like. The reason I wonder about this is that people back then were exposed to far less stimulation than we are today. As someone once noted, every family had a piano player because that was the “radio” of their day. If no one played, there was no music in the house.

How vastly different things are now! Not only is every conceivable form of music instantly available, but so is virtually every TV show and movie ever made. You can watch news or sports nonstop, or listen to audiobooks around the clock. All the world’s literature and information are at your fingertips. Immersive video games can engage people for hours at a time. Wireless connectivity means that, no matter where you are, you can step into this enormous river of data. Taken together, this constitutes an unparalleled torrent of information and stimulation.

No previous generation has lived under such constant exposure, so it’s difficult to imagine what their mental landscape was like. But perhaps one inevitable consequence of our present data overload is the constant appearance of “random” thoughts in the mind. A mind “full to bursting” must find ways to release its overflow—snippets of TV dialogue, movie scenes, news fragments, opinions, song lyrics—all arising unbidden, without any intention or choice on our part.

This brings to mind an ancient teaching from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, which tells us that harmony and peace arise when the mind becomes still. A still mind? What could that even mean in our overstimulated age? When our brains are flooded daily with input and distraction, stillness may seem almost impossible to imagine. And yet, it is possible.

That is where the miracle of awareness practice comes in. Over time, the mind begins to unwind itself. If you stop feeding it constant stimulation, it gradually quiets—perhaps not right away, but inevitably. In those moments, you may catch a glimpse of something different from your usual consciousness: a space of clarity and simple awareness. It’s a fascinating experience, and deeply inviting. And that’s all it takes—for that is the beginning of the journey.