Believing bullshit is the source of all my suffering.
How do I know it’s bullshit?
It makes me suffer.
100% of the thoughts that cause me suffering are bullshit.
100%.
Clear up the bullshit, end suffering.
It’s as simple as that.
Thoughts like...
I/They don’t understand me
I’m going to get fired
My little brother is a dick
My older brother is a dick.
I can’t afford it
I/They should act differently
I/They screwed up
I/They should ________
I/They shouldn’t _________
I/They can’t handle ________
I/They can’t live without ________
I/They suck
...All bullshit, if it brings me suffering.
Not my fault. It just happens. Thoughts just happen. It seems to be the natural effect of a mind to receive thoughts from out of nowhere. Just how a shit just seems to fall out of the back of a bull. I didn’t do it, but if it crosses paths with any of my senses, I’ll see, smell, hear, feel or - god forbid - taste it without any intentional participation on my part. I can’t help it. It happens randomly.
Once I encounter bullshit, I have choices:
If I had actual bullshit on my hands, I’d be able to say to myself, “That’s bullshit.” And wash them off. If I had the smell of actual bullshit in the air, I’d be able to say to myself, “That’s bullshit.” And breathe through my mouth. If I had actual bullshit in my mouth, I’d be able to say to myself, “Oh My God! That’s bullshit!” And I’d spit that bullshit out!
When I know it’s bullshit, ridding myself of it just happens naturally. It doesn’t take any stress, it doesn’t take any effort. All it takes is knowing it’s bullshit when I encounter it.
I’ve found I can do this with bullshit THOUGHTS too. The only problem is that I often confuse bullshit thoughts for four-course-buffet-at-the-Ritz-Carlton thoughts. My meter is a little slower. So I need to spend a little time questioning them to get to the bottom of whether or not I’m dealing with bullshit.
But I’ve learned that there is a very reliable signal as to which thoughts are bullshit:
My own suffering.
My suffering is the unmistakable odor that alerts me to the presence of bullshit.
When I sense it, I can get quiet, identify the thought and clean myself up.
The more I do it, the better I get at it and the kinder and kinder the world becomes.