negativity and bad thoughts

[Guest Anon 1]

Hello to all

wondering if anybody can help;would normally not post on forums but im at my witts end with this situation

Its a bit strange really but before coming into sikhi i never suffered from this however in the past few months things have progressively got worse.

strange and sometimes very bad, appaling images enter my mind like flashes before my eyes e.g imagining bacon rashes on top of dastaars - this came about because i saw some bacon somewhere.. something tiny can trigger it..that is minor - ive had much worse than that.

and the thing is the more i try to fight them, the more anxious they make me feel and the more they attack but i find it hard to ignore because i feel like i immediately need to repent to Guru ji which makes me focus even more on them...

honestly there have been times where i have wanted to end everything..this sounds extreme and maybe silly to some but when these things start to affect you nearly all day everyday then the guilt eats you up as well as a fear of never being able to get rid of them... life becomes a bit of a misery.

also sometimes i find myself in my own mind being hostile towards guru ji if something does not work out or if i really want something but know i can never have that thing.. i know terrible and i strive to be content and humble as possible but i duno i supose anger in its subtle form sometimes takes over

the thing is i honestly honestly cannot help it these things just come as and when they like i feel like.. ive no control

this weird problem is affecting my jeevan and my ability to stay positive on the difficult path of sikhi, has anyone had any similar experiences that can shed light? (coz i feel like im the only one in the world with this problem) or any tips/advice that can see me through and put and end to this nightmare

Thank you sangat ji in advance

[Guest HELP]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh ji

right, i am facing the exact same problem/issue/illness whatever it is. having real bad thoughts of me doing things. things i could never do, i can not discuss them even in gupt. but these thoughts had never come into my mind before coming into Sikhi...half a year or so ago. I can fight these as much as want, they will not go away at that moment. Iv zero control over them though. Ive tried punching my leg/inflicting some sort of pain to try and stop these thoughts. maybe associating the thoughts with the pain would stop them? it doesnt work.

i hope someone from the sangat can help with this. i dont know if i need councelling or something. but what would i tell a gora about this issue. like they just wouldnt understand.

Veerji/penji, the only advice i can give, if anything at all, dont give up. the feeling of wanting to end things, seriously Guru Sahib knows what we're going through and knows we want it to stop.

Pul chuk muaf ji

[N30S1NGH]

Thoughts are just waves in the naturally peacefully ocean mind, which come and go, don't pay too much attention to them, ignore them you will notice in a bit that if you ignore the thoughts they will dissolve itself. Now question is how you learn the art to ignore them? Find a better cause in your life such as start contemplating and doing vichar on gurbani or start listening to katha of gurbani or kitan with full concentration you will notice whatever thoughts are bothering you are not there anymore as your mind is not attuned to it, if you are mind is not attuned to it..those thoughts simply does not exist or not there..the reason thoughts above are bothering you guys because your mind is fully attuned to them, it appears as if you are guys are playing cat and mouse game with your mind and thoughts coming in and out....the idea is not destroy the thoughts, naturally wave will rise in and out but the idea is to ignore them or simply don't pay any attention to them by find a fun and addictive hobby such as doing vichar on gurbani, spiritual school of thoughts, metaphysics etc etc.

So yea, go head start right away by doing vichar on gurbani either by reading or listening to katha, there is huge collection of sikhi resource available online such as gurmatveechar.com, start with whatever you want..!!

[Guest OCD Revealer]

Three words (or two words and a whatever): Pure Obsessional OCD!

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will help with this.

[Guest Anon 1]

thank u ji i have been reasearching online about this n its suprising how many people suffer from scary/disturbing thoughts...

N30singh u r right - everywhere i have read lately says the same thing .. that learning to ignore these ridiculous thoughts will eventually make them go away.

To 'HELP'... i would recomend having a look at :

http://www.panicaway...rubing-thoughts

http://www.anxietyno...g_thoughts.html

I have also just purchased a book from amazon called 'at last a life' by Paul David who was a sufferer of this for 10 years..anxiety it seems

I was shocked and upset to learn this is something i am suffering from, but lets stay positive - we have an advantage ... we have a Guru who has all the power to remove these disturbances in a split second..lets persist with our heart-felt, faithful ardas and when Guru Sahib is pleased he will remove all our troubles

stay strong

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki fateh

[singh_comradz]

I wouldn't worry too much about these thoughts. The vast majority of us have the same experiences. The five vikaars become unsettled when someone begins to do paath/simran and follow the Guru's path. They instigate these thoughts in order to distract our minds.

Treat these negative thoughts as passing thoughts and carry on with what you are doing.

Bhai Rama Singh Jee said in his autobiography that he also used to have bad thoughts and did many years of naam abhiyaas before he could begin to stabilise his mind

[DalbirSingh]

read japji sahib couple of times

[sat]

Hey good topic, i have had these too some really bad ones which i could never tell anyone (Waheguru ji), but i was told by a old person to just say Waheguru ji what are you doing , i am with you now ! (if you have taken amrit), it does help try it, keep doing ardas asking for your mind to be cleaned, because that is what is happening its the dirt (mel) of your previous janams being washed by the Nam/paath you are doing (thats what i think). and they have got less and less as time goes by.

[innergear]

Yew will find most sikhs are very nice and welcoming like we R tort to be only a few make bad feelings and sting a good name for otheres

[SunSingh]

baba baldev singh ji has said that the mind is like a snake. if you want to control the mind and you grab it, it is like grabbing a snake. how long can you grab hold of a cobra behind the neck? what will happen when you let it go? it won't stay in your control will it? if that's the case than are you controlling the snake or is the snake controlling you?

these thoughts are like darkness. you're trying to rid your mind of this darkness. if a room is filled with darkness how do you remove darkness from a room? you can't push the darkness out. but when you turn on the light the darkness disappears. so, as you increase in naam bani sadhsangat the parkash inside you increases and the darkness recedes. so the solution is not to work on getting rid of the bad, but instead to increase the good.

additionally, from personal experience i can attest that flower remedies are very useful aids in dealing with issues of the mind. before trying things like therapy, which are usually unnecessary, look up bach or master's flower essences and match the description with the issues that you are facing. even without these you could be just fine, but these remedies will make it easier for you.