Hearing Voices


Hearing voices is becoming a bigger issue nowadays. It seems to be affecting more young people too. The spirit of doubt has always been around ever since the Garden of Eden.

There is an amusing anecdote which is also illuminating. For years a man was struggling with voices in his head that were telling him all manner of foolish and negative things. He looked awful and was all disheveled and was having a rough go of it.

One day someone observed him walking in the financial district on his way to work, impeccably attired in a nice suit and carrying a brief case.The observer went up to him and said, "Wow you look completely different."

"Yes, I'm fine now," the man said.

"What happened?" asked the observer.

"I found God," the man said.

"That's great," the observer said, "but how did  you know that it was God?"

The man replied: "He's the only one that doesn't talk to me."

The story illustrates an important point. God rarely talks to us. Mostly He shines a light on things, making things clear, so that we can intuitively find our way.

But the guy with the horns and his minions talk to people, and always it is to mislead, confuse and harm. But he masquerades as our thinking. He also often tells us what we want to hear to get our interest.  He is the master of excuses and rationale, and he will always excuse and justify every wrong thing you have done or what to do.

So we tend to follow, thinking that it is our very own thoughts--first what we want to hear and later when he has totally corrupted us, negative thoughts, bizarre torments and accusations.

Here is another story that is illustrative. In an old book on exorcism, the author recounts the true story of a nun who was tormented with guilts over things she supposedly thought or did, fears of losing her salvation, and doubts about God and everything good.

This went on for years and years, and she struggled with the tormenting doubts as if they were her own until one day she finally realized that they were not her thoughts. She confronted the source of all the negative thoughts, and the devil appeared.

"Why have you been tormenting me so grievously all these years." she asked.

With an air of callous disregard and contempt, the devil answered wryly with a grin: "But why did you believe me?"

The devil, you see, has no power other than what we give him through our faithless struggle. He gains entrance through our lack of commitment to what is right. He preys upon our vanities, and of course, our lack of calling upon God. 

We do not realize that when our ego digs down into the intellect for an answer, a malevolent spirit provides an answer, and it is always a wrong one. Down in the imagination is the no man's land where temptation approaches the soul. 

It wants you to doubt yourself and disregard conscience (what you wordlessly know in your heart). Of course it always leads people into error.


It can be very subtle. It starts off with little things, like telling you that you forgot to lock the door (even though you know that you did). You go back and check, and the door is locked. Then a few minutes later it is there again saying that you didn't lock the door.

It tells someone that if they don't count to ten or touch the wall 20 times something "really bad will happen."

It is a scoundrel and will do anything that works. It will say to you that if you don't turn around 8 times something really bad will happen to you mother. It will take advantage of either the fact that you love your mom or that you are guilty for having resented her. It knows how to prey upon our guilts and our insecurities.

When there is a chance to do something wrong, it is always there whispering excuses and rationales. 

It is even there whispering to someone (who is tempted to do something wrong) "this is your once in a lifetime chance to do this." Of course it's always something wrong, foolish, dangerous, or ambitious where you have to set aside what you know in your heart for some false value.


We tend to follow it because we think it is our very own thinking, so it can lead a person into doing really wrong or foolish things.

Then once things start to go worse and worse (under its direction), it is there now telling you that you are "worthless, that the world would be better off without you" and urging you to do away with yourself.

The permissive voice wants to lead you into error, and then it is there telling you that "God hates you and that you committed the unforgivable sin." It is a liar.

The truth is that God wants to save you. 


The faceless "it" that talks to you in your mind  wants you to doubt God.

It takes advantage of the fact that you assume that what it thinks is your very own thinking. But the thoughts that come to mind during a moment of temptation are not yours at all. The are from "it" masquerading as your thinking.

The answer to not falling prey to all the foolishness, confusion and error is to learn how to mentally stand back and observe it from the neutral zone it instead of paying attention to it and following it.

This does not mean pretending it does not exist on the one hand or struggling with it on the other. It means standing back and watching it dispassionately.

The art of mentally standing back instead of getting involved in error is a great skill to have and it will help you not only with foolish thoughts but also in not getting pulled into foolish arguments with others.

If you wish to know more about this art, check out the meditations we offer to help people deal with stress.

Fortunately the art of standing back mentally is easy to learn. You can learn it in 5 minutes. Just get my 5 minute meditation.

You need to do three things.

1. Get my 5 minute meditation (or the 4 part classic meditation) and practice it.

2. You need to realize that the voices and the negative thoughts in your head are not really your thinking. These negative thoughts want to convince you that they are your very own thinking but they are not. They are from the spirit of error that got in from the outside. It speaks to you in your mind and it does not want to be observed for what it is. For if you see it for what it is, the game is up. It is exposed.

3. With the help of the meditation and the above realization, just stand back mentally and observe from the neutral place. Don't struggle with it. Don't try to suppress it. Don't argue with what appears to be your very own thinking. Just observe it.  Neither believe it nor disbelieve it. Just watch it.

Don't struggle with it--that's what you have always done in the past, and it never worked. Instead just meditate for objectivity and quietly observe it until it goes away. Struggling with it can also lead to giving in to it and floating away in rosy resignation. Don't let this happen. Pull back.

Remember, it is not your thinking. If it were your thinking, you could control it at will.

Do not be alarmed, just realize that this unholy spirit is misleading people all around the world. Follow it no more. It is not credible, just like a bad B movie on the television at the other end of the room blaring away.

Don't fall into excessive thought. When you catch yourself being lost in thinking or worry, snap out of it. Just keep snapping out and coming back to the present moment whenever you catch yourself lost in thinking. The meditation will help with this.

And of course, don't forget grandma's advice: "don't worry, forget self, get busy, do something, get involved, help someone else."     





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