In this series of six posts, I’m using the early Buddhist scriptures to explain how we can break free from our addiction to social media. These teachings are found in the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, which suggests five strategies to overcome our urges.
The term “Vitakkasanthana Sutta” translates to “The Discourse on Quieting Thinking,” but I’m referring to it as “the Social Media Sutra.” Here, “thinking” encompasses not just our self-talk but also the emotional urges that come with it. So, the urge to use social media compulsively or endlessly surf the internet is considered a form of thinking in this context.
The first tool is shifting our attention to something positive in our experience. The second involves recognizing the downsides of our unproductive activities. The third teaches us how to lessen temptation.
Now, let’s examine the fourth tool from the Vitakkasanthana Sutta to see how it can help with social media addiction. This tool is about “stopping the formation of thoughts.” While the idea of shutting off our thoughts or at least turning them down sounds appealing, it’s complex.
The text says that if other methods don’t quiet our unproductive thoughts and urges, and these bad thoughts related to desire, hate, and delusion keep surfacing, we should focus on stopping their formation. As we do this, these negative thoughts fade away, and our mind becomes calm, unified, and absorbed in mindfulness.
To better understand this, imagine someone walking quickly. They might ask themselves why they’re rushing and decide to slow down. Then, they might wonder why they’re walking slowly and opt to stand still. Eventually, they might sit down and then lie down. They progressively choose more relaxed postures.
Similarly, when our mind generates thoughts and urges pushing us towards compulsive online behavior, there’s something driving this. By identifying what’s causing these actions, we can let our mind rest.
For instance, if we’re mindlessly browsing the web, we might recognize an underlying sense of anxiety, perhaps a tight, prickly sensation in the gut. One part of our brain feels that being bored or missing out threatens our well-being, and it creates this feeling to alert us.
Reacting to this discomfort, another part of the brain generates impulses that drive us to move from webpage to webpage or social media post to social media post. These impulses come with self-talk like “Just one more article” or “Maybe two more.” Both the urge to surf and the accompanying inner dialogue are what we aim to slow down.
Feelings play a crucial role in Buddhist practice. The Buddha said that everything revolves around feelings because of their central role in our experience. The unpleasant feeling is what drives our behavior.
When we become mindful of these feelings, we see that we don’t have to react to them. Instead, we can simply observe them and recognize that they represent a part of us that is suffering. Showing compassion to this part of ourselves creates a gap, a “sacred pause,” where we can find a more thoughtful way to act.
In the case of internet addiction, there’s always an uncomfortable feeling driving us, which might be boredom, hollowness, dread, or anxiety. We can train ourselves to turn towards this discomfort and accept it with kindness and compassion, helping us pivot from reacting to responding thoughtfully.
When I notice myself fixated on my computer, engrossed in reading articles online, I use this approach. I become aware of my suffering and mindfully turn towards the feelings in my body, usually an unpleasant sensation in the gut.
If I’m not mindful, I interpret these unpleasant feelings as a signal that something’s wrong and that I need to fix it by escaping through the internet. These reactions are instinctual rather than planned.
When mindful, I see that the unpleasant sensation is just that—a sensation created by the brain, not a real threat. I don’t need to act on it. I can observe it and offer kindness and compassion to the part of me that’s suffering. I might place a hand on my belly where the discomfort is most prominent and say, “May you be well. May you be happy. May you be at peace.”
Social media and internet addiction stem from a desire to escape emotional pain. To break free, we need to turn our attention to our pain and embrace it with mindfulness and compassion. When we crave something, it’s like an invisible cord connecting us to it, through which our emotions flow. Mindfully observing the painful feelings underlying our cravings can cut that cord.
By becoming aware of my painful feelings, my emotional connection with the internet and social media weakens or breaks. I can then set my phone down or close my laptop and engage in more fulfilling activities.
So, that’s the fourth tool: focusing on stopping the formation of unproductive urges. We recognize the feelings driving our thoughts and urges and respond to them in a kinder, wiser way, breaking the cycle of compulsive social media use.