In a series of six posts, I’m explaining how teachings from early Buddhist scriptures can help us break free from our addiction to social media. These teachings are from the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, which outlines five strategies for overcoming strong urges.
The Vitakkasanthana Sutta, or “The Discourse on Quieting Thinking,” offers tools to manage our compulsive thoughts and behaviors. Here, “thinking” encompasses both self-talk and the emotional urges that drive us to use social media compulsively.
The first tool suggested is to shift our attention to something positive in our experience. The second is to recognize the downsides of our unproductive habits. The third involves learning to reduce temptation. Now, let’s delve into the fourth tool from the Vitakkasanthana Sutta and see how it can help us manage social media addiction.
This fourth tool is known as “stopping the formation of thoughts.” It’s about finding a way to dial down or even stop the constant flow of thoughts and urges. According to the Sutta, if other methods haven’t worked to quiet our unhelpful thoughts and urges, we should focus on stopping the formation of these thoughts. This practice helps the mind to become still, settled, and absorbed in mindful awareness.
Understanding this concept can be challenging, so let’s consider a metaphor from the discourse: Imagine a person walking quickly. They might decide to slow down, then stand still, sit down, and finally lie down, progressively adopting more relaxed postures. Similarly, by becoming aware of what propels our compulsive behaviors, we can gradually slow down and find rest.
When we notice unskillful thoughts and urges related to social media, it’s crucial to recognize the underlying mechanisms driving these actions. For instance, if we’re mindlessly surfing the web, there might be an underlying feeling of anxiety, perhaps felt as a tight, prickly sensation in the gut. Our brain signals this sensation as a threat, prompting us to react by scrolling through pages and posts in search of relief.
By becoming mindful of these feelings, we realize that we don’t have to act on them. Instead, we can simply observe them and offer compassion to the part of us that is suffering. This mindful self-compassion creates a pause, allowing us to respond to our feelings more wisely.
Internet addiction often stems from unpleasant feelings such as boredom, emptiness, or anxiety. By training ourselves to turn toward these feelings with kindness and compassion, we can choose to react in a more thoughtful and creative way, rather than succumb to compulsive behaviors.
For example, when I find myself obsessively reading articles online, I use this approach. I recognize my suffering and mindfully turn my attention to my feelings, usually noticing an unpleasant sensation in my gut. If I’m not mindful, I interpret these feelings as signals that something is wrong and seek an online escape. However, being mindful helps me see these sensations simply as bodily reactions, and I don’t need to act on them. Instead, I can respond with compassion, perhaps placing a hand on my belly and silently wishing myself well.
Social media and internet addiction are driven by a desire to escape emotional pain. We can only free ourselves from these urges by facing our discomfort with mindfulness and compassion. When we do this, it feels like we’ve cut an invisible cord that connects us to our cravings. This mindfulness practice weakens our emotional connection to the internet and social media, making it easier to put down our devices and engage in more meaningful activities.
In summary, the fourth tool involves recognizing the feelings that drive our unskillful urges and responding to them mindfully and compassionately. By doing so, we can break the cycle of compulsive social media use and find more wholesome ways to spend our time.
To read Part 5 of The Social Media Sutra, click here: Staging a Coup Against Social Media Addiction.