I’ll explain how we can free ourselves from social media addiction using teachings from early Buddhist scriptures, specifically the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, which outlines five strategies for overcoming obsessive thoughts and urges.
First, it’s important to work through these tools in order. If redirecting your mind to something positive doesn’t help, then consider the negative aspects of addiction. If that fails, try the strategy of “ignoring and forgetting” what you’re obsessed with, which is what we’ll explore today.
The advice is straightforward but practical: ignore and forget bad, unskillful thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion when they arise.
This principle boils down to reducing temptation, focusing on two areas: our external habits and our internal experiences.
Let’s start with external activity. A simple way to ignore social media is by changing your habits. For instance, if you want to lose weight, you wouldn’t keep potato chips in your house where you can see them. Similarly, you can make it harder to access social media by moving apps off your phone’s main screen and turning off notifications.
Keep your phone out of sight sometimes. Avoid keeping it by your bedside; charge it in another room to prevent starting your day with it. Use an alarm clock instead of relying on your phone to wake up.
When having meals with friends or family, put your phone away or mute it. You can even leave it out of sight during social times to help you engage more fully with those around you.
Now, let’s consider internal activity. How we pay attention affects our experience. We generally focus narrowly like a flashlight, which can make us easily distracted by thoughts. But there’s another way to see, like a lamp, being aware of the entire field of vision which can help relax the mind and body.
In meditation, a soft gaze helps broaden our internal attention. This way, when distracting thoughts arise, they are just small parts of a broad awareness and can pass by without us becoming absorbed in them.
This method is part of what some call “urge surfing.” Just like waves, urges build and pass away. If you simply observe an urge without acting on it, it will peak and then die down. An open gaze can help maintain this broader perspective, aiding in resisting the urge to check social media.
In conclusion, reducing our chances of getting distracted by social media involves both external adjustments like changing phone habits and internal strategies like practicing a soft gaze. With these approaches, thoughts and impulses can come and go without hooking us, helping us break free from addictive patterns.