How do we deal with mental flashbacks?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, that will stop. So, when I said we should choose our good memories from the past, not the bad memories.
But sometimes they are interconnected and a flashback from the past also comes. Yes. There is there is flashback and there is turn back, you know.
That means, you know, a flashback might just come on its own. But we don’t have to dwell on it. It’s like, say, if I am working on a computer and, say, in the past I used to spend a lot of time, maybe watching movies, reading about movies or doing a particular activity.
Now, I am not so interested in that. But based on my past searches, if I search for one thing, Google will give many other things which come up. Now, those links come up over there.
Although I did not look for those links, those links came up. Those links have come up, but those links will not open up automatically. So, only when I click on them, they open up.
So, like that, sometimes flashbacks come up. But it is only when we dwell on them. The mind is subtle.
There is no computer. Say, we are reading one page and there are some links over there. If there is a computer which, you know, it detects where our eyes are.
And, suppose, whichever link we are looking at, that link opens up. Then, we would get, just say, trapped completely. Because one link, next link, next link, we just get lost.
But, unfortunately, our mind is like that. That means, you know, whatever gets our attention, gets us. Whatever gets our attention, gets us.
So, when a flashback comes, okay, this memory has come. If we give our attention to it, it is like that we are focusing on it, clicking on that link. Then it opens up.
But, okay, if we don’t dwell on it, we direct our thoughts elsewhere. We think of something positive. Then, that memory won’t grow.
It will be there for some time, it will go. So, it is, if we don’t give it our attention, then it does not grow. And, it is good to have something positive that can catch our attention accessible to us, always.
So, for example, some of us may, within the activities of bhakti also, there may be some activities which we may be able to connect very easily. So, some of us may like kirtans. Some of us may like quotes.
Some of us may like needy pictures. So, then, whatever it is that can immediately draw our thoughts and our consciousness towards Krishna, we keep that readily accessible for us. So, when such a flashback comes, at that time, immediately we take out a picture, take darshan, or when we have a kirtan going on, we just turn on.
We take our thoughts towards Krishna. So, basically, we can’t say no to things. We can say, in the mind, there is no way to empty the mind of something.
When a thought has come, we can’t empty the mind of a negative thought. But, we can crowd that thought out of the mind. If I have a glass of water, if there is air in it, if I decide I want to remove the air, it’s very difficult.
But, if I fill it with water, the air will automatically go out. So, like that, if a flashback has come, one thing is we don’t give attention to it. But, still, it will be there.
We can’t drive it out. But, what we can do is, we get something else into our mind, fill our mind with that, and then that will get crowded out. Does this answer your question?