Conference hydra::dejavu

    Mine plays songs.  For instance, today it's playing Howard Jones'
    song "No One Is To Blame".  I, too, wish I could find the switch
    for the internal stereo.  Sigh . . .
    
    Marcia

    Re:  .2
    
    Good advice.  Perhaps I can learn to turn down the volume on the
    stereo when I want.
    
    -M-

    Generally speaking, I thought the main function of a mantra was
    to control the internal voice.  If it won't shut off, give it something
    useful to say.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    re: .4 and .5
    
    It seems to me that one of the best things you  could  do  with  the
    inner voice is to train it to tell you good stuff.  (If it takes the
    trouble to tell you you're worthless, it can probably  be  convinced
    to tell you nice things about yourself.)  I know that you can change
    the songs simply by concentrating for a short time on one I want.
    
    I just noticed that the words I'm typing now are running a bit ahead
    of  my  fingers using that same voice ...  interesting ... I'll have
    to try to teach the little pest some nice things  to  say  about  me
    ... my Aries ego can always use that.
    
    Terry                                                           

    	I'd say relax, and let it have its say, until it's bored. Taking
    some time to meditate also couldn't hurt. There's a book called
    "Tantra for the West" that suggested using a journal to write down
    what the voice says, and to make sure, when you hear the voice,
    that you say "Thank you" back to the voice, when its done with the
    tirade, no matter how bizarre, or annoying, or even "evil". The idea
    is to make the psyche whole, and those words that are being spewed
    out NEED to come out. Most of the time, our first reaction is to
    yell back at the voice, ignore it, or somehow try to supress it.
    By denying our connection to the voice, and the things that it is
    saying, we are dividing our self image into "us" and "them"...those
    voices and words which are our 'true' self, and the rest, which
    we emotionally try to seperate our self image from. 
    
    	The Buddhist view is, there is no self. The self is an attachment
    which arises out of illusions of consciousness, attention, and
    language. Tantra is (basically) a Buddhist practice which deserves
    its own note. It is highly mystical, very intense, and very involved.
    
    	Ed

    I learned a few years ago how to shut off my internal dialog.
    
    It's the best way to get to relax and get to sleep during those
    times when your brain is buzzing on too many thoughts and you need
    to get to sleep.
    
    I've also done this as an exercize to let go of my "conscious" mind
    and let the "unconcious mind" take over. This is a very "free" feeling
    state. Although it is very dificult to achieve and to keep because
    the concious mind doesn't like to let go. And when it does, it can
    conjure up some pretty scary images to get you back!

    All of the replies here are good ones to try.  I suggest that you
    listen to it first to see where it is taking you. For indeed it
    is taking you somewhere.  Then through creative visualization and 
    affirmations redirect the inner voice to new and more rewarding
    areas. 
    
    What you hear affects you in many ways.  The voice you hear the most
    is your own.  Both inner and outer voices say much about what you
    really feel deep inside.  Affirmations really have done much for
    me so you might give them a try.  

    I have found that stopping the internal voice by brute force causes a great
    drepression type feeling in my chest.  It feels like a heavy weight or
    crushing feeling that generaly stays in the chest area.  I checked
    my breathing which seemed to be slower so that may have something
    to do with it.
    
    Sometimes the voice is caused by great concern.  If this causes
    you trouble sleeping then try the "energy conversion box".  This
    is a mental box of very sturdy construction.  Visualize it to be
    so strong that it could contain a large explosion and not be damaged.
    Mine is a large pirates chest that stands about chest height and
    could hold two or three people setting down inside of it.  If you
    are not good at visualizing then this may not work and could turn
    into a Pandoras box. Anyway, use the box when you go to sleep and
    see if it can keep the _demons_ in. 8^)
    
    Above and over all these suggestions, make friends with the voice.
    It is not a devil or a demon.  It really is your friend so treat
    it with the respect you would have for another person (yourself).
    I have redirected the voice and now it seems satisfied with the
    new direction.  Treat it as a intimate pointer to deeper holdings
    of your belief systems and realities.
    
    I find the inner voice to be a forerunner of the "shadow".  If
    you can make friends with your innervoice and play with it, you can
    also become friends with your shadow too.  Have fun 'cause it will
    lead you to some really neat discoveries about yourself and human
    nature.

I thought that I had added this reply earlier, but,  perhaps,  I  just  told  my
little internal friend about it ...

Since I began reading this note, I've been attending  to  the  inner  voice  and
discovered  why it doesn't bother me much ... it spends a lot of time being oral
as well as verbal ... I talk and particularly sing to myself a lot and the inner
voice  is  obviously my own.  (Linda used to be embarrassed that I sang out loud
to entertain myself, but when she learned that my father and sister do  it  too,
she just gave up on being bothered by it.)

As expressed in earlier replies, the voice is you and is probably the origin  of
the  phrase/concept "the still, small voice of conscience" and the cartoon image
of an angel self and a devil self talking to you in opposite ears.

Terry

    One thing I was told a few months ago:  Too much lysine can
    cause your mind to babble.  Since it *is* an essential amino
    acid, you are getting some, but too much, perhaps?
    							Ann B.

    trying a different tack:
    
    Occasionally, you'll read of cases of people who "hear voices" that
    discover that a relatively rare crystallization process in their
    tooth fillings results in their being able to receive radio broadcasts
    through their teeth (in effect, their fillings become crude diodes
    that rectify AM radio signals).
    
    So if your "little voice" comes out with a station break ....
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

    I realize it's been a long time since the last reply, but I might
    have some valuable input.
    
    I believe, as others have stated, that the "little voice" is, indeed,
    an aspect of yourself, or, to be more specific, an aspect of both
    yourself and *what others have put into you that you accept as you*.
    When negative things about the self are heard from the little voice,
    and the self realizes that the negative input came from others,
    it is then up to the conscious self to plant the seeds of positive
    impression, and quit watering the plant of negative impression (which
    will leave the roots with no nutrition, and they will die...and
    also prevents you the painful task of having to trace the roots
    and pluck them away).  The potential that the self has is always
    there, whether exercized, reached, or still unexercized.  You are
    not worthless.
                  
    My mom wanted me to stay dependent upon her forever; I was more
    a possession than a person to her.  She, therefore, filled my head
    with ideas that were coherent with her vision from the time when
    I was very young.  It is not always easy to *recognize* what is
    you from what others have put there that you accept as you (and
    therefore, *is* you, as long as you accept it); I know that mine
    has been a long journey to come to the point where I am able to
    start at the beginning, to realize that I was meant for more than
    "to be (Mother's) possession, to do as you are told, to wait for
    the cue on what to do rather than act on your own, to wait for Mr.
    Right to come along and make your life perfect" - in short, I have
    had to teach myself how to take responsibility for myself.  I have
    had to consciously come to the equalization that it isn't until
    you *take* control that you *have* control over yourself...and that
    includes knowing when that "little voice" is helping you to be
    productive and reach your potential, and when that "little voice"
    is someone else's way to try and keep you *from* your potential.