Voices in The Head

adam Girouard, modified 3 Years ago at 12/28/20 4:06 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 12/28/20 4:06 AM

Voices in The Head

Posts: 6 Join Date: 12/3/19 Recent Posts
Hey Everyone,

  I haven't posted in a year and just started reading various posts on this forum and am so grateful for the effort everyone puts in to feedback and assisting others.  This is truely a blessing.
  My question is about voices in my head.  About a year or two ago in meditation I had the memory of being a young boy and hearing very clearly and almost hauntingly a woman's voice in my head.  It sounded like my mothers, although I may have just been interpreting it that way.  This memory came to me during a meditation as the voices came back and they were just as I remembered them.  In the last year it has happened 3 or 4 times and it has such a distinct quality to the feel of it (hauting) and the sound of the woman's voice (Like my mother's).  It's almost as if I had a magaphone hooked up from her head going into my mind with an echo.  This only happens in meditation.
  This happened again a couple of weeks ago and I just noticed it come in and 'watched' it with curiousity.  
  I guess I am just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences like this and/or what to do with it, if anything?  It's not so disconcerting, I suppose I'm curious.
  Thank for any feedback.

With Metta,
Adam
Emil Jensen, modified 3 Years ago at 12/28/20 4:32 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 12/28/20 4:32 AM

RE: Voices in The Head

Posts: 319 Join Date: 7/16/20 Recent Posts
I think this is very common. I've tried it many times. Yesterday I heard a big bang, lol. Today I heard something which sounded like an organ with an amp and lots of distortion going "RUNG", then nothing.

About a week ago I had a full-on hallucination that my mother and brother was approaching my bedroom door, calling my name. I normally can tell if sounds are "real" or not, but this time it had me convinced.

Whatever experiences arise, just take note of it and know that it's all cool. 
Personally, I had countless experience that all fucked with my general sense of what is "real". They initially taught me to losen my grip of this fixed view that I had. I think this is necessary, perhaps this happens to you as well?

Ultimately, "real" is what exists. What you call it, tho, can either give you problems or not. You can either call it "OMG I'm going crazy" or "a sound appeared and then dissappeared again". Same thing, very different reactions to it.
adam Girouard, modified 3 Years ago at 1/7/21 9:40 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/7/21 9:40 PM

RE: Voices in The Head

Posts: 6 Join Date: 12/3/19 Recent Posts
Thanks Emil.  That is reassuring to remember how common this experience is.  I appreciate getting feedback to remember this.

Yes.  Over the years the idea of 'real' has really softened and I see most of these things with detachment now which is quite liberating.  That being said, having the reminder was really helpful.

Having fellow companions on the path is of real value to me and I appreciate your input and sharing your experinces with me.

Happy Practicing emoticon
Emil Jensen, modified 3 Years ago at 1/8/21 4:42 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/8/21 4:42 AM

RE: Voices in The Head

Posts: 319 Join Date: 7/16/20 Recent Posts
100% agree! I'm glad that I could be of some assistance emoticon

I actually wanted to write a little bit of a rant-y kinda response to this but held off last time because I figured it'd be too much.

But today I feel like writing, so just dismiss it if it's too ranty, ok? emoticon

So here's a way my science-mind initially started coping with a break down of reality, like the one that can occur when we start hearing voices:

One has to remember, that everything we perceive: sounds, tastes, sights, feelings, smells, are all in direct correlation with electrons moving in particular places in our brain. For instance, the occipital lobe in the back of our head - if electrons move one specific place in that lobe, then we see green. If the electrons move in another area of this lobe, we see red. And so forth. The same goes for the sounds we hear, although that is a different area, the temporal lobe I think.

That's what can be deduced by MRI/EEG scans...

Normally its quite reassuring that the moving electrons in our skulls started moving because an external ("real") event set them off. Therefore our perception tends to correspond to something "real". For instance a sound, coming from a real person, which would set off the air molecules in the air, which would set off your eardrum, which then would set off the electrons buzzing around in your skull, which finally would yield the hearing of the sound.

However...

Initiating electron movement is a subtle business. They weigh only 0.000000000000000000000000000001- ish percent of your..say, shoe? And given the complexity of reality and even just the brain itself, it isn't too far fetched (for the logical mind) to imagine that something other than "real" could make these electrons move.

In fact, it could just as well be other electrons moving. For instance in meditation, you get all kinds of new neurological pathways firing, and the movement of these electrons could easily interfere with other pathways, for example ones associated with hearing.


This is a rant, yes, but it did help me sort of accept all my hallucinations and other ways which my reality started breaking down. It started "making sense" in a way. And it does. If we can accept that our perception doesn't happen without electrons moving in our skull, we can be open to the idea that sometimes they move due to other reasons than a linear response to external events.

\\Rant over, happy practicing emoticon
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Jim Smith, modified 3 Years ago at 1/8/21 3:21 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 1/8/21 3:21 PM

RE: Voices in The Head

Posts: 1639 Join Date: 1/17/15 Recent Posts
Emil Jensen:
 Yesterday I heard a big bang, lol. 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome
Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is an abnormal sensory perception during sleep in which a person experiences unreal noises that are loud and of short duration when falling asleep or waking up.[2][4] The noise may be frightening, typically occurs only occasionally, and is not a serious health concern.[2] People may also experience a flash of light.[5] Pain is typically absent.[2]