Silence in mind - no thoughts

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For many years I have been observing no thoughts in my mind. Very seldom I can notice a thought or two but it's like once in a hour. Otherwise, it is just mental silence all the time. Even when there is sensory overload or emotional storm. I'm interested how common it is? Do you experience something similar?

According to mysticism (for example, Mahamudra which is one of the school of Tibetan Buddhism), there are two states of mind: moving mind (which is observed as thoughts) and settled mind (which is observed as no thoughts). Typical people (NT?) are identified with thoughts and their patterns most of the time and are (believing to be) bound by them; so their journey to spiritual awakening starts from noticing that there is a gap between thoughts. They are told to notice that when thoughts are not there, one's still here. So if one is not mind, then what you're? Obviously, you're awareness that observes everything, including thoughts (so called "moving mind"). Later on the practical realization may come that you're not silence either (i.e. not so called "settled mind"). So, according to all mystical teachings, silence of the mind is not only meaningful and functional state but also sign of the spiritual progress (whatever it may be)!

However I found that in psychiatry, the same state is a sign of serious progressing brain damage. For example, google "thought blocking".

I'm curious to learn your experience. What's your relationship with this phenomenon? Have you always had it? Or have you had "gaps of silence" from very early age and they have been widening with every year? Did you do something to accelerate it (or get rid of it)? For example, meditation?

There's always music playing in my head while I'm awake.

Well, I smoked pot once and experienced something akin to what you are describing. If I wasn't up and doing something, I was literally doing nothing. I would stare off into space and not move, and not really think about anything at all. It was quite terribly boring, I must say. I've always wondered what it's like to not be constantly analyzing and rationalizing everything. Well, I found out.

I think I experienced this occasionally in my childhood, but I'm unsure. Those were peaceful times to me.

I think I experienced no thoughts in my mind for 5 minutes last night. It felt unnatural. My mind is always swimming with new ideas or thinking of something and analysing it. My ADHD medication helps to quieten the chatter and let me think one thing at a time but still there are thoughts. Even when I have a shutdown and my mind is so slow and I can barely feel emotions I still have thoughts. Even during and after a seizure I will still be thinking thoughts.

i'm not sure my mind is ever completely thoughtless:/

i shall be keeping an eye on it from now though because this has got me intrigued.

Interesting because once a guy explained to me the nirvana of buddhism, which I could connect to my daily state, but which I didnt directly combine whith a fantastic outcome. If I have sort of this state I seek the other direction, like it is with most things.

I used to do this all the time during my teens and sure do wish that I could turn the thoughts off now.

Occasionally if I get really stuck socially I experience a blank mind with no thoughts. I think it's an anxiety thing.

I experience this often. I have three states of mind:

1) Mindfulness (Active): Hyperfocus induced by doing anything interesting or thinking any thought more complicated than "It is Friday". I space out a lot, but it's really nice to be here.

2) Mindlessness: Mundane activities, social interactions, overload and shutdown. I hate it here.

3) Mindfulness (Passive): No thoughts, only sensations. No thoughts about the sensations. I might be spinning around under the warm carcinogenic sun in this state of mind, but it's really nice to be here too.

Sometimes if I hit my head hard enough or enough times I dont really have thoughts anymore...but this lasts very briefly.

I've never had mind silence. Ever. My mind manages to clear, but theres always something going on, even if its faint and small.

hmmm yep I have this.

I just have nothing to say because there are no thoughts. I just tried sending an email to keep in touch with someone and I just have nothing at all to say. same in social situations. same anytime. I have a serious medical problem and I have to remind myself that I can't ignore it completely because in the world you need labels so I have to keep looking after it so that the world will look after me. otherwise I would just not think about it. just adapt to the changes in the body without a thought really.

now you got me thinking maybe I have brain damage - lol!! !

In samatha meditation, a practice within the Buddhist mindfulness tradition, attention is placed on one stream of experience, usually a sensory experience like breathing sensations, and while thoughts along with other irrelevant experiences come and go in the background, if they distract you from the sensations you observe and label them (e.g. "judgement" or "image") and then return to the chosen sensation. This slows down the mind and eventually leads to going longer than normal without having a thought, but you don't really know how long because keeping track of it is a form of thought itself, you're just focused on the chosen sensation, and when you notice a lack of thoughts, you're back to having a thought.

The point isn't that thought is always undesirable, at least in the Theravada tradition, but having a smaller, slower, more manageable number of thoughts that are treated (along with emotions) as mere objects arising that may or may not indicate something objectively true, relevant, helpful or important, is one of the advantages of regular practice. Experimenting with lack of thought is one interesting use of mindfulness practice, though.

Outside of formal meditation practice, for at least a few seconds, when focusing on a taste, sound, sight, movement etc., I have gained the ability to just be aware of that chosen thing now, but for how long depends on how you define 'thought'. Vague imagery, abstract concepts and other subtle mental movements do occur after a few seconds, but highly experienced and advanced meditators might go much longer.