‘A community of practitioners traditionally is called a “pure and clean, great ocean of people.” Don’t defiled thoughts arise at all in their minds? Yes they do! In fact, because monks live in a quiet setting without moving around much, they actually have more random thoughts that are difficult to deal with. Even though various thoughts can be as powerful as a typhoon, an important point of practice is to remain unmoved by them. While they may very well have various mental or emotional problems, monks in a monastery just keep practicing quietly. By doing this, they truly understand that thoughts are merely the brain’s secretions. This is the reality of practice in a monastery.’ (Deepest Practice, Deepest Wisdom)
This resonates with my own experience. With limited stimulus, and a lot of silence, the mind has free rein. What you learn to do is just sit with it.
Shundo David Haye 