Post by Figgles on Apr 17, 2021 20:16:53 GMT
Zendancer: Agreed. I once heard about a Zen Master who told one of his followers that when first meeting a student, he could often tell how busy the individual's mind was. He said that if the mind was totally non-stop bananas, he started them off with some sort of physical work as a precursor to meditation. If moderately frenetic, he assigned a mantra or a deep breathing exercise. If frenetic in the usual way (haha!), he taught breath counting, and only suggested breath-following or something like shikan taza after the mind had calmed down significantly. Walking in a park or a nature setting--especially somewhere without a lot of other people-- is also a great way to slow down the pace of either random or self-referential thoughts.
I can empathize with Jenna because I started a breath-counting exercise 36 years ago solely because the internal dialogue seemed to have become non-stop, and I suspected that it was creating a great deal of the business-related stress I was experiencing. Like many other posters here, I experimented with numerous meditation styles and techniques, and because I became extremely curious about the world that meditation began to reveal, I probably spent a lot more time pursuing meditative activities than most people. Consequently, the amount of time one spends in such an activity is undoubtedly a significant factor in how silent the mind may eventually become. The good news is that attaining a significant degree of mental silence (if that is what someone desires) is a lot like learning to speed-read; the more you do it, the easier it becomes. I also went on a lot of 3-day intensive meditation retreats and solo hiking retreats, and those can also have a significant effect. As i've mentioned before, my favorite Tolle quote is, "The greatest attainment is attaining freedom from the compulsion of incessant thought." Probably only someone who has suffered from "the compulsion of incessant thought" can fully appreciate Tolle's comment.
I can empathize with Jenna because I started a breath-counting exercise 36 years ago solely because the internal dialogue seemed to have become non-stop, and I suspected that it was creating a great deal of the business-related stress I was experiencing. Like many other posters here, I experimented with numerous meditation styles and techniques, and because I became extremely curious about the world that meditation began to reveal, I probably spent a lot more time pursuing meditative activities than most people. Consequently, the amount of time one spends in such an activity is undoubtedly a significant factor in how silent the mind may eventually become. The good news is that attaining a significant degree of mental silence (if that is what someone desires) is a lot like learning to speed-read; the more you do it, the easier it becomes. I also went on a lot of 3-day intensive meditation retreats and solo hiking retreats, and those can also have a significant effect. As i've mentioned before, my favorite Tolle quote is, "The greatest attainment is attaining freedom from the compulsion of incessant thought." Probably only someone who has suffered from "the compulsion of incessant thought" can fully appreciate Tolle's comment.
Thought itself, is not the problem. The idea that a busy mind is bad, the sense that something is amiss, the sense that all the thoughts must cease because the experience of a busy mind, is intolerable, IS the problem....IS what needs to be seen through.
That very idea that mind is 'too' busy and I cannot bear it, has an SVP at it's helm. Thought itself is not the issue, it's mistaken identification of what you are, with the thinker of those thoughts that's is. It's the judgement about thought that's the problem, and of course, that judgement/judge is the imagined SVP.
All instruction of the sort you give ZD, posits upon the false idea that thought per se, is the enemy. It's not. Even so called 'incessant' thought is not. It's identification with an 'incessant thinker' that is.
It's the one, singular, very specific thought/idea, that that says 'I am a separate, volitional person, a limited entity, a body mind and I am thinking too much and I cannot escape these thoughts' that is the problem. Once that's seen through, thoughts can continue to arise and fall, fast and furious or slow and sparce, and it makes no difference...peace continues to abide regardless.
To someone who is seeking for peace of mind and who is mistaking the very fact of abundant thought to be the problem, I'd simply ask them, "Who is it that thinks the thoughts are a problem....is is really true that the thoughts are a problem....how do you know they are a problem.?....are they really a problem absent the judgement that says they are a problem..?"
What one needs to look at is the judge who says "thoughts are a problem"...freedom hinges upon looking deeply into that judge, what comprises it....ultimately, seeing/realizing it to be a sham.
