Re: Lets Meditate The Right Way
Dear Friends,
Here is something we have all agreed:
" There is Distraction. Distraction is "Mind is here", and "It wants to be elsewhere" ... I have made it the most generic definition and simplified it. "
And then, the usual approach to tackle this is: Lets therefore try a "Sadhana", a "Method". There are various kinds of Sadhana's , Meditation "Techniques". Japa , Observing Thoughts, Observing breath etc. These are beautiful methods. I am not denying the methods. All I am saying is this approach has a flaw.
I request you to see what I say now with an open mind. All Sadhanas operate with the idea: Mind is distracted, so whenever it "Goes There", "I bring it back Here".
Please see this ... Its at once obvious for Japa / Observing Breath. Lets include the other cases :
Case Study 2: Living in the Present Moment
Suppose I am living in the present moment. What is the "Effort here" ? [Hey I am not suggesting effortlessness as many modern day gurus do ... neither am i advocating that sadhana is not required. Sadhana is a must. We will talk a little later. ] .So whats the effort here ?
The mind is getting involved in the "Thought world", I "Drag it to the present moment". Now it gets involved, now again i drag it to the present moment. I can use observing breath as an aid.
So effort is : Its "getting into thought world" , in other words: getting "Distracted", we bring it back.
So Living in present moment is also "Whenever mind gets distracted, bring it back". Same type of sadhana.
Case 3: Observing Thoughts:
Same case again. Whenever we become "involved in the thought world", bring it back to the witness state.
These are all the sadhanas we have. They are all good ... and they operate with the law:
"Whenever the mind goes away, bring it back" ... "Whenever there is distraction, bring back the mind".
So the mind , as our friends observed :
The mind is like an annoying toddler" .... Necromancer
"Yet I can inform the reader this - the mind does not respond favorably ( in kali yuga) to high levels of control" ...Yajvan
This situation is a consequence of the approach in these sadhanas :namely, "Whenever the mind goes out, bring it back."
My Fundamental Question ... which we will come back to ... is
"When mind goes out, we bring back, it goes out again, we bring it back again and so on ... when this is what we are doing ...
Do you correct the reason why this mind is going out ?
or keep bringing it back whenever it goes out ?
Which is more important ? Correct the reason mind is going out, so that when i put it here, it remains here ? Or keep bringing it back whenever it goes out. Of course we need all these sadhanas. But don't you see [if you are still with an open mind] which is more important ? If I correct the reason why its going out... i bring it back and it shoud "BE"... Please ponder. "
I will continue ... For now I just want you to spend some time with what I said, giving me the benefit of doubt ... By giving me the benefit of doubt i mean, you should be ready to "See" what I am saying and not "Dismiss" it beforehand with the ideas like: I already know what he is saying / He cannot say anything new / He is immature etc ... these conclusions if you can avoid and just see what I am saying ... and inquire along my lines ... perhaps we can come up with something interesting.
Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep
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