There is no such thing as "empty mind"

[9th]

"empty mind" isnt the same as an "empty box"

 

dont get hung up on descriptions, practice is practice.. the rest is superfluous at best, unless you plan on being a teacher - and even then you need to understand metaphysical/spiritual/mystical ideas thoroughly before you can express them properly to others.. its not a matter of interpretation, just understanding

[Nungali]

Such wonderful and elusive questions. Exquisite, really....

 

I am at a point in my meditations - not even formal ones, necessarily - but even those pictures that may be on our mind first thing in the morning when we awake - where I realize that I am in a separate reality and have 'colored in' the scene with my own mind. And yet, once I realize that I am observing such a thing, it disappears! It is so very frustrating, that once I realize i'm in Awareness of the phenomena it goes away, whereas I would love to just ride the phenomena and see where it goes.

 

It's like transcending the relativity of everything is when it happens - and yet when I return to the relativity to describe it to myself the pictures disappear. Does anyone else experience this? It reminds me of the quantum phenomena where things are both a particle and a wave of probability. And the observer is a crucial and undeniable part of the equation. When I realize I'm the observer, it's gone. If anyone has a suggestion for getting around this particular phenomena...please cough it up. Like a cat with a hairball.

 

 

Had it this morning Now I can not even remember what was going on in that state. Something mundane but it was amusing .... outside stimulus seems to disrupt it. Sometimes I can stretch out the 'between space' but its subtle, sorta got to allow it to happen itself, as soon a s I try to stretch it, it snaps and I am awake.

 

In the past I experimented with it but gave up, being in that state I didnt manage to harvest much ... I was constantly on the edge of grasping or something or reading some amazing text that I couldnt quiet read .... it felt like my mind was doing that thing the body can do in a dream ... have the sensation and brain signals that you are running but you cant get traction or something and you are staying still. A bit like the 'meditative effects' of N₂ O - the whole system of the Universe and all its energy and manifestations come together in a balanced whole ... all secrets are revealed ... one realises it was all so simple in the first place ! NOW I can ....... ummmmm ..... huh ... what was I just thinking about then ? ? ?

 

So I gave up on it and went to things that delivered the goods better. Although , if you can plant a 'contented/happy seed' when you are in that space it will help to get you out of the 'right side of the bed' in the morning and can make the first part of your day great ...

[C T]

- Not only 'potential' but a certain amount of 'inevitable' is going to occur in that field ... everything in it that has a potential ( minerals, stray seeds, any future developed ecological system ... is all going to 'want to' ... even 'must do' express those potentials in any possible form and combination ... and to express that on the surface and air as it develops and grows and - in the 'underworld'.

 

So we 'cultivate' it to get a product; suppress or remove what we dont want (invasive bugs , weeds, etc) an assist what we do.

 

I think a lot goes on in there ... that I cant think about. Even if I empty the mind ... am I meant to sterilize it so it looses its fertility and capacity to express its innate (?) intelligence ?

Remember, causality is always multi-directional. Its integrally and seamlessly linked to growth seen and unseen, just as the growth of trees and flowers is the expression of the depression of the earth, as one Buddhist master said in a Q&A session.

 

The analogy he used in the Q&A, which i connected immediately upon reading your quote above, refers to things observed & grasped (by the senses) as the commercial marketplace, where things are bought and sold, often systematically abiding within certain principles and frameworks openly related to supply and demand; at the same time, he says, there exists also a 'black market' (similar to your example of 'underground'), where unrelenting movement of 'goods' occur undetected, but nonetheless, very real.

 

This 'black market' (laughter ensues as this is mentioned) is the proportionate depressions of the expressions of growth, the ceaseless, chaotic activities beneath ground, unnoticed by the unawares, which permit all kinds of activities to take place above ground. If this mutual exchange is managed successfully, there will be continuos reward (harvest) -- if mismanaged, a continuos process of uncertainty and disorder (picture a neglected plot of land) will be the outcome, yet, both, though distinct, are inextricably bound together, arising from the same ground, albeit an impartial one which naturally regulates according to its own rules regardless of whatever happens above it.

 

An on-going practice is therefore an essential process to maintain so as to reap the fruits, day upon day. As Huang Po said, "Do not be concerned about becoming a future Buddha; your sole occupation should be, as thought succeeds thought, to avoid clinging to any of them".

[manitou]

As my mind is still in a quantum physics state after just reading Capra - I still think the phenomenon is connected to the particle and wave phenomenon and transcendent of the observer state. The observer state ruins it. It surely seems like science and philosophy are meeting at the top of the hill with quantum physics, or at least my lay understanding of it.

 

CT - what a great metaphor for the unquiet mind - the black market. And what an accomplishment it is to have taken the many years of work to choose to indulge it or not. The choice is ours, of course. And how the cause and effect - the karma - the 'what comes around goes around' - aspect of this shows up dramatically in our lives. We're no longer putting out the negative - instead, we reap the rewards of our quieted thoughts. We have more control over not doing stupid stuff.

[C T]

As my mind is still in a quantum physics state after just reading Capra - I still think the phenomenon is connected to the particle and wave phenomenon and transcendent of the observer state. The observer state ruins it. It surely seems like science and philosophy are meeting at the top of the hill with quantum physics, or at least my lay understanding of it.

 

CT - what a great metaphor for the unquiet mind - the black market. And what an accomplishment it is to have taken the many years of work to choose to indulge it or not. The choice is ours, of course. And how the cause and effect - the karma - the 'what comes around goes around' - aspect of this shows up dramatically in our lives. We're no longer putting out the negative - instead, we reap the rewards of our quieted thoughts. We have more control over not doing stupid stuff.

Yes! We choose those activities pertinent to our welfare, and that of others, putting them to good use as in minding the noticeable conditions and aspects of life without being overly concerned with the ever-changing conditions that occur in secrecy, away from our gaze. I think the master is encouraging the listener to pay close attention to minding the 'field' and not worry over what occurs beneath it. Perhaps maintaining a simple awareness is adequate enough to give it a certain respect without having to bend incessantly to see what lies beyond the horizon.

 

When there is virtue in the seen, the unseen will naturally follow in its rhythm.

 

People tend to worry and fret over what is mostly hidden (primordial symbols and archetypes) - its a natural human tendency to be curious about the mysterious. While a healthy, neuroses-free peek once in a while may not lead to harm, just as a farmer turns the topsoil occasionally to loosen the ground, being unaware of obsessive habits to indulge in the darker domains of the mind could have its side-effects, which in turn will impact and cause the unhidden to fall into disarray.

 

Wouldn't it be wiser to tend conscientiously to the conscious life without being overly protective of the mysterious side of it, knowing full well that doing so may lead one to lose the plot altogether (no pun intended). Some think that in order to cultivate successfully one needs to completely empty the field first, but a good farmer knows exactly how to turn existing conditions to his favour - his ability to extract only what is essential gives him all that is favourably needed for a bountiful harvest. For that, he directs equal gratefulness to both the elements and to the vast, mysterious space between.

 

 

“Actuality is when the lighthouse is dark between flashes: it is the instant between the ticks of the watch: it is a void interval slipping forever through time: the rupture between past and future: the gap at the poles of the revolving magnetic field, infinitesimally small but ultimately real. It is the interchronic pause when nothing is happening. It is the void between events.”

― George Kubler

[manitou]

I Like that x 10, CT.

 

Add to your last sentence - the void between the breaths. Actually, my very favorite metaphor is the moment when the conductor's wand is raised, anticipation is at its apex, and not one sound has yet eliminated the field of potentiality.

 

When the master encourages the student to mind the 'field', as you say - this too brings quantum physics back to mind. The scientific realization that matter can only be seen as a part of an electromagnetic field, not as an individual entity. It all acts as one, simultaneously, in a non temporal fashion. As I said previously, atomic smashing occurs into the past, present and future in their collision chambers.

 

I think you're right to mention the various offshoots from The Way. I remember reading in one translation that 'the Path is Wide, but few take it' - the inference being that it's way too easy to explore the dark and mysterious - the various gifts that the Path may yield. And yet, it must be taken as a whole, not one dark and mysterious little path. My bet is that ego plays a part in beckoning us to indulge our gifts to the exclusion of the Whole. When we discover that we have second sight, or healing abilities, or the ability to move natural forces around - ego invites us to stay there so that we can show off our skills. To return to the Great Way is to subjugate the ego, to only use those skills when they are required of us, and to seek Self Realization by shedding the unnecessary and unneeded parts of our character.

[Bud Jetsun]

What does the thinking of those thoughts can not be more thoughts. Thoughts can not think themselves.

 

When it stops thinking them is when you can listen rather than hear.

[Marblehead]

What does the thinking of those thoughts can not be more thoughts. Thoughts can not think themselves. When it stops thinking them is when you can listen rather than hear.

That, IMO, is actually very well said. And it didn't require all that many words.

[manitou]

I think thoughts bubble up, and I agree with you, Bud, that they don't think themselves. This is where our communal connection comes in, IMO. The Thinker within me is the same Thinker that's within you. And yes, in order to get to the place where we can hear the pure thoughts of the Ineffable, it's after mastery of our thoughts - in other words, to choose to engage in our 'thinking process' or whether to set it off to the side, as in a meditative state.

 

This is what is meant when they say 'When the Tao is lost, rules are necessary'. Our pure unthinking self is the self that needs no superficial direction. It already Knows. Or more accurately, Gnows. No need for anyone's superimposed rules. No need for structure of any kind. We are in the flow of the Dao, and as such, nothing can be more perfect or efficient. To transcend our own thoughts is to transcend relativity. Time and Space are no longer factors.

 

As for the listening part, we have a friend who is a bible thumper, a real bad one, lol. He talks often about doing the things that his God tells him to do - and yet this fellow is so narcissistic and egoistic that his thoughts are the product of that filter, the egoistic filter. He thinks he's listening to he real thing, but is he really? Until he sheds the oppressive egoistic part of himself, he will never hear the true voice that lies within, the I Am of you, me, and him.

 

Actually, I'm going to correct myself here. Yes...he is listening to the true voice. But he has cotton in his ears. This true voice is leading him into problem after problem so that he will finally recognize the thick shell of ego that must be cracked around him. My understanding and observation of the way it works is that The Voice will direct us into the painful situations time and time again until we finally See the message it's trying to tell us - where we're going wrong. If we don't respond to that voice and learn the particular personality-shedding thing that The Voice is trying to tell us - well then the Voice starts hitting us with a 2 x 4 and starts causing physical ailment or causing accidents that are much more in the physical realm, so that we HAVE to take care of it. Sooner or later The Voice will bring us to our knees when needed.

 

Many never do learn the lessons. I'm afraid our friend is one that might be true of. But on the other hand, he's been placed in Joe's and my world for a time. Who knows why that is? He keeps coming back to us for some reason, although he thinks we're devilish heathens of some sort. So - as such - we just follow the Dao on this relationship and do what's in front of us, in the most loving fashion possible. Maybe there's a little something here for him to see...

Edited September 30, 2014 by manitou

[Marblehead]

You used a lot more words than Bud did but yes, you did express your understanding well.

 

 

BTW You might want to go to Buddhist school so that you can lose some of those attachments you regularly imply exist.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Marblehead

[manitou]

Thanks, Marbles

[joeblast]

 

I had to click on the thread simply because I wondered if this was still being debated I dont think I can put it any more simply than I already have in how this manifests. the result is simply that those "pop!" random thoughts happen less and less often, until barely at all, and then....just peace, equanimity...meditation is sitting and smiling and shining happily for a few moments...life becomes much of that also. I sometimes mostly feel that I would have had to have left society to have gone further at the time.

[Anoesjka]

After years of watching the thinker, I think (really?) the thinker is an excellent association maker. Random things like images, pop up from your subconscious, and the thinker is taking that as a base for a thought.

 

When I'm in the process of some meditations, I remove the attachment of the thinker to subconscious images bubbling up. But I think the bubbling still exists, even if you're letting go of the process of associating.

[manitou]

Woof.

[Bud Jetsun]

To say there is nothing when thoughts are absent is to miss all that is real.

[ion]

Empty mind = mind empty of faculty, all senses attention and concentration out side of mind. What is thinking any way? Even If we could put that outside of the mind, I don't think we should. Thinking requires your attention, deeper thinking does not; intuition is spontaneous. Attention on thought causes hesitation

 

Mind always was and will be still.; there's no room to move around. Mind is always quiet; inside it there never has been sound.

 

When all attention is outward and breath is unaffected, but instead remains self regulated this is when, unnoticed the cessation of self and thought occurs.

 

No mind is to blink and miss the moment there never was, this gives way to a mind empty of self; Awareness without dualistic naming and without any consciousness rising.

Edited October 1, 2014 by ion

[manitou]

I think that ruminating is confused with real thinking. Ruminating about what we should have said, ruminating about what someone did, ruminating about old past hurts and new current fears.

 

The absence of thought can certainly be attained in meditation - plus the absence of thought, per se, can be attained by chopping wood, carrying water - assuming that one 'becomes' the task. It's the stuff in between the two that are the cause of the judgments, the fears, the valuations, the arrogance, the stupidity. That thought which places ourselves as the subject and talks about the object - the illusive part of the equation.

 

Yes, intuition is spontaneous. But does the person who is doing the intuiting; would his intuitive actions be the same as another's? I think inner development has everything to do with this. It's a question of which filters we are still wearing - are we wearing a filter of extreme narcissism, or a filter of arrogance? Does our filter have to have all the answers, all the time - or are we wearing a filter of meekness and fear? Intuition, my guess would be, that intuition would not be the same for each person.

 

So....I do think we have the same voice at the bottom of our human form - but the human forms will vary from person to person depending on realization of self and removal of filters that prohibit clarity.

[Bud Jetsun]

Empty mind = mind empty of faculty, all senses attention and concentration out side of mind. What is thinking any way? Even If we could put that outside of the mind, I don't think we should. Thinking requires your attention, deeper thinking does not; intuition is spontaneous. Attention on thought causes hesitation

 

Mind always was and will be still.; there's no room to move around. Mind is always quiet; inside it there never has been sound.

 

When all attention is outward and breath is unaffected, but instead remains self regulated this is when, unnoticed the cessation of self and thought occurs.

 

No mind is to blink and miss the moment there never was, this gives way to a mind empty of self; Awareness without dualistic naming and without any consciousness rising.

 

There are no limits on the minds state of being that are not self-imposed.

 

Why bother to meditate or 'practice' anything? Your choice of beliefs already pre-cludes your liberation.

 

 

[ion]

To say there is nothing when thoughts are absent is to miss all that is real.

How do you mean, and obviously thoughts do not think themselves, have you ever even heard a person imply that thoughts think thoughts for a person to think? I hope that does not sound condesending that is not the intention.

 

Consciousness operate by a certain format, just as anything in life. Even the Tao Te Ching the title means, the "way of changes"repeat way. I think that just as when an objectfalls within the visual field and a consciousness arises dependent on the object, so also within the mind. It is the holding of self concept within mind that causes most mental clutter. when we have calmed the body and quieted the mind yet still not quiet We hold inwardly with attention. So long as the attention is on self ,a consciousness is present and so thoughts arise. I also tend to think there is a connection between breath and thought. Slow breath, slow thought; hold thought/no thought, breath will also hold. Also heart beat and thought. Although I do believe in the mutual arising of things and interdependent origination, I do not think a thought births a thought, they are just connected because that is the way of changes

 

 

I think that ruminating is confused with real thinking. Ruminating about what we should have said, ruminating about what someone did, ruminating about old past hurts and new current fears.

 

The absence of thought can certainly be attained in meditation - plus the absence of thought, per se, can be attained by chopping wood, carrying water - assuming that one 'becomes' the task. It's the stuff in between the two that are the cause of the judgments, the fears, the valuations, the arrogance, the stupidity. That thought which places ourselves as the subject and talks about the object - the illusive part of the equation.

 

Yes, intuition is spontaneous. But does the person who is doing the intuiting; would his intuitive actions be the same as another's? I think inner development has everything to do with this. It's a question of which filters we are still wearing - are we wearing a filter of extreme narcissism, or a filter of arrogance? Does our filter have to have all the answers, all the time - or are we wearing a filter of meekness and fear? Intuition, my guess would be, that intuition would not be the same for each person.

 

So....I do think we have the same voice at the bottom of our human form - but the human forms will vary from person to person depending on realization of self and removal of filters that prohibit clarity.

Hello Manitou You are a very intelligent and thoughtful person and I always enjoy reading your contributoins.

 

I think you are pretty much correct there. That makes perfect sense that "here "would be different then "there" as with all things.

 

I do believe that peoples intuitive response would differ, but the word difference is so cut and dry, black and white. Difference implies so much.

 

It is my opinion that intuition is non linear, a product and aspect of a particular moment and environment whose activation requires little to absolutely no interference by hesitation. It arises as it does because there is no time to think; intuition is immediate and requires immediate attentiveness to it's follow through. I would be more inclined to say that however powerful intuitive actions are when carried out, they are also very fragile and so the only point where I quasi-disagree with you is about the filters. I do believe that in any given group bound by social bonds or through the route of member identification, that this is a case of at least a partially formed collective -one mind, and that this one mind is like a pond, the thoughts are as fish swimming through the pond ie they drift freely through all minds except where filters are concerned, and also that the expression of the thought is a reflection of the filters. Filters also likely keep thoughts out of one mind and stuck in another, but intuition I believe is different. It is more of a summary then an idea.

 

Therefore I would say that two people sharing one moment who were driven to intuitive action would have relative intuition to the stimuli or situation. Intuition is of the moment and environment. If one person is acting intuitively or a intuitive impulse is forming within them, the other persons intuition will be aware of that for lack of better terminology and would form in relation to the other intuitive formation as an aspect of the environment, this would also cause the other intuitive formation to respond relatively to the second which was already forming in such a matter so that when executed, one does not jumble the other

 

Now; are you thinking what I am thinking?

 

There are no limits on the minds state of being that are not self-imposed. Why bother to meditate or 'practice' anything? Your choice of beliefs already pre-cludes your liberation.

 

Although the self certainly does impose limitations on mind, the mind has its own limitations due to its physiological connection to the encephalon and central nervous system. Again anything is possible but only in it's time and place..Just as Jesus who was given power over all things, when tempted during his meditation in the wilderness to cast himself from a cliff to prove, and just because he is or was the son of God, he responded that it was nt good to tempt the lord your God

 

Nature has a way, and it follows itself. As I have mentioned I am one who sees and believes the mutual arising of things, and the dependent origination of a thing. You can not step out of that matrix and expect universal reality which is on due course and dependent on things being in a natural position to just stop, fuck the world and bend over backward for you or me; that is the ultimate ego-centric self indulgence All things have their time and place which are the appropriate positions for those conditions. One who has advanced along the path far enough to know he is not a separate entity divided and apart from his surroundings would never even consider that he could do with his mind what he will. LOL!

 

Conditions are the agent that cause causes, just as intention is action, and physiological action is both an extension of the action and an aspect of the activity, conditions are like intentions that they cause action/causation. One can not cause an effect when the conditions for both cause and effect are neither present nor ripe.

 

There are very much limitations placed on mind by that exact thing, mutual arising and interdependent origination, you may not even get the urge to do something unless conditions were present for the thought/urge. The mind when perfected is full of emptiness so still it becomes a reflection. The perfected mind is not full and active looking to take action independently..

 

Your final question concerns me for you...are you serious when you ask "Why bother to meditate or 'practice' anything? Your choice of beliefs already pre-cludes your liberation." To the statements abuout beliefs yes and no. If it were true that beliefs were a limitation, I can speak for myself when I say, I would still be a lost child of the world, like wise will a christian gain a soul and go to heaven or hell when they die just because they believed that?. You cant say that they would attain to the originless or Nibbana and just call that heaven and God because to do so is to impose a world of duality on th non-dual. It is not possable to tdo that. Even to so much as feel and call or compare, liken or suggest that Nibbana is blis; to just even so much as recognise it as bliss is to lose it completely.

 

And that there in is also the answer to "why we bother"to practice dhyana. At the very least it is tto prepare us to let go of the relative existence to be able to merge when it is time to merge. This can be now while we live, or at the time that the body has died. Simple attachment, intentions beliefs impulses habbits addictions and other stuff can quite easily jam up a persons death or segue into an enlightened state; and so we sit still and practice dhyana. Another reason is that it is when the mind is empty, or shall I say when we have no-mind and we have come to stillness, in this state there is no Karmic accumulation, walk around and you accumulate karma. Chop wood ;accumulate karma. Sit still with no-mind, break free of karma. When we sit in no-mind. More so, chop wood stack wood walk around hurt back add tension to muscles. Musceltension potentiates stress and habitual tension which facilitates lethargy, aches and mood swings.

 

 

The idea with dhyana is we want to become utterly relaxed, calmed and still. We dont want to breath heavy throwing a maul over the shoulder, we don't want to do as I had done in february loading a 150lb douglas fir round in the back of your rig for firewood and dislocate your pelvic bone laying on the ground for two weeks while caring for 2 children. Chopping wood made me disabled and unable to practice sitting dhyana for about 6 months in which time everything was cool for a month or two despite not working due to an injury, but after two months it was apparent I had not sat with dhyana and shit became like normal American household it was insanity! And this is a nother reason.

 

Tension and anxiety are habitual. Before Dhyana I sat at the computer like so . the certain areas housing the habitual tension would become tense and my posture would contort. Every so often I would become self aware/self conscious realizing that my chin was way up and my neck shooting forward, my shoulders pulledpulled up and in towards my ears, and of course an akward spine. That is tension and due to my own sensitivities I get bad tension. Also I have been cutting, chopping and stacking wood through out my life and this has never aided or benifited that situation at all. I have hurt muscles tendons back ribs and shoulders throwing a maul; I will say that I do quite enjoy the aquisition and making and burning of good seasoned madrone though, it is a very satisfying feeling, but not quite meditationcan you integrate aspects of meditation into wood chopping yes absolutely. Is it then meditation? Not at all.

 

So there is that habitual tension that manifes as a contorted body that when relaxed ,aches. Now lets say I am sitting at the computer all contorte4d and misshaped as I sit and argue with zen Buddhists on face book (jk )in this contorted shape, there is a pool of latent anxiety within me. Little things about the computer, like, it is jamming up and moving too slow cause a percolation of anxiety it goes up and pours down over me, but even if the Buddhist Im arguing with is using passive agressive tactics to make me angry and more anxiety spouts a plume from the pool that washes on me, and my son through himself at my back while I was contorted and focussed on my argument and the feeling like I was disrespected by my son trying to play releases more anxiety, the being startled releases more anxiety but it doesn't free the anxiety it just splashes over me and soaks back in like a crashed and receding wave on a sandy beach. If I am really shooken up and pissed, maybe I should go out and chop a little wood til I calm my mood down, but thenits majorly important to go sit, because for these same reasons people go mad or take meds, they give up on their families or hold resentments and blame their little ones for the anxiety and tension and for being easily started. heres why

 

Tension and anxiety are carried with you. If you lose them you willsoon find why it is called habitual; you cant get rid of it it actually accumulates unless you sit, and IME it can go away for ever really quickly.

 

When you sit you melt;relax get into posture and melt. The posture is important to a degree because you want to be in a position that does not require effort to be in. You want to be tied up in a knot but nice and symmetricly. It is because of tensionand anxiety and aches that you want your spine upright and aligned to a string of gravity because when you let go in that position, stop holding and melt your vertebre will settle into a position softly, your shoulders will relax and you wont find yourself cramping up in 20 minutes, this is what the position posture and mudra is all about, because for people who are sitting for 45 minutes plus if they were not like that they become sore and ache and not able to sit much longer. Full lotus is a very symmetric and balanced knot you can tie yourself into to fall into dhyana without falling over and out of dhyana.

 

 

Once in a knot, you can begin to truly relax and reach the state of profound comfort, even though your body is made uncomfortable by full lotus it doesnt matter because you can not react to that, the discomfort loses its thatness and just becomes an odd feeling and despite the physical body you find profound comforth that is both beyond and not of the body, you relax all your muscles, when you feel tension you relax it. You are erasing history from tape when you relax your body like this you are training it to feel good and relaxed in social situations and not to turn on you, there s no anxiety around. Breathing through the diphragmallows for deep breath wich allows for slower breath which allows for quieter and slower thought, still no anxiety. In this state of sitting and not bucking logs and splitting knotty pine, your heart rate and breath mutually slow way down and now guess what can occur?

 

Homeostasis. You have patiently sat your self into a state that the body can and will regulate all vital statts annd relaease that tension and anxiety, heel itself in manyways and also the mind. I put an end to chronic tooth pain in 3 spots in one 45 minute sit one year ago. I went to my spot in the woods and right as I arrived the teeth started hurting, one set off every other in the group, and I had no asprin w/me so in faith I sat. for a good 10 minutes my heart pounded a bbit more then normaly for the event. I was shaking in pain but I have determinism. Using diaphragmatic breathing techniques I was able to slow my breath and still the mind which slows the heart rate which obviously soothes the pain, but more so, it actually is you r consciousmind telling your nervous sytem and brain that "thank you for informing me about the damage in the mouth. I am aware of the problem and when the occaision presents its self I will tend to the issue, thank you again I no longer need to be reminded of the issue"and the pain will go away. Now you can go split some wood.

[9th]

Mind does not create thoughts in the same way the body does not create carbon dioxide. Both transmute formations of materials into other formations of materials. As long as you are alive, the process of transmutation will occur, and there's no need to get hung up on "not thinking" in exactly the same way there's no need to get hung up on "not breathing". The real question is: is your breath tortured, labored, and a source of ever-increasing tension? Or is it open, natural, and a source of ever-enriching benefit?

 

Dont listen to the words, listen to your experience.