Letting go of the contents of the mind

[dwai]

In course of meditation, often the mind-stuff (mind's contents - aka thoughts) rises up and we can end up getting attached to it. We are not always good at not judging ourselves as the contents of the mind reveals some not so pleasant aspect of us. 

 

So a very significant revelation in not such a wholesome way became apparent...

 

Consider for a moment that we have a very wholesome, healthy, balanced diet. As a corollary thereof, our excretion will be smooth, uneventful and will keep us healthy, our digestive system functioning properly. If we have a day or two of binging on really unhealthy dietary choices, the results may be painful the next morning (or later in the day, as our schedule dictates )

 

No matter whether we had a good BM or a bad one, we don't hold on to the notion that the by-product of the process belongs to us. We let go of it...flushed down the toilet...gone...

 

Same too with when we do cleanses...a lot of deep junk comes out...we let go...flush it down and are happy about it being gone. We feel cleansed after...

 

The mind-stuff is no different. It is a by-product of what our consciousness consumes. If our consciousness consumes wholesome and healthy material, the thoughts that are generated will gradually become wholesome and tranquil. We watch and let go...

 

Even if our mind has had a day or two of binging on unhealthy and toxic stuff...the thoughts that are generated will reflect that. We should still watch and let go. The by-product of what the consciousness consumes (mind-stuff) does not belong to us, any more that what the by-product of what our body consumes is.

 

Similarly, when we do cleanses of the consciousness (mind-body practices, meditation, etc), a lot of deep junk comes out...as mind-stuff. Why then should we feel bad about it's contents? We should watch, let go and be glad that it's gone. We might have to cleanse over and over again...until the consciousness is clear of all the garbage. But that garbage should not define who we are and how we behave. We have to let go...

 

Suffering happens when we hold on to the garbage, thinking that it defines who and what we are. The fact is that we are not. The garbage is just a reflection of what we are impinged with (stimuli - objects of our perception and conception). 

 

[Everything]

Delete.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Everything

[Shad282]

 

 

The mind-stuff is no different. It is a by-product of what our consciousness consumes. If our consciousness consumes wholesome and healthy material, the thoughts that are generated will gradually become wholesome and tranquil. We watch and let go...

 

I m not sure if there is a difference between the content of the thoughts, in an objective reality, because negative and positive thought is just a judgement, while a thought is as is, and content and clutter the mind, if you are not the creator of the thought. 

 

Even if our mind has had a day or two of binging on unhealthy and toxic stuff...the thoughts that are generated will reflect that. We should still watch and let go. The by-product of what the consciousness consumes (mind-stuff) does not belong to us, any more that what the by-product of what our body consumes is.

 

Similarly, when we do cleanses of the consciousness (mind-body practices, meditation, etc), a lot of deep junk comes out...as mind-stuff. Why then should we feel bad about it's contents? We should watch, let go and be glad that it's gone. We might have to cleanse over and over again...until the consciousness is clear of all the garbage. But that garbage should not define who we are and how we behave. We have to let go...

 

You keep saying "watch and let go", but how do you do that?... do i say to my thought, "I let you go" ? what if letting go comes from an aversion approach?

 

Suffering happens when we hold on to the garbage, thinking that it defines who and what we are. The fact is that we are not. The garbage is just a reflection of what we are impinged with (stimuli - objects of our perception and conception). 

 

Won't suffering also come from holding to stuff that are ideal, perceived positive or right by the society or us? like a person getting attached to the identity of being the good or spiritual or...? 

^ questions.

 

Thanks!

[dwai]

I m not sure if there is a difference between the content of the thoughts, in an objective reality, because negative and positive thought is just a judgement, while a thought is as is, and content and clutter the mind, if you are not the creator of the thought.

 

Indeed there is not. Yet we tend to have an aversion to, or guilt associated with those thoughts we deem "negative".

 

You keep saying "watch and let go", but how do you do that?... do i say to my thought, "I let you go" ? what if letting go comes from an aversion approach?

 

With time, meditation reveals a witness who is separate and distinct from the thoughts (or contents of the mind). Letting go, is the process where, being aware of the "witness I", you let go of the thoughts. Precisely like you would see some debris flowing in a stream and choose to not pick it up. Our general tendency is to pick up everything that we see floating in the proverbial stream...

 

 

Won't suffering also come from holding to stuff that are ideal, perceived positive or right by the society or us? like a person getting attached to the identity of being the good or spiritual or...?

 

Yes

[Prasanna]

William Shakespeare says in his play 'Hamlet' that "There is a method in this madness". This applies to spirituality also. I learnt Vedanta Philosophy from Vedanta Academy under my guru Swami. Parthasarathy. If you are interested in Vedanta philosophy which gives the answers to most of the queries here, you may try reading the books of Swami. Parthasarathy like the "Vedanta Treatise" also sold in its new title called "The Eternities". There are very many books which cover the basics of Vedanta extensively, written by the same author. You may visit the following website to have a glimpse of what is offered by him in the following website:                                                   www.vedantaworld.org                  

[Fa Xin]

One method in particular I've been using lately is "quiet sitting" aka just sit there quietly in the present moment and do nothing.

 

Thoughts arise and sometimes I follow them but I always come back to the moment. I don't follow the thoughts but I don't not follow them either.

 

Actually I was wondering if there's an official name for this sort of meditation? My teacher simply called it "quiet sitting". No breath counting or object of focus. Just awareness.

[dwai]

One method in particular I've been using lately is "quiet sitting" aka just sit there quietly in the present moment and do nothing.

 

Thoughts arise and sometimes I follow them but I always come back to the moment. I don't follow the thoughts but I don't not follow them either.

 

Actually I was wondering if there's an official name for this sort of meditation? My teacher simply called it "quiet sitting". No breath counting or object of focus. Just awareness.

 

Being Present?

[thelerner]

My sensei used to say 'Don't leave your Aikido on the mat'.  Meaning, you move, you interact, it's all Aikido, blending, seeking harmony.  

 

Likewise, one of the main goals of meditation is not to leave it on the mat. The quiet mind- keep it, protect it

[C T]

 

Actually I was wondering if there's an official name for this sort of meditation? My teacher simply called it "quiet sitting". No breath counting or object of focus. Just awareness.

This would be similar to vipassana, or what some would term as 'clear seeing'. 

 

'Clear Seeing' means no particular attention is given when thoughts come and go. 

Freedom from grasping and aversion is the final result of such a practice. 

[Fa Xin]

This would be similar to vipassana, or what some would term as 'clear seeing'. 

 

'Clear Seeing' means no particular attention is given when thoughts come and go. 

Freedom from grasping and aversion is the final result of such a practice. 

Thanks CT!

I suppose it would be!

 

I guess Vipassana didnt come to mind since it starts with following the breath, but kind of morphs into the main practice of "observing"

 

I find the meditation is very relaxing, but takes practice.  

At first your trying hard to do nothing....

what a conundrum!!!!

 

 

Makes sense why you start with focusing your mind on something, then on nothing, and not just jumping right into the "nothing".

Edited March 9, 2017 by Fa Xin

[C T]

Thanks CT!

I suppose it would be!

 

I guess Vipassana didnt come to mind since it starts with following the breath, but kind of morphs into the main practice of "observing"

 

I find the meditation is very relaxing, but takes practice.  

At first your trying hard to do nothing....

what a conundrum!!!!

 

 

Makes sense why you start with focusing your mind on something, then on nothing, and not just jumping right into the "nothing".

Im not thoroughly well-studied in all the many different Buddhist traditions, but i believe the practice of 'following the breath' is synonymous with shamatha meditation, and not vipassana. 

 

In Tibetan forms of meditation both shamatha and vipassana are very clearly distinguished, whereas in the Theravadin traditions its not so clear because there are elements of both in their main practice of vipassana, but they do not associated the concentrative aspect to shamatha, rather they just say its all part of vipassana. The Tibetan approach will eventually lead to an integration of both methods as well, but at the beginning usually this is not so encouraged. 

[Spotless]

Quote from dwai - original post:

"Suffering happens when we hold on to the garbage, thinking that it defines who and what we are. The fact is that we are not. The garbage is just a reflection of what we are impinged with (stimuli - objects of our perception and conception)."

End Quote

-------------------------------

 

This is a somewhat confusing if not incorrect way of looking at this - it creates an otherness and a sort of victimhood thinking.

 

It is true that "holding on" is the cause of suffering - but it is not just holding on to the garbage - it is everything.

 

Additionally, the "garbage" is partly "just a reflection of what we are impinged with" but it is that which we attract within the frequency of our illusion (karma). We hold what we resist - we are living our resistance. Our resistance adhears us to pasts and futures - we are glued in it.

 

When we are meditating we are a bit like a bubbling pot:

 

The pictures and movements bubbling up in our heads are in a sense the misty top portion of the pot of soup and the smells bring about all sorts of pictures/thinking - but the main body of the soup is far more the contents of the whole. We think the important part is the head awareness apart from the whole. And we think constantly from a framework that both the head and body are other than each other and that we are other than everything beyond our own skin.

 

Garbage is not the enemy - quality is not the element - thoughts are not good and/or garbage.

 

In meditation energies move through us - in us - and refinement occurs deep inside us - in our body being - not out in some astral plane. We are moving toward / into different frequencies while our mind loops and current karmic dial is still set in its most current resistances.

 

Some portions of us move off some resistance and great amounts of locked energy is refreshed and available - this is the key component of meditation. BUT - it is not what you are seeing here right now.

 

SEE that the greatest value is not in the migration to finer thinking- it is not the refinement of the bodies - it IS the process of unlocking - locking up - unlocking - locking up - unlocking - locking up - unlocking - locking up. At some point we come to see the futility of gluing and that every sticky bit of it is resistance. We feel this IN the body - we feel lighter and more resilient and energized after meditation IN our bodies. Then we run out and lock up again. Over and over - and we think " I " am getting better and better and refining my way to liberty. Try to see that when you start to see the process of lock - unlock - you are seeing meditation at work.

 

We do not then let go when we Awaken - in a sense the electromagnetic energy holding all this in place is withheld - and in that moment - the glue falls away. Cut the power to an electromagnet holding up a pile of metal and crushed cars and they drop - it only takes a moment - a simple shift to neutral - a drop from the position of resistance/fear - from position.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Spotless

[dwai]

Quote from dwai - original post:

"Suffering happens when we hold on to the garbage, thinking that it defines who and what we are. The fact is that we are not. The garbage is just a reflection of what we are impinged with (stimuli - objects of our perception and conception)."

End Quote

-------------------------------

 

This is a somewhat confusing if not incorrect way of looking at this - it creates an otherness and a sort of victimhood thinking.

 

It is true that "holding on" is the cause of suffering - but it is not just holding on to the garbage - it is everything.

 

Additionally, the "garbage" is partly "just a reflection of what we are impinged with" but it is that which we attract within the frequency of our illusion (karma). We hold what we resist - we are living our resistance. Our resistance adhears us to pasts and futures - we are glued in it.

 

When we are meditating we are a bit like a bubbling pot:

 

The pictures and movements bubbling up in our heads are in a sense the misty top portion of the pot of soup and the smells bring about all sorts of pictures/thinking - but the main body of the soup is far more the contents of the whole. We think the important part is the head awareness apart from the whole. And we think constantly from a framework that both the head and body are other than each other and that we are other than everything beyond our own skin.

 

Garbage is not the enemy - quality is not the element - thoughts are not good and/or garbage.

 

In meditation energies move through us - in us - and refinement occurs deep inside us - in our body being - not out in some astral plane. We are moving toward / into different frequencies while our mind loops and current karmic dial is still set in its most current resistances.

 

Some portions of us move off some resistance and great amounts of locked energy is refreshed and available - this is the key component of meditation. BUT - it is not what you are seeing here right now.

 

SEE that the greatest value is not in the migration to finer thinking- it is not the refinement of the bodies - it IS the process of unlocking - locking up - unlocking - locking up - unlocking - locking up - unlocking - locking up. At some point we come to see the futility of gluing and that every sticky bit of it is resistance. We feel this IN the body - we feel lighter and more resilient and energized after meditation IN our bodies. Then we run out and lock up again. Over and over - and we think " I " am getting better and better and refining my way to liberty. Try to see that when you start to see the process of lock - unlock - you are seeing meditation at work.

 

We do not then let go when we Awaken - in a sense the electromagnetic energy holding all this in place is withheld - and in that moment - the glue falls away. Cut the power to an electromagnet holding up a pile of metal and crushed cars and they drop - it only takes a moment - a simple shift to neutral - a drop from the position of resistance/fear - from position.

 

Wow! As usual, wonderfully expounded. What I meant by "holding on" is identification with the mind/body/thoughts, etc. What I meant by "letting go", is stop identification with these.

 

Stopping the identification seems to stop the "from position". 

 

And thank you also for a timely reminder

Edited March 9, 2017 by dwai

[johndoe2012]

Can a non-doer let go of the contents of the mind?

 

Or is the letting go also seen as yet another activity?

[dwai]

Can a non-doer let go of the contents of the mind?

 

Or is the letting go also seen as yet another activity?

Imho, a non-doer is a non-doer when he/she has let go of the doer-ship. That is, stopped identification with body-mind and its positions. Letting go is not doing. It doesn't take any effort to let go. It only seems like it does. All it takes is real self-honesty.