Homework to Zencast 150 - Mindfulness Meditation Course Wk 4

Mindfulness Meditation (Week 4)

by Gil Fronsdal

Sometimes people think that the point of meditation
is to stop thinking — to have a silent mind. This does happen occasionally,
but it is not necessarily the point of meditation. Thoughts are an important
part of life, and mindfulness practice is not supposed to be a struggle
against them. It’s more useful to be friends with our thoughts than
thinking them unfortunate distractions. In mindfulness, we are not stopping
thoughts as much as overcoming any preoccupation we have with them.

Mindfulness is not thinking about things. (It is not "meditating
on" some topic, as people often say.) It is a non-discursive observation
of our life in all its aspects. In those moments when thinking predominates,
mindfulness is the clear and silent awareness that we are thinking.
I found it helpful and relaxing when someone said, "For the purpose
of meditation, nothing is particularly worth thinking about." Thoughts
can come and go as they wish, and the meditator does not need to become
involved with them. We are not interested in engaging in the content
of our thoughts; mindfulness of thinking is simply recognizing we are
thinking.

In meditation, when thoughts are subtle and in the background, or when
random thoughts pull you away from awareness of the present, it is enough
to resume mindfulness of breathing. However, when your preoccupation
with thoughts is stronger than your ability to easily let go of them,
then direct your mindfulness to being clearly aware that thinking is
occurring.

Strong bouts of thinking are fuelled largely by identification and preoccupation
with thoughts. By clearly observing our thinking, we step outside the
field of identification. Thinking will usually then soften to a calm
and unobtrusive stream.

Sometimes thinking can be strong and compulsive even while we are aware
of it. When this happens, it can be useful to notice how such thinking
is affecting your body, physically and energetically. It may cause pressure
in the head, tension in the forehead, tightness of the shoulders, or
a buzzing as if the head were filled with thousands of bumblebees. Let
your mindfulness feel the sensations of tightness, pressure, or whatever
you discover. It is easy to be caught up in the story of these preoccupying
thoughts, but if you feel the physical sensation of thinking, then you
are bringing attention to the present moment rather than the story line
of the thoughts.

When a particular theme keeps reappearing in our thinking, it is likely
that it is being triggered by a strong emotion. In that case, no matter
how many times you recognize a repeated thought or concern, come back
to the breath. If the associated emotion isn’t recognized, the concern
is liable to keep reappearing. For example, people who plan a lot, often
find that planning thoughts arise out of apprehension. If they do not
acknowledge the fear, the fear will be a factory of new planning thoughts.
If there is a repetitive thought pattern, see if you can discover an
emotion associated with it, and then practice mindfulness of the emotion.
Ground yourself in the present moment in the emotion itself. When you
acknowledge the emotion, often it will cease generating those particular
thoughts.

Thoughts are a huge part of our lives. Many of us spend much time inhabiting
the cognitive world of stories and ideas. Mindfulness practice won’t
stop the thinking, but it will help prevent us from compulsively following
thoughts that have appeared. This will help us become more balanced,
so our physical, emotional and cognitive sides all work together as
a whole.

Mindfulness Exercises for the Fourth Week

1. For the remaining two weeks of this class, extend
   your daily meditation session to 30 minutes. For at least the first
   ten minutes, keep your meditation simple — focus on the breath.
   To the best of your ability, when some other experience gets in
   the way of being with the breath, simply let it go and come back
   to the breath. After this ten-minute warm-up period, switch to more
   open mindfulness. This means continuing with the breath until something
   else becomes more compelling. When physical sensations, emotions
   or thinking predominate, let go of the breath and focus your meditative
   awareness on these. When nothing else is compelling, come back to
   the breathing.

2. Spend some time reflecting on the assumptions,
   attitudes and beliefs you have about your thoughts. Do you usually
   assume that they are either true false, right or wrong? Do you identify
   with your thoughts? That is, do you think that what you think defines
   who you are? Do you believe that your thinking will solve your problems
   or that it is the only means to understand something? After you
   have reflected on this on your own, have a conversation with someone
   about what you have discovered.

3. Once during the next week, spend a two-hour period
   tracking the kinds of things you think about. Find some way to remind
   yourself every few minutes to notice what you are thinking. Are
   the thoughts primarily self-referential or primarily about others?
   Do they tend to be critical or judgmental? What is the frequency
   of thoughts of "should" or "ought"? Are the
   thoughts mostly directed to the future, to the past, or toward fantasy?
   Do you tend more toward optimistic thoughts or pessimistic ones?
   Do your thoughts tend to be apprehensive or peaceful? Contented
   or dissatisfied? This is not an exercise in judging what you notice,
   but in simply noticing. Most people live in their thoughts. This
   is a two-hour exercise in regularly and frequently stepping outside
   of the thought-stream to take up residence, albeit briefly, in a
   mindful awareness that is bigger than the thinking mind.

4. Once during the next week, spend a two-hour period
   giving particular attention to your intentions. Before we speak
   or act there is always an impulse of motivation or intention. Notice
   the various kinds of desires and aversions that fuel your intentions.
   For this exercise, you might choose a period where you can go about
   some ordinary activity in a quiet and mostly undisturbed way. You
   might even slow your activities down some so that you are more likely
   to notice and evaluate your motivations.