Sky Meadows State Park - Labor Day 2020
In the tradition of the Mindfulness
(
Vipassana
)
practice, we shift from focusing on the content of thought to the process of thinking
,
we move from focusing on
thinking
in the mind
to the experience of how is it
in the body
.
Recognising thinking to the process of thinking
L
ast week we explored recognising thinking,
realising w
hen we are
thinking about planning
or
remembering
as well as ru
mination
.
This week, w
e
familiarise ourselves with the process of thinking itself.
When I notice
the first thought I
have upon a
waki
ng
is about
planning,
what is behind it? A
nxiety?
If so, I need to attend to the anxiety. When I feel
anger,
is there
hurt
associated
with it
which need
s
to b
e
cared for.
O
ccasional
checking-in
can provide insight
.
W
hat is the pace of
my
thinking?
Is it hectic?
If so, I need to
relax and soften to slow
it
down.
If we think in words, h
ow about
imagining the thinking is happening in a language that is not familiar to u
s
. So we have no idea of what the thinking
is
about - what is
being said. B
ut w
e
a
re
curio
u
s
a
bout
the emotions that
they
a
re
expressi
ng
– the emotional tone
of the voice:
is it
calm or agitate
d?
Especially in moments when we f
eel
really frustrated, o
bserve
the quality and the process of thinking. Is there annoyance, disappointment or a sense of hopelessness? Or
contrariwise
how does it feel when someone was kind or appreciate
d you
? N
otic
ing
the quality of my thinking
when my teenager patiently helps me with a technology issue,
which comes so easy for her
?
Is there a location in the body where these words are coming from? Or is there a screen where these images are projected?
What a
re
the physical sensations that a
rise
with thinking?
Is the forehead smooth or furrowed? The area around the eyes, relaxed or tight? Are the shoulders lifted? Is the belly contracted or relaxed?
These are all physical sensations of t
hinking
.
It’
s
as if the nervous system
were
reaching down to the body and preparing various muscles t
o
fight, fle
e
or freeze.
When we actually locate the thoughts in the body, we might discover that t
hey are
only a small piece of us, with s
o many
other emotions, feelings
and
sensations that make up this being. Thinking is just
a
small part of me,
there are all these other parts -
the body, the heart,
a sense of presence.
When we see the thinking in this way,
is
t
here a possibility
of
shift
ing
our relationship to it?
When the news makes me feel righteous and
like
the Other
is
monstrous
T
hrough the course of the day, when things are intense, I have to remember
Mahatma Gandhi’
s
words:
"Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit."
During the height of
C
a
mbodia’
s
gruesome
civil war,
the
Buddhist monk
Maha Ghosananda
(
known as
t
he Mahatma Gandhi of Cambodia
)
would knock on peoples’ door
s
with
the
message, “
P
ut down y
our
weapon and kill the hat
red
in y
ou
r hearts.”
Some years later he was speaking at a
n anti-landmine
rally in DC: “These landmines started in some hearts as hatred, so we have to get rid of the
hatred
from the hearts first before we can get rid of
from the earth.”
This is t
he importance of
self-reflecti
on
, questioning what am I doing with all thi
s
thinking. Is it beneficial?
Watch the process of
my
thinking, so that I can keep the hatred out of m
y
heart.
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