Category: Stilling the Thoughts

Empty Mind Meditation, Stilling Thoughts, No Internal Dialogue

—Empty-Mind, Stilling Thoughts and Stopping Internal Dialogue—

This article is on the subject of empty-mind “no-mind” meditation, and slowing (or even stopping) the internal chatter and internal dialogue of the mind— all as a result of meditation practice. It is a tribute to what meditating has brought me in terms of practicing mindfulness in day-to-day activities. To me, this is the point of meditation, which in my case is sitting meditation (as far as types of meditation go). I began taking meditation seriously only a few years ago and have seen steady growth, personal empowerment and a tangible peace translate into everyday life.

I had an experience the other day that I would like to share. I found myself at a social gathering. It was a birthday party for a girl turning five held at a public place. There were a number of adults there also. It struck me about half way through the party how incredibly relaxed I was. Of course none of the kids were mine. I’m sure this helped. What I found interesting is how little I was thinking, if at all.

The kids were fascinating. The parents were fascinating. Let’s face it—I was fascinated. I participated in conversations. I laughed when something funny happened. I was involved fully, but I was doing almost no thinking. I found myself remembering how awful this would have been for me in the past. I would have been thinking up a storm. I would have been worried about what others were thinking. I would have been an absolute mess.

I began to appreciate this difference and how far I have come. How had I managed to move out of that old space? What secret had I learned? The truth is that it has all been due to meditation. At some point I just gave up worrying having realized the absolute absurdity of it. What is the point after all? Nothing is going to ever happen the way we imagine it anyway. We can only prepare to be utterly unprepared.

If instead we prepare by not preparing we will be totally prepared—for there will be no prevailing judgments in our way. We will be free to be spontaneous and honestly responsive. So somehow in the last however many years I have managed to integrate this insight into my every day behavior. The contrast between this present state and my past is nothing short of amazing.

I remember the past very well. I remember encountering individuals who appeared to feel as comfortable then as I feel now. I remember how terrified I was of them. They were obviously capable of saying and doing anything. As this occurred to me I felt compassion and respect for where others could potentially be in terms of this process.

I also wanted to just enjoy the new level of relaxation. I was determined to thoroughly appreciate the work I have done on myself—or rather, the work that has been “done on me” by nature and circumstance. I am so grateful for awareness and comprehension. All the struggling and wriggling around of the psyche to let light simply be light—to let light join with all light. It is the light that is doing all the work.

Let the light in. Let the light out. Let the light shine. Let. Allow. Be. Express. All this without thinking—without being overwhelmed by worries or concerns over what might happen a second—a minute—an hour from now. To learn how to let go and trust that we are in the hands of a beautiful and wondrous all-pervasive, all-loving awareness is very sweet indeed.

Related articles include Ramana Maharshi, his ‘”I” Thought’ method of meditation, and non-doing practices.

Meditation and Freedom – Life Beyond Karma

—Samskaras and Meditation, Part Two—Go to Part One

How many of us are anywhere near this evolved in terms of development? Do we even agree that this where we want to be? Do we not wish to be absolutely free? Not “free from” or “free for” but simply free? So we must want to stop wanting. How do we move beyond these polarities of wanting and not wanting? There is something greater than both.

My guess is that peace of mind comes when we are not prompted by our mind but simply witness it. As I understand it as long as we are acting on behalf of our personalize identity then we are slaves to the perpetuation of idea. Each kingdom and species must make its way in the world of form. All these many creatures recognize both prey and predator through imprint.

Are We Slaves to Imprinting?
As human beings we also operate by imprint. We recognize the shapes and colors in our lives as being specific things. They are ultimately only energy—energy infused with purpose—and we have names for them all. We have our cars. What are our cars but energy and purpose? Even thoughts have a life—a shape—a form. We have our ideas—our nuances—our impressions—our inklings.

These inklings are comprised of images of these named things. We have programmed ourselves to perpetuate what we “know” and dream of how we might re-arrange them all to our satisfaction. We are bound to these imprints and images. We are living in a vast cinema-like dream of shapes, sizes and colors all invested in emotionally.

Recovering Wonder and Innocence
Can we really and truly experience the boundless one? There are those who say “Yes” to this and insist that it is possible. According to these masters who claim to have gone beyond “things” and “ideas” we must give up our Samskaras. We must learn to exist without imprint. We must learn the experience beyond thought and desire. We must drop our dependence on shape, size and color.

This is not to suggest that we must no longer appreciate all these things. The brilliance of the blue sky and the green forests would increase with our new found freedom. Our assumptions would disappear and be replaced by full wonder. It is desire that will have dropped. Projected meaning would be replaced with a bright openness to meaning. Innocence would replace imposed value.

Continue with Samskaras and Meditation, Part Three

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Meditation and Freedom – Kleshas, Vasanas, Samskaras

—Samskaras and Meditation, Part One—

A Three Part Article that focuses on:

  • Samskaras and Thoughts

  • Freedom from our Karma

  • Living in Pure Awareness

  • Processing Karma in Meditation

It may come as no surprise that these three Sanskrit words above cannot be readily translated into English. The words “attachments”, “impressions” and “imprints” do not carry the same meaning. However, so many of us for who Sanskrit is so entirely foreign are nevertheless fascinated with the meanings of these words. I know I am. Let’s explore them, shall we?

A Samskara is a prevailing thought-form or image that is so deeply ingrained that we cannot shake it off. Of the three this is the term I am most familiar with. The other two words stand for practically the same thing. The greater subject is karma. Karma has a deep ring to it. It has been absorbed into the English language. We all must live with our Karma, or must we?

Are we Slaves to Karma?
The popular belief about karma is that we are slaves to it. It is as good a scapegoat as God. Rather than take responsibility for making a change in our lives, we can simply say our behavior was “God’s will”. In a similar way we can always blame our unconscious past life experiences for our primitive behavior. Acknowledging the “God in ourselves” and what amounts to creative freedom comes at the price of responsibility.

We can always say “I’m sorry. If I was acting unconsciously I certainly wasn’t conscious of it.” and see how far that takes us. It is unrealistic to think that we can know all that is buried so deeply. There can be a Pandora’s Box of surprises that begins to emerge once one embraces freedom and spontaneity. Our sticking points are readily revealed when we behave more impulsively.

Our Actions Reveal Tendency
There is a phrase in the world of playwrights—“action reveals character”. Put a character in an odd situation—a pressing situation that she or he is unable to anticipate and you will have given them ample opportunity to show us what is making them tick. However, if we want to grow then we must challenge ourselves to get it all out in the open. Society certainly doesn’t make any of this easy.

We all seek freedom. We want to be more deeply ourselves. In order to do this we must unleash what is most natural. We must free the primal. When I say primal I am not referring to the beast within. More primal than beast is the formless timeless awareness at the core of us all. This is what we are after. This is the self beyond Karma. This is the self beyond Samskaras.

We want to bridge the conscious and the unconscious. We want to experience the peace that comes when what we are trusting is not ourselves at all. We want to trust pure awareness. Pure awareness has no desires. Pure awareness takes one moment at a time without anticipating loss of self. Pure awareness has no self. Pure awareness is pure.

Continue with Samskaras and Meditation, Part Two

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