ABOUT THE MIND

One of the reasons a lot of people don't meditate is that they think meditation is about making the mind totally blank, and they feel unable to quiet their thoughts. Researchers disagree on exactly how many thoughts we have a day, but they all say it's in the multiple thousands. Many of these thousands of thoughts are the same old, same old. They parade through our brains on well-rutted neural pathways in repetitious loops like some drug-crazed marching band who hasn't gotten the message that the parade is over. Westerners, city dwellers, intellectuals, people who like electronic devices playing constantly in the background and frenetic "busy" people tend to have a lot of problems with this mental chatter. Buddhist call it "monkey mind."

Here's an example of how it works:

A well-meaning person goes to a meditation group or a yoga class. The instructor tells the class to clear the mind.
"Make your mind like a blank screen."

And the potential meditator thinks thoughts such as:
'My mind is blank screen. My mind is a blank screen. What kind of screen? A movie screen? A computer screen? Oh well, I guess I'll do a movie screen. They're bigger. How big are they anyway? I guess it's different in every theater. They must have standardized sizes though. I could make it a blank television screen. No, I'll do a movie screen. My mind is a blank movie screen. I wonder what those things are made of anyway. Are they plastic, or cloth or what? The ones at the drive-ins were probably just plywood painted white. I don't think there are any drive-ins anymore. At least not around here. When was the last time I went to a drive-in movie? Never mind, I'm here now. My mind is a blank movie screen. The old ones were probably made of cloth. Maybe they just used an old bedsheet. Or maybe it was tent canvas. Maybe they just showed the movie on a blank wall. I wonder who had the first movie theater? Did they just invite people into a hotel or town hall or something? That must have been interesting, the first public showing of a movie... Ooops. I'm not focusing. My mind is a blank screen. My mind is a blank movie screen. Is it silver or white? They call movies "the silver screen" so I guess I'll make it silver. No, I like white better. Should I put it inside my forehead or project it out in front of me like I'm sitting in a real theater? I wish this teacher would have given us better instructions. Oh no, I'm drifting again. Why do I do that? I always do that. I'm such a space cadet. What am I even doing here? I wonder if other people are having trouble. FOCUS! OK, My mind is a blank screen. My mind is a blank screen. My nose itches. I hope I don't have to sneeze during this. What if I do? God, that would be embarrassing. I don't even have any kleenex in my pocket. Well, that's not my fault. These stupid pants don't even have a pocket. OK. Focus. I won't sneeze. I will not sneeze. I will not sneeze. What did the instructor just say? Shit! I missed it! ...' Etc. etc. etc.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, please laugh. There are many ways to meditate. The mind as a blank screen is only one technique.

The mind is simply a computer. It feeds back to you what you feed it. Garbage in, garbage out. By changing what you feed your brain, you can change your experience in meditation and in life.

If your mind likes to be occupied, instead of fighting it, you can use it to assist you in your meditation.

USING THE MIND IN MEDITATION

Here are some ways you can enlist your mind to assist you in your meditation practice. Try using a different method every day for a few weeks. Play. Experiment. Have fun. Remember, this is meditation PRACTICE.
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From the booklet Meditation Made Easy
by Eileen Lighthawk © 2003