thinking isn’t bad

i think we can all agree on that. inherently, i mean. it’s a tool of the mind. with a hammer we can put nails into wood and build a chair or we can smash something to pieces.

my meditation practice often involves the cessation of thinking in some way or another. vipassana, for example. and even in tonglen and some visualizations where i give my monkey mind a job to focus on, i attempt to bring my mind back when it wanders.

but then outside of sitting meditation practice, i find myself coming back to where i am over and over throughout my daily activities. there is this (illusion of a) dilemma that seems to arise. ill start to think about spiritual teachings, my own music, plans, fears, joys, theories and concepts about the world. when i do this, i habitually catch myself and come back to exactly where i am, as i’ve trained myself to do. and it’s gotten to the point where i tend to regard thinking as bad. something i shouldn’t be doing, for my own mental health. this isn’t to say i get in car wrecks, walk into people, and forget how to make dinner. but i have trouble drawing the line. determining when and where to let my thinking be as it is, and when and where to let go and come back. i believe that we can think, follow trains of thought, and still be present and mindful to some degree. so i think that’s where i’d like to rest. a place where thinking isn’t bad, but that i’m mindful as to when/where/how it is useful.

for example, i’m waiting for my ride to work and i’m standing outside my house. there are some birds, a breeze, cars going by. i am being with it and feeling one with the underlying awareness that pervades. i don’t try to pick the flower i’m admiring, i don’t try to figure out the type of bird that is singing. but, then i start to think about a song i’m working on, and i have a great idea, so i get out my book and write it down. or i remember i wanted to watch this one video on meditation that i came across on youtube the day before. in that moment there is this good/bad duality that pops up. “should” i have remained present? there’s the idea that the best ideas come out of presence, but if we are truly present with what is, would we be following that sudden train of thought that barges into our serene state?

if anyone has any thoughts on mindfulness, focus, and meditation in terms of when/where/how thought is and is not useful or detrimental, i’m all ears! i’ve got hours and days and probably weeks of teachings on mindfulness under my belt but either teachers don’t often speak about this little paradox or differentiation, or in simply not soaking it up and understanding it. i come from a place of having an extremely overactive mind that spoonfed my anxiety and depression, and i am concerned that i am overcompensating for that by putting too much emphasis on not thinking. sure, our lives can be one big meditation, but there is a time and place for total and utter lack of mind activity, and it’s not when i’m in line at the store, right? sure, being in line is a fantastic situation to be practicing mindfulness...but not necessary total cessation of thought, right?

submitted by /u/vanishing_birb
[link] [comments]

from Buddhism https://ift.tt/2NgevMU