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Question for March 16, 2014: Scattered Attention
Medivate — 13 years ago — in Question of the Week
Medivate — 13 years ago — in Question of the Week
Do you ever find that you attention has scattered while meditating? How do you deal with that?
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Formlessness — 13 years ago — permalinkThe mind is like the wind. It goes this way and that. Wind is just the movement of air, but the air is everywhere. Your awareness is present in every thought and experience. Become aware of the awareness behind the thought, and the winds will calm.▲
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davidbhayes — 13 years ago — permalinkBecome aware of the awareness behind the thought, and the winds will calm.I really like that, though I feel compelled to interject that it's easier to say than to do.
But I definitely think that biggest and most noticeable thing that's changed for me as I've meditated more is the realization that there is really something I have access to that contains all of the thoughts. It's not a thought itself, but it's a space in which they come. I use the word "spacious" a lot to explain the change, and when I try to explain it in a visual metaphor it really is a feels like a literal space around and distance from my thoughts.
The extent to which I used to tie myself in knots chasing down the "right thought" is something I don't miss. You don't, as they say, have to believe everything you think.