The discipline of labeling thoughts

Most people find that these instructions sound clear and easy to do, but that in practice, the awareness easily slips away as we begin to daydream and compulsively entertain various thoughts. This is merely habitual and is not considered to be a bad thing at all: in fact this habitual mind is the very handle with which we can get a hold on the entire process of seeing the unconditional, clear and open mind.

That very moment that you become aware that you were lost in thought is the moment that is of key importance. That is the moment that we make the choice drop the story line or fantasy of the thought, and simply to return to our awareness and to our breath. This is the moment that we apply the discipline of letting go. At the moment that you recognize that you have lost your awareness and you have been in a daydream, fantasy etc, you have aleady returned to the present. At that moment, apply the key instruction: simply let go of the topic of your daydream or thought, and again return to what is occurring to your mind. What occurs to the mind is simply sound, smell, and so on, as well as the trickle of thoughts as they flash by.

We apply this essential discipline by applying a mental label: we say (silently) to ourselves the word ‘thinking’, and simply drop what we were thinking and return to whatever is occurring at that moment. Whether the daydream or fantasy brought you joy or sorrow or neither, just let that story-line go and return to your breathing: in, out, in, out.

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The main instruction

Of course the most interesting and beneficial aspect of this practice is how we work with the thought process. It is what occurs in the mind that we experience as pleasure and pain, happy and sad, and so on, and we usually try to either grasp or reject what we like or dislike. As you begin your awareness meditation, you will become aware of the many waves of thought that come up and disappear endlessly. This is totally natural and occurs to everyone, but it is how we regard this process that is the difference between whether or not we suffer from it.

Everything that occurs to your mind is simply an experience of mind. That is a key point. It is recommended to spend some time away from your meditation seat simply reflecting on this important point. Generally, we do not maintain the awareness that this is so, and we easily become wrapped up in all that occurs to us. While not abandoning the awareness of your breathing and of your body sitting there, let your mind become aware that all that your senses perceive, and all thoughts that flicker. It is truly a simple thing to see that all that occurs to your mind is just an occurrence of mind. Just relax as you experience your breathing in and out, and be aware that you are aware of what occurs to your mind. This is the main instruction.

Try to maintain this awareness of awareness for a short period, perhaps just for a minute. Then, just let that drop, and take a break. A break in this case does not necessarily mean standing up or even moving your body at all. It just means to drop the meditation exercise for a time. Stretching and another deep breath or two can be helpful before you begin another short ‘session’.

Repeating many short sessions within a period of meditation is considered to be far superior to the marathon approach of trying to hold on to awareness as long as you can. Letting go of our awareness again and again keeps the practice from becoming a burden and has enormous long-term benefit to the practitioner.

The Key Point

• All that occurs to your mind is simply an occurrence of mind.  It is important to take frequent breaks from the technique.

1 – Settling in

Now that you have settled into your posture (see previous meditation tips), take 2 or 3 deep breaths just to relax, and then continue to breathe normally.  In this meditation, our breath is something that we always use. It is like an anchor for our awareness to come back to as we experience and often become distracted by the waves of thought, emotions and so on.  It has been traditionally recommended to begin by simply being aware of the breath.  Feel the body as you breathe, listen to the sound the breath makes, and just remain aware and present with that.

The breath is something that we always have with us and that we will always be using during every meditation session.   Spend some time just feeling your breathing very acutely before reading further: this will be very helpful later in your awareness meditation, sometimes known as mindfulness meditation.

The Key Point

• Spend some time simply feeling your body as you breathe in and out

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The essence of this awareness meditation is training your mind in the ability to let go: allowing whatever arises within your mind to simply arise without blocking or grasping at what occurs— just to remain aware and awake for the given period of time that you have decided to practice.  This is not blocking out the world, but it is learning not to fixate, which is the cause of much pain.  The ultimate result, an open, spacious and relaxed mind, can be achieved by anyone, but the mind will trick us as we progress due to fear and habit.  The key point here is not to improvise the instructions, which have been perfectly transmitted to us through the centuries.

Generally, going back to when we were children, we have been strengthening mental patterns of clinging to things and ideas, that we feel gives us security.  Fundamentally speaking, we like pleasure and dislike pain, we tend to react to what we perceive and think with acceptance and rejection.  The unseen habitual patterns of clinging to what we like and wanting to eliminate what we do not like entangle us in an unending struggle in our everyday lives and cause us unnecessary pain.  When we begin to look into this mental process we begin to see our very old habitual patterns which is like lighting a lamp in a room that has been dark for a long time: it all becomes clear.  In some sense, giving rise to awareness of habitual patterns can be uncomfortable at first, but we quickly begin to see how much of life we have been missing and our daily experience naturally becomes more brilliant and enjoyable as we learn to allow a natural flow to occur.

Key Point

• It is important to follow the instructions without changing them to make ourselves more comfortable

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