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before thoughts arise
skullchin
Veteran
i can notice thoughts arise during meditation and return to the breath. is there anything to notice before a thought or urge arises?
0
Comments
You question cracks me up because sometimes in meditation, for me that is, right before a thought arises I have a brief feeling of trying to run up a greased slide.
So, I can count breathes much better that I used to be able to. At this point should I just stop counting and focus on the breath?
He suggest a possible answer to your question by the end of the video.
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Incredibly helpful for me at this moment. I've been getting lost with my 'Buddho' silent mantra and really needed a simple, quick, and reliable refocusing technique, a kind of 'going back to the very beginning' thing and this is perfect.
Thanks, patbb! So appreciate it.
isn't his voice so soft and pleasant to listen to?
Luckily for you, you can
he has many video series on youtube.
- meditation series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7a9Ur2x0o
- A serie where he tell the story of Ajahn Chah (really interesting and entertaining)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YiiLrCS-P8
- question and answer series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keVDt96ufEo
and more on this channel http://www.youtube.com/user/dhammatube
enjoy
Thanks!
Yes, he's wonderful.
I've never met a student of Ajahn Chah's I didn't like.
This sounds like you want there to be some kind of "warning" or a sign that a thought WILL be popping up soon. If so, I don't think there is such a thing, but I would sure like it if there were, because having a way of knowing when and what is gonna pop into your mind, whether it is during meditation or after, would be very interesting. Kind of a way to tell the future in some ways.
I don't know if you should, or shouldn't, all I can say is that I don't start over when I find that I've been thinking during the count, as long as I don't forget the count. Otherwise I would never get past one!
When practicing with a Vedanta teacher counting breath was the only practice, It lead to entering the breath into deeper levels of peace. This was called "Godhead". It was a refuge from the world and worries..... but I didn't learn a thing. It provided absolutely no insight, and the same worries were there after.
Just an opinion.
@lightwithin - yes, I suppose it does sound like looking into the future, *sigh*
@Richard H - how would you describe "opening out"
As your mind becomes quieter you'll notice all sorts of stuff bubbling around on the edges of consciousness. Just be aware of whatever arises.:)
P
waiting for a thought to pounce on. That too is thinking mind.
There is seeing but no seer therein
There is hearing but no hearer therein
There is feeling but no feeler therein'
...etc.
This opening out is not permanent because when certain karmic triggers are touched off the sense of experiencer (and suffering) returns. But when sitting this is the practice. Its the base of awakeness you wake-up to when you let go.
"In this way did Alara Kalama, my teacher, place me, his pupil, on the same level with himself and pay me great honor. But the thought occurred to me, 'This Dhamma leads not to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the dimension of nothingness.' So, dissatisfied with that Dhamma, I left.
"In this way did Uddaka Ramaputta, my companion in the holy life, place me in the position of teacher and pay me great honor. But the thought occurred to me, 'This Dhamma leads not to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.' So, dissatisfied with that Dhamma, I left.
"Then again the monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, enters & remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This monk is said to have blinded Mara. Trackless, he has destroyed Mara's vision and has become invisible to the Evil One.
"Then again the monk, with the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters & remains in the cessation of perception & feeling. And, having seen [that] with discernment, his mental fermentations are completely ended. This monk is said to have blinded Mara. Trackless, he has destroyed Mara's vision and has become invisible to the Evil One. Having crossed over, he is unattached in the world. Carefree he walks, carefree he stands, carefree he sits, carefree he lies down. Why is that? Because he has gone beyond the Evil One's range."
And any priests or contemplatives tied to these five strings of sensuality — infatuated with them, having totally fallen for them, consuming them without seeing their drawbacks or discerning the escape from them — should be known as having met with misfortune, having met with ruin; Mara can do with them as he will.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html
It is unclear whether the meditations taught by this Vedanta teacher are the Jhanas described in the Suttas. It certainly fits the descriptions, but if it was, it only "just touched" higher absorptions, if that.