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Ships in the Harbor
Yishai
Veteran
Has anyone heard of the "Ships in the Harbor" technique?
An Excerpt of this Article:
I've noticed this before when someone says to you "Did you hear that? It sounded like a squeaking noise." Then our minds become really open and still as we listen for "that squeaking noise".
Just an interesting article I thought you guys might enjoy in some way
Before someone asks why I put it in Meditation: I figured it was appropriate since it involved opening the mind to awareness
If a mod thinks it belongs elsewhere then that is fine.
An Excerpt of this Article:
...“While looking again and again at the mind which cannot be looked at, the meaning, which cannot be seen, is seen vividly just as it is.” Let me try that one more time: “While looking again and again at the mind which cannot be looked at, the meaning, which cannot be seen, is seen vividly just as it is.” Now you may be tempted to think that that’s utter nonsense. And in a way it is, but it’s pointing to something very profound and that’s what we’re going to talk about.http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2011/07/mahumudra-and-the-ships-in-the-harbor/
“Looking at the mind which cannot be looked at…”
We are in New York City and so if you listen very hard, very carefully now, maybe you can hear the ships in the harbor.
[silence from the audience]
But then on the other hand, you notice, not a chance!
[laughter from the audience]
There’s no chance you’re going to hear the ships in the harbor. There’s all this traffic, we’re in the middle of a building, we’re a couple of miles from any ships, so you can’t hear them. And yet, if you try or if you open to the possibility that you might hear them… let’s do this again. I’m just opening to the possibility that I might hear the ships…
[pause and audience listens]
When I do this the mind gets very big and soft, very still. And what I find is that I do hear some other things. I can hear the air-conditioner and I can hear the traffic, and I can hear the dreadful music from downstairs… and the mind seems very sensitive, so I can feel subtlety within the body. And I’m also finding that although there is thinking, there’s not any particular story going on right now. The mind is kind of turning away from the storytelling because it’s engaged in this listening. Now it’s worth reflecting upon what an extraordinary thing this is, what an extraordinary moment; we don’t want to take this for granted. If your mind stops yammering at you for a second, that’s remarkable! And all of that can happen just by listening for something that you cannot hear.
I've noticed this before when someone says to you "Did you hear that? It sounded like a squeaking noise." Then our minds become really open and still as we listen for "that squeaking noise".
Just an interesting article I thought you guys might enjoy in some way
Before someone asks why I put it in Meditation: I figured it was appropriate since it involved opening the mind to awareness
If a mod thinks it belongs elsewhere then that is fine. 0
Comments
It reminds me of something a bit similar.
In a training of speaking for audiences the trainer demonstrated the (positive) effect of inserting silences.
Silence is a huge amplifier of attention.