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Question on Mindfulness
Hey everyone.
I am a beginner at meditation and I do have a question concerning mindfulness. When I do my mindfulness meditations where I try to keep my attention on a sound or on the feelings of my body (like the feeling of my hands resting on my legs), everytime I try to pay attention to the sound etc. I actually see a picture of the area with my mental eye. So for example, if I try to keep my attention on the sounds in my room, I will probably "see" my "ears" in front of my mental eye, or connect the sound I hear (e.g. the sound of a bird or car outside) with a picture of a bird or the car (which my mind makes up because I meditate with my eyes closed). When I pay attention to the feeling in my hands, I might see my hands resting on my legs, which again is a picture my mind makes up. But at the same time, I DO feel the feeling in my hands and I DO hear the sound outside, otherwise I guess I would have no senses. Now, to put the question in more precise words:
Am I being mindful if I realize that there is a picture that my mind makes up of the sound/ feeling etc.? Can you be mindful and think at the same time? Am I doing something wrong? Am I only doing it correctly if my mind comes to a halt, or are those moments where the mind comes to a halt the result of regular meditation?
Sorry for the rather long thread, but I´m just too curious!! Thank you!
I am a beginner at meditation and I do have a question concerning mindfulness. When I do my mindfulness meditations where I try to keep my attention on a sound or on the feelings of my body (like the feeling of my hands resting on my legs), everytime I try to pay attention to the sound etc. I actually see a picture of the area with my mental eye. So for example, if I try to keep my attention on the sounds in my room, I will probably "see" my "ears" in front of my mental eye, or connect the sound I hear (e.g. the sound of a bird or car outside) with a picture of a bird or the car (which my mind makes up because I meditate with my eyes closed). When I pay attention to the feeling in my hands, I might see my hands resting on my legs, which again is a picture my mind makes up. But at the same time, I DO feel the feeling in my hands and I DO hear the sound outside, otherwise I guess I would have no senses. Now, to put the question in more precise words:
Am I being mindful if I realize that there is a picture that my mind makes up of the sound/ feeling etc.? Can you be mindful and think at the same time? Am I doing something wrong? Am I only doing it correctly if my mind comes to a halt, or are those moments where the mind comes to a halt the result of regular meditation?
Sorry for the rather long thread, but I´m just too curious!! Thank you!
0
Comments
it sounds like you have a visual mind
for example, when i first meditated, i used listening (to sound, including silence) as a technique. this really suited me because listening was always a strong sensitivity of my mind
but seeing mental images was something i could never do, especially as a child, when school teachers would instruct us to bring up an image in our mind. i could never do it
so you possibly could consider finding a new meditation object
that is, a meditation object that uses a neutral visual object, like a 'kasina'
why? because too many objects may cause distraction & a lack of singular focus
regards
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasina