Thoughts on Meditation
Shoshin
No one in particularNowhere Special Veteran
When meditation first got its hands on my mind, my mind was all over the place ("I" was here there and everywhere...everywhere but the here & now)...
I liken my thoughts (both wholesome and unwholesome) to a snake charmer, their seductive nature continually charmed the mind...(getting me into all sorts of trouble) ... So conditioned by thought was "I" that "I" didn't realise that thinking was taking place, because I "was" the thoughts, "I" was them and they were "me"...One could say that "I" was "attached"... I became the thinking patterns that the thoughts produced 
(Wholesome or unwholesome thoughts... I became the thought)
Then one day whilst reading a Dharma book on Buddhist meditation, I came across a simple sentence that changed everything...It went something like this....
"All that a thought wants is to be acknowledge (given free undisturbed entry ), after which it will dissipate (exit) !"...
"If you give the thought the right of way, it will pass on through ...no need to stay....
but try to block it, it will attack, by pushing it away it will come right back !"
Well...I had been fighting like a crazy lady against my thoughts, trying to block them left right and centre, when all I had to do was open the door and welcoming them in...(acceptance with no 'conditions' attached)....
Nowadays, my friend the snake charmer's still around, but the mind has wised up and rarely falls prey to the thoughts charming nature...
Do unwholesome thoughts disturb your meditation/life ? (in other words ...do you try to block unwholesome thoughts ?)
Comments
All the time. My default setting is to block them, even now. It never does much good except at a superficial level. If my thoughts are too persistent, I stop meditating and try again later. Maybe I'm just a lazy meditator shrugs
Unwholesome thoughts during meditation are not the problem with me.
They are in real life, when I feel compelled to react upon them.
Blocking them and bottling them up is not the solution, but I find that enough metta-attention to extend the refractory period between an unwholesome thought emerging, and the reacting/responding dilemma, is key.
A period where we manage to keep our breathing, stay grounded and counteract afflictive thoughts with wholesome, positive ones.
The difficulty that can come from trying to 'observe' ( or for that manner acknowledge ) ones own thoughts, is more often than not, one will need thought's input to do so...and this is where the thought used becomes a thought observed/acknowledged ...
Oh the complex web our thoughts do weave-as they become entangled-which one to disbelieve???
However if one can slap a one-word label on such an 'awareness' thought, example "realisation" this will help with the process of observation/acknowledgement ... and the thought dissipation will become clearer
Now "I" see thinking & Now "I" don't ....
It's all so delicate/subtle ......
I would initially combine mind, emotions, body and experience into our 'meditation'.
In this way we have formal meditation, life practice and other arisings.
I do not welcome everything in. I pounce (or get ambushed) by all manner of inner and outer demons (metaphorically speaking) and give them a damn good thrashing ... or chase them with arms open wide ... watch them run to preserve their empty existence ...
Talking of thrashing god demon wrestling, what on earth happened to ye olde Jacob?
Genesis 32:22-32
He beat a bully?
Unwholesome thoughts usually occur when we are situated, and when our minds are at their weak point. I have enough unwholesome thoughts to mention. Temptations usually have their victories, but grown up responsibilities keeps them minimal.
When we stray from our desired path, difficulties will strike one day when we least expect it.
I tend to get many small random impulses, which I let come and go, until eventually a bigger and more involved thought comes and drags me away... when i collect myself I go back to the breath, I'm not a very good meditator yet
Sometimes I try to bring dharma lessons to my thoughts while meditating. This morning there was one about jealousy, and I tried to tell that thought with compassion that jealousy often arose from thinking that you were entitled to something which you desired but hadn't earnt. Once in a while that causes a transformation in the thought, causes it to go soft and fluffy.
This morning I had a very violent dream, unusual for me... blood and guts were all over the place, although I observed it mostly with equanimity. So I was trying a little extra meditation, to try and bring some balance.
The RAIN approach can be quite useful, it's a modern interpretation of the first two factors of enlightenment, mindfulness and investigation.
Recognise, Allow, Investigate and Non-identification.
https://www.tarabrach.com/articles-interviews/rain-workingwithdifficulties/
Excellent link @SpinyNorman
Formal meditation, mindfulness, being kind, sila, study, spiritual companionship and so on are all doorways or aspects of a whole regime.
We have to start somewhere in order to enter the 'Middle Way'. The dharma has to be reinterpreted and adapted as samsara and mara continually beguile us with supposedly new delusions.
Delusion, unkind Trumps people, samsaras distractions etc are a waste of time and beguiling energy thieves. If we are skilful we can dissolve these ignorant demon masks in ourselves and others. The Buddha
transformed himself and shaped his surroundings, through that change
I would suggest that the spiritual path is one we all know. Through experience we know what is dukkha, we know what is genuine and useful. Are we transforming?
A little effort is inspiring. Great effort is an example. Personal effort is Dharma.
May I suggest writing them down, so as to work through them? It's much easier than tackling them in your head.
I like the unwholesome thoughts. But I don't really label them as unwholesome. When I first sit still, all the thoughts and distractions and mental clatter have their chaotic release. I just let them all slowly extinguish, and it's usually the thoughts that linger. I like to notice them, acknowledge them, then let them be on their way. I just passively watch the parade. It always passes. Then I can settle in.
Even when we are shrouded with negativity it can become beautiful in a way. To just be an alive and complex machine that can feel such things.