Yesterday, I wrote about being on the lookout during meditation for when my mind takes up with a thought. I tend to be unduly impatient at times. (One tool that has sharpened my awareness of the cost of too much impatience is the Adam Sadler movie "Click", a memorable demonstration of the result of getting on with whatever gets in one's way.)
Some religions advocate the steady, continuous if possible, repetition of the name of God. In some, one is thought to have a special pass to heaven if one dies uttering the name. During the brief ten minute period of meditation, I try to mentally utter nothing at all. Just pick a spot or a sight and try to concentrate on just that, with gentle alertness. A cat waiting patiently but with full alertness, at a mouse hole, is a good model, although in truth I have only seen that in Tom and Jerry cartoons.
One of my computers is much slower to turn on and load a program than my usual one, taking probably 3 or 4 minutes to go from "Off" to full ready. That can seem rather long to an impatient guy. But the other day, I tried relying on that series of mental events to get myself to let the few moment pass without rancor.
I found an visual anchor, and just concentrated on it. I knew I would not be able to do that for very long before a thought would take over my mind. But I can rely on my meditation watcher to alert me shortly after that happens. Sure enough, in about three minutes, I found I had indeed become occupied with something or other. Noticing that, I checked the computer and it was all set to go. I am not actually alert continuously, but I am frequently, and that is quite good enough.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
