My friend read "10% Happier" by Dan Harris and has been meditating some. He has an original mind and is an accurate observer so I was eager to ask him if he noticed any result of practicing meditation. He said he is more conscious than he was of what is going on in his mind. That is exactly what the much discussed mindfulness is - awareness of what is on the mind.
You might think there can't be much to being aware of what is on the mind. If it is on my mind, how can I not be aware of it? That is a little tricky to answer although the answer matters and is genuinely important. However, the Buddha himself is said in some sources to be doubtful that he could explain what he had discovered about his mind in a clear and convincing way. As the meditation teacher, Karen Maezen Miller, wrote recently, paraphrasing the Buddha, "there is a good chance you guys are going to screw this up."
My friend could see that it is difficult to describe the result and the value of sitting still for 10 minutes concentrating on a single point and one's breath. Greater awareness of what is on the mind in the sense of mindfulness is greater awareness THAT the mind is currently occupied with a given subject, that one thing or another has slipped the given subject to the top of the thinking pile. The "that" is specially treated in the previous sentence because the whole point of mindfulness is getting a little perspective, a little objectivity, a little distance. In that little distance, there is a chance to ask oneself if the topic, the subject, the worry, the hope is what ought to be thought about just then. If the thinker wishes, that is the moment when a different choice or tactic or topic can be brought to mind.
My friend brought up an aspect of meditation results that is completely original, as far as I know. I have read many sources but none before him have mentioned what might be called the time of the thought development. He twice mentioned "EARLIER". As one is thinking about, say a worry or a hope, at what point in one's cogitation one thinks about WHETHER one wants to deal with the matter probably matters. It is like a nightmare: the earlier I recognize I am having a nightmare, the less the horrible story develops. It is like a hope: the earlier I recognize I am hoping I won the lottery, the sooner I can begin to console myself with the actual probability instead of getting entangled in a pipe dream.
Just to let you know, this friend is Dr.Larry Riggs and our communication took place over his Apple Watch, the very model of a modern communicator.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
