In this blog we will explore the common frustration of a busy mind and share a technique for returning to stillness.
Busy Mind
Thinking is not inherently bad, we could say that thinking is actually quite an amazing tool! However; thinking can be compulsive. There is a quote that says, "The mind is a great servant but a terrible master," so the crux of the matter we are discussing is: can we return to stillness whenever we want to?
Stillness
It's a soft smile and chuckle
It's at no distance from us; comes from within
Going there isn't hard once understood,
It's a feeling realization.
There are no thoughts, but there is experience,
Still aware. Still alert. Still present. Experiencing but not creating, taking in but not thinking.
And feeling peace, love, joy, contentment, relaxation, fulfillment, completeness, happiness.
Source Meditation
First; Awareness.
This meditation aims to return us to stillness, which is everyone's innate inner state and birthright. The first step is that we must become aware that the mind is indeed thinking. It is possible for the mind to be such a compulsive thinker that we actually become identified with the thinking mind and cannot create the space to experience thoughts as separate from ourselves. We are hynotized. It's like we are so used to there always being thinking going on in our experience that we no longer notice it; just like how we become so used to the feeling of clothes on our skin that we forget about it, or how we eventually tune out the sound of a fan that has been running in our room all day long. So first we practice simply seeing, simply experiencing, simply noticing that thoughts take place in our field of awareness in the same way we experience the sight of a lamp or the sound of a birdcall.
Second; Source Meditation.
Now for the second step, take one thought, and not only one thought but one word - it can be any word, let's use the word, "I" for this example. Create the thought, "I" in the mind. Now, where does the thought come from? Where does the thought originate from? What is it made up of? We know it appears - we can create the thought and experience it in the mind as many times as we like and in different forms; loud, soft, fast, slow. But now instead of focusing on the thought itself, we want to meditate on the source of a thought. If the thought is a formed river, look upstream to its source. Go there with your focus. Look within and go to the root of a thought. The root of thought, the place from which it springs. Swim upstream to the source with your inner focus, with your inner awareness. There, that source, is stillness. You can't say anything about it because that would just be another thought that again would need to be traced back to the source and stillness, but you can rest there in the stillness and feeling realization of peace. It's funny that way! You can't say anything about it, you can't know it, but we are it. It is the base from which it all springs. Go there. Rest there. Rest in stillness and peace. If another thought forms, just follow it back upstream again. You will know it as a feeling realization of peace, love, joy, happiness, completeness; a soft smile and chuckle.
Summary:
What we call meditation are the techniques we use to guide us back to this place of feeling realization. Resting in this state of feeling realization is peace. So what is source meditation? Following a thought to its source. Walking the river upstream to stillness. It only takes half a second once understood correctly but to understand correctly can take time and practice and dialogue. As always, please feel free to ask any questions so that we may discuss.
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