Do you ever wish that you could have a more tranquil mind?
For a lot of folks who turn to meditation, this is often one of the big outcomes that they’re after. But there’s this common thing that happens.
When people have been practicing meditation for a little while, it can seem to them like their minds are becoming more busy rather than less busy. It’s as if their concentration is getting worse rather than better.
It has to do with their ability to notice the thoughts that are arising in their minds.
It’s not that they are having more thoughts or that they’re becoming more easily distractible. It’s just that as our awareness becomes more refined, we naturally start to notice the subtleties of our mental activity more acutely.
In other words, our minds are pretty much the same. It’s just that we’re able to catch those little thoughts that would normally have gone undetected under the radar.
And this is a good thing.
It’s at this stage that it becomes really apparent just how often and how much we’re typically going through our days lost in our thinking without even knowing that we’re thinking - and the consequences that that can have on our happiness and well-being.
It’s also at this stage that it starts to sink in that it really isn’t our job in meditation to stop our thoughts from coming or to block them when they do. The only requirement is that we see and learn about the nature of our minds and to let go of being overly identified with our naturally flowing experience, to loosen our grip of that metaphorical fist so we don’t hold on to our thoughts, ideas and beliefs quite so tightly.
It’s clear that many of us start out being attracted to mindfulness and meditation because we’re seeking some kind of inner tranquility. Usually, the idea we have of tranquility is that it’s what happens when our minds stop and our bodies relax and we can just chill out in the beingness of it all.
But the true definition of tranquility as it pertains to our minds is that it’s the state of being undisturbed by our thoughts, which is a very different definition.
It means that it’s okay for our thoughts to flow.
It’s okay for them to be there.
We don’t need to get rid of them.
But that we develop this capacity to meet them with calm observation - to see them for what they really are and not be agitated by them, regardless of what the content of the thought is about.
It’s through this trainable capacity that we can then start to meet the circumstances of our lives with increased wisdom. And in this context, wisdom means seeing reality as it really is and responding appropriately.
Now, imagine what this would mean for you in your extremely busy day-to-day life.
How useful would it be to have that mental wherewithal more often than not to see what’s going on around you so super clearly as it really is rather than through the distorted perceptions of an agitated and distracted mind to be undisturbed by your thoughts?
To my mind there are very few things we can do for ourselves that are more important and more valuable than that.
It’s not an overnight thing, and it does take a willingness to engage in a consistent practice, but it is possible and it is available to you.
If you’d like to explore developing a more tranquil, resourceful relationship with your mind, then get in touch and let’s discuss options of how and where to start.
Be well.
Paul 🙏
