I've been having a hard time lately with emptying my mind. Although I am recognizing improvement, I'm not sure what level of mind taming I'm supposed to have before I move onto Week 4. I've been doing the cloud-breathing and other techniques, as well as doing mind-taming practice with just BWGen (with the 15-second pulse), but my mind is not as clear as I'd like it to be.
The MAP book says that one should keep one's mind totally clear for fifteen minutes before one moves onto the next higher level of pulses. What does this mean, exactly? What defines clear? I know that one is supposed to stop one's internal dialogue, but there's more to that than just words. Here's some levels of thought that I've been able to observe since I began practicing:
First, there is internal dialogue, which is fairly simple; one's mind creating spoken words within the head.
The next one is not so simple. It's like the "thought before the thought," the thing that causes the internal dialogue to manifest. This happens so fast that it's hard to tell if it really is internal dialogue--that is, if it contains words or just ideas.
The third is comprised of images or memories that will manifest by will or spontaneity. These can be distracting, but they do not have to cause internal dialogue and are easily dismissed.
The fourth is simply wordless ideas that drift through the mind, either because of one's will or out of spontaneity. Often these will cause internal dialogue, but not always. This is similar to the second level of thought, but the latter is more specifically oriented towards words.
The problem I have is that all of these will randomly manifest themselves in my mind. A random word might enter my head. Or I might make an association in my mind so fast that I can't stop it. So some of my questions are: Do all of these levels of thought need to be gone from the mind before it is clear? If not, then what specifically must be gone? Do random words count as internal dialogue, or just specific initiated forms of thought? What about the other forms?
Anything that could be done to clear this up for me would be much appreciated.
