Developed som kind of twitch... and severe mental chatter

[johnnytheswede]

Dear Forum,

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up, I am making progress, firstly I do not become agitated when I loose focus during the practice, and it seems to become not easier to maintain focus but I seem to become more aware about how to make the effort. It seems to be a long way to reach the 3-minute goal though, but I'll let it be happening at it's own pace. I've been with the Mind Taming chapter now for 6 weeks I think.

I think I need to get more into your tip CFTraveler, about being detached from the chatter... I want to believe that loosing the agitation is one step in that direction.

[CFTraveler]

A word about Mind Taming: When I was doing this section I had a very hard time with it, (one specific exercise really messed me up- the one about the clock.) At some point I decided to give up on it and jump to the next if I didn't get it in another week. I didn't get it (or I told myself I got it) and continued on to the next exercise, which was far easier (for me, obviously it's a very subjective thing) and I continued on through all the exercises in the chapter. I decided it was either this or getting frustrated and giving up- and I'm glad I did, because I had my first conscious projection on day 30. After I was completely done with the program and projecting in a controlled manner, I went back to the difficult exercise and did it-no problem. Then later on learned other things that pertained to this type of application, and did them too- because, no matter how much you think you know, you never stop learning.
My point about this, is that everyone has their strong points, and their weak points, and sometimes you have to choose 'continue' even if you don't feel you've mastered a specific exercise, because it's better than getting frustrated, assigning bad energy to it, and stopping altogether. This was my weakness, and that's how I handled it.
The reason I bring this up is because I think (and others may disagree) that 6 weeks on one chapter is a long time.

[CFTraveler]

I think I need to get more into your tip CFTraveler, about being detached from the chatter... I want to believe that loosing the agitation is one step in that direction.

When you encounter it (that is, find yourself chattering), go from doing it automatically to doing it on purpose- discuss whatever you're discussing with yourself, analyze it as if someone was talking to you about it, and then just stop, as if you were not talking anymore. When it starts, just listen as if someone were talking to you, but don't answer, because you're done. Keep having this 'witnessing' attitude, and it goes away on it's own (for a time, it's not normal to be quiet minded all the time)- but the goal is for a certain maximum of time anyway.
Another trick is to listen to the silence in between the chatter.

[SoulSail]

Hey Johnny,

Glad to hear that you're coming along. And while it's totally normal to feel frustrated or agitated during mind taming exercises, or any other form of prolonged concentration exercises, there is a reason for that particular experience. I went to my journal and cut some notes for you. I think most of this comes from Bhante Gunuratana, but I added text here and there to make it clearer in my journal.

Here's what's going on:

· Conscious thought sets up corresponding tensions in the body, but you normally won’t/don't feel them until they grow into physical pains. But yes, thought produces a pressure of its own that most people are totally unaware of because the current of thought has been going on for so long. Thought feels natural unless we're troubled by something or mentally ill.

· Because normal (and abnormal) conscious thought is used to having full control, it grabs all your attention and leaves little left over for you to notice it's own effect.

· Your mind can be concentrated only on the current moment. As moments are constantly passing away one after another, the mind keeps pace with them, changing with them without clinging to any of them long unless it becomes diseased and is obsessing.

· If we try to stop the mind at one moment, we end up frustrated or agitated because the mind cannot be held fast. It's like stomping on the breaks when you're doing 100mph. The mind must keep up with what is happening in the new moment. As the present moment can be found any moment, every waking moment can be made a concentrated moment. To unite the mind with the present moment, we will find something happening in that moment: either distracting thoughts about where we'd rather be, the past, bills...OR, we can direct our awareness to some object of focus during our mind taming: our breath, a mental image, a word, etc.

In short, agitation is the mind's way of telling you it would rather be entertained AND, at the same time, you've given it nothing to play with. So give it something like the awareness of your breath or any of the other examples I listed. What happens after some practice is totally liberating.

Of course, others here have some great insight as well. This is my two cents, what works for me.

Soul

[johnnytheswede]

Hello my friends,

And thank you very much for your comprehensive replies, I will certainly have very much use for them (worth much more than 2c!). I also think it is time to move on, like you suggest, but will incorporate Mind Taming just as Energy Work and keep it running all the time. This will be the last week I'm on the third chapter. I plan to spend considerably less time on week 4 because I have a pretty good grip on my energy body. (Mind Taming is my weak spot.)

My very best regards
Johnny