Oakville Zen Meditation
The mind watcher
How to interact with our mind is the #1 determinant of all other Zen key points, because, w/o proper interaction, we are most deluded in a mind-made fictional world full of traps.
What are the main functions of our mind that I will call mind output:?
There are 3:
Cognitive-based analysis/decision, interaction with our current environment, and….simply thinking The first 2 activities represent a very small fraction of our total mind output because we know,
From functional neuroimaging, we know that our brain-mind produces nonstop between 90,000 and 140,000 thoughts and feelings/ day while awake, maybe more.
Zen calls this: mind noise.
Mind noise is a sort of ongoing audiotape in which we are trapped mostly subconsciously because we are thinking continuously without knowing that we are thinking. It is similar to the fact that we are breathing all the time without being conscious of it except if we decide otherwise.
So, while wandering, our mind is 100% in control of us w/o us being conscious of it!
Daydreaming is okay when it is useful, enjoyable, and not detrimental.
However, since almost all of our suffering is caused by our ego-driven mind, Zen is telling us to learn, and practice how to control this mental beast, rather than being its slave.
We have many Dharma talks about the ego-driven mind as the source of suffering such as desire, hatred, and delusion to list them again here.
So, how to control our minds?... Become a mind watcher.
Why? Because, again, our ego-driven mind is the main source of suffering such as desire, hatred, and delusion.
How? Watching/focusing on our thoughts/feelings is forcing our mind to stop wandering from one thought /feeling to the next one because our mind cannot have 2 thoughts at the same time, watching being one by you against the one being watched.
From being a “day sleepwalker” under our mind's control, we learn to become the controller.
This is exactly what we do while meditating by focusing on breathing.
How to watch our mind outside meditation?
Use this analogy:
We are in a movie theater, watching what is going on on the screen.
Let us do the same when our mind is on the screen. Watch thoughts and feelings as we watch the actors on that screen. Can we watch all our thoughts, all the time? Impossible, but with practice, you will learn this important skill of being an effective watcher.
Being a “ day sleepwalker” is swimming underwater in an ocean of delusions/illusions mostly fictional, and sources of suffering.
Watching the mind, at least once in a while, is going to the surface, then taking a deep breath of fresh air, and experiencing reality. Serenity will follow.
Always ask yourself this:
Are my thoughts genuine reality or are they fictional? How many are rational?
You will be surprised. Act accordingly.
