The Natural Response to Thinking
La Respuesta Natural al Pensamiento
A question about what to do when noticing that one has been caught up in thought during meditation.
The Natural Response to Thinking
A question about what to do when noticing that one has been caught up in thought during meditation.
Once I realize that I'm getting into thinking, there is automatically a clear seeing that it's just thinking. So it's not a problem; I just don't go there.
I'm hesitating a bit, because "not going there" can mean different things. The thinking might still happen, and that's fine. "Not going there" means not interpreting the thought as real, not treating it as reality. But the thinking itself can continue.
Reaction vs. recognition
The reason I'm hesitating is that what you describe can sometimes be a reaction. This is very common: you're meditating, then you get completely pulled into thought, then you realize you're in thought, and then you pull away and try not to go back into it. There's this push and pull with thinking, trying to stop it. I'm exaggerating the energy of it, but it was like that for me when I was younger. Over time it got more gentle, but there was still this really subtle, constant battle with the attachment to and identification with thought. Even when it wasn't intense, there was this constant push and pull.
That's a reaction. That's reactivity.
Just recognizing it's thought
What can happen instead is that you simply notice it's thought, and the recognition that this is not reality, this is just thought, is instantaneous. Then the thinking can continue and there is nothing you need to do about it.
It's like being in a movie theater. Something really intense happens on screen, your body gets tense, and you have an emotional reaction of fear. Then you realize, "Oh, I'm just in the movie theater, and the movie got to me." You keep watching the movie. You don't try to disengage from it because it was intense. You just keep watching and let it happen.
This is the more natural response: simply recognizing that it is just mind.
Yes, I totally get it. That's very helpful. Thank you.
You're welcome.