During Meditation, I Count From 1 To 100. Is This...?

[With English interpretation] Ven. Pomnyun Sunim's Answer to “During meditation, I count from 1 to 100 in a repetitive cycle as it allows me to calm my thoughts. Is this an improper tactic?”
A question chosen from the weekly Sunday meditation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim.

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Transcript

I appreciate the practice of focusing on your breath when meditating. However, Sometimes when I feel really distracted, This tactic does not seem to work for me and I spend more time immersed in my thoughts rather than meditating. In these situations, I sometimes count from 1 to 100 in repetitive cycles. I find that this allows me to calm my thoughts and focus more on the present. Would you consider this to be an improper tactic for meditation? Yes, I think it is a good way to focus on your breath when meditating. However, When I have a lot of delusions, This tactic does not seem to work for me and I spend more time immersed in my thoughts rather than meditating. In these situations, I sometimes count from 1 to 100 in repetitive cycles. I find that this allows me to calm my thoughts and focus more on the present. Would you consider this to be an improper tactic for meditation? Yes, It is not a bad tactic. So you can say it is an improper or wrong tactic, But it is not the desired tactic. The best way to get rid of your distractions is to open your eyes. So what we are trying to do is increase our capacity to focus in despite of the distractions and thoughts. So thoughts and distractions will happen naturally as a natural consequence of closing our eyes and staying still. This phenomenon will actually get worse often times the more you meditate. So your goal is not to experience distractions at all, But your goal should be to be able to maintain your focus in spite of the distractions. We said if you are counting, The fact of counting is the process of your thoughts. Basically you are using your intentional thoughts to suppress the unconscious or unintentional thoughts that come to you. So if you can increase your capacity to focus in despite of the distractions, You will be able to maintain your focus in despite of the distractions. So if you are not attracted to the distractions, You will not be able to maintain your focus in despite of the distractions. You will not be attracted to them and your emotions will not be automatically reacted to them. You will be able to maintain your peace of mind. But if you develop the capacity to remain focused in spite of all these distractions and thoughts and stimulus that you cannot possibly suppress, Then in your everyday life, If somebody insults you, Curses you, Or say bad things, You have developed the capacity to stay calm in the face of such stimulus. So don't put any meaning to delusions. Delusion is a useless thought. Don't put any meaning to it. Just let it happen. Don't go after it. Just focus on your breath and maintain your breath awareness. This is an important process. So the important objective of this training process is that instead of imbuing your distractions with any significance and make them meaningful that you follow and you chase after, Try to focus, Maintain the focus in spite of all these distractions and thoughts.