We refer to meditation as mindfulness,
However,
It seems that the goal of meditation is to not think,
To eliminate thought.
As such,
Would it be better to refer to meditation as mindlessness or thoughtlessness?
보통 명상의 상태를 영어로 mindfulness,
깨어있기,
알아차림,
마음챙김 라고 합니다.
It would be good,
We wish we could maintain a state of mindfulness,
But we can't do that.
It would be good,
We wish we could maintain a state of mindfulness,
But we can't do that.
We wish we could maintain a state of thoughtlessness without thoughts,
But it's impossible for us to get to a state of thoughtlessness.
We are actually engaged in mindfulness to go to that state of absence of thought,
Thoughtlessness.
We are engaged in mindfulness to go to that state of absence of thought,
Thoughtlessness.
So what we are trying to maintain or attain is a state in which we are mindful of the thing that we do in the here and now.
For example,
That could be your breath while you're sitting down meditating,
Or your movement,
Or as you're talking,
Listening,
Or a sensation.
So without imbuing all these countless thoughts with constant meaning and chasing after them,
You're trying to create the capacity to focus on what you're doing at the current moment.
So we experience psychological anxiety or nervousness based on the illusions of what happened in the past or what may happen in the future.
So we experience psychological anxiety or nervousness That's why we want to be awake and mindful of the here and now.
So when we sit down and meditate,
The primary distracting factor are your countless thoughts that come unbidden.
So what we're saying is that don't chase after those thoughts,
Don't create meanings or put stories around those thoughts,
But focus on your breath in the here and now.
Of course,
If there was an absence of thoughts,
It would be better.
But not having that in this mist of sea of thoughts,
What we're trying to do is develop the capacity to focus on the here and now.
And also,
If you think about the past,
Or even traumatic memories from the past,
Or if you think about the future,
And none of these thoughts about the past or the future actually elicit anxiety or emotional reaction,
Then you're free to think of these thoughts.
Because as we live every day,
We actually take lessons learned from our past experience to make a wiser decision.
So it's not not having thoughts that's really the key.
The real key,
Critical key,
Is to be able to have these thoughts and not have them become obstacles,
But be able to leverage these past experiences or future thoughts to make a better decision in the future.
And for example,
We always need to plan for the future.
Plus,
We don't want to be nervous or anxious about planning for the future.
And without worries or concerns or fear.
And if we can maintain that state,
We're free to think about the future.
Because these are things that happen in everyday life.
But to reach that state,
We have to be able to not chase after thoughts when we meditate,
Sitting down.
Meditation is a way for us to live without suffering,
Without fear,
Without concern.
It's not an end in itself.
That's why in the past,
Past practitioners,
They said everything that you do,
Everything you talk,
Everything you perceive or behave is actually Zen.
And they said the Tao is equal to the mind.
It's equal to equanimity in all things.
So we meditate and practice being awake to our breath in order to develop the capacity to maintain the equanimity in everyday living.
Because we can sit down and meditate,
And we become good at focusing on our breath,
But taking that and applying it to everyday life is always difficult.
For example,
When you go to Emprat,
Go to a temple,
Go to a driving school,
And practice driving on a practice course,
It's the same thing as you sitting down and meditating and trying to develop this focused capacity.
However,
You always have to,
After you learn this permit,
You always have to go out and drive in the midst of an actual street in which a lot of cars are coming at you,
You have a lot of information coming at you,
Different street lights,
You have to prove yourself then.
Same thing with meditation.
Once you develop the capacity while sitting down,
You have to prove yourself that you can live freely despite the insults,
The criticism,
And the concerns,
Anxiety that comes as part of everyday life.
Therefore,
If you can't even meditate and maintain that focus when you're sitting down in the quiet,
Then it's going to be very difficult to apply that equanimity and sustain it in everyday life.
That's why there needs to be two phases,
Two stages to meditation.
One,
Sit down in the quiet and practice maintaining that focus on the breath,
That concentration.
Then the next stage is to go out into the world and try to maintain the same level of focus and equanimity as you encounter everyday life.
First,
Basically going back to your answer,
It's not the absence of thoughts that we are pursuing.
It's that to be able to maintain that focus and despite all the sea of thoughts.
That's what we're trying to do.
