Should I Aim For A Blank Or Focused Mind In Meditation?

[With English interpretation] Ven. Pomnyun Sunim's (법륜스님) Answer to “Should I aim for a blank or focused mind in meditation?”
A question chosen from the weekly Sunday meditation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim(법륜스님).

Peace of mind is only one step away.

Transcript

In popular culture,

Meditation is portrayed as totally clearing the mind.

In Sunday meditation,

It seems to be about mindfulness.

Should I be working towards having a blank mind or a focused mind during meditation?

We have to understand what it means by clearing the mind or emptying the mind.

It is the concept of clearing the mind.

It really means that if you desire something,

It's letting go of that desire.

If there is a tension,

Letting go of that tension in your mind.

It's to let go of any greed or desire or anything that causes tension and tightening of your mind.

It's to let that go.

That's what we mean by clearing or emptying your mind.

Therefore,

Mindfulness is the same thing as clearing your mind.

Therefore,

During meditation,

What you are trying to do is pause all your thoughts and really focus on the here and now,

And anything that's occurring just in the here and now.

And that is equivalent to clearing your mind.

If you believe there is something else called the mind that you can take and clear it,

Then you have the wrong conception of what a mind is.

So truly clearing your mind means pause all your actions,

All your thoughts,

And really focusing on what's happening in the here and now,

And only that.

You're becoming aware,

You're pausing,

You're becoming aware of your own breath and becoming aware of all the different sensations that occurs in that here,

In that moment.

Pausing any thought,

Any intention,

Any desire,

Any desire,

Any intent that your mind may create.

And we can use the expression emptying or clearing your mind to describe that state.

However,

Clearing or emptying your mind without the mindfulness that goes along with it is almost being drowsy,

Almost sleeping.

So there is no clarity to your emptiness.