Imagination As An Aid To Practice 2

This talk looks more deeply at a particular way in which the mind works – the use of imagination in the mind. Meditation is a perfect time to put down some of the imaginings that we do, we’re letting go of thoughts and the imaginings that accompany them. But sometimes imagination can be a support when the instruction is to sit down, stay with your breath and don’t leave it.

Transcript

So we've taken a little pause in moving through the next six steps of the sixteen steps of the Anapanasati mindfulness of breathing to look more deeply at a particular way in which the mind works, The use of imagination in the mind and the use of imagination in practice. I think it's useful to think that human beings are using their imagination all the time. Not like flights of fantasy but rather we're imagining what's going to happen or what has happened. We imagine people when we meet them. We imagine things about them. We imagine things about them. And sometimes these imaginings are accurate and sometimes they're detrimental. They actually undermine us. When I was reflecting on this in my own experience, For me, My imaginings, They often go to fear. I can find myself in catastrophic thinking pretty quickly. It's almost as if over time it's become a disposition or a mood. So with these imaginings, Meditation is a particular way of thinking. It's a perfect time to put down some of these imaginings that we do. We're letting go of our thoughts and the imaginings that accompany them and coming back to the present more fully. But we can also use imagination to give us a little incentive to be here, To stay here. Kind of like you're writing out the boredom or the impatience or the restlessness, Whatever you're present to in your experience. So imagination, It can be supportive when the instruction is simply to sit down and to stay with your breath and don't leave it. It's like, All right. One of the images that I've heard and I appreciate is the image of riding a scooter. Some of you may have had children that ride scooters. So every time the mind wanders off, We kind of push off. We push back into the present moment and then we kind of coast along until we find that we need to come back again and we sort of push off again. Or the image of the breath like a wave, Like in the guided meditation that I offered. A wave and the breathing is sort of breathing in is the returning to the source of my fullness, The ocean, The awareness itself. And the breathing out is sort of a returning to the shore, A returning to our community, Our family, Our giving back. It's a release into our life. And then the breathing in is the sort of receiving our fullness and the breathing out is releasing our fullness. So these are just acts of imagination, Right? So if using the image is better than the alternative, Which is the mind just wandering off into thought, Then stay with the image until the image is no longer needed for you. Part of the function of the earlier part of the brain is to create the right conditions for supporting an investigation, A deeper letting go in the mind. So the more we have a sense of well-being in meditation, The easier it's going to be to work with the mind. So the meditation is a way to be able to help you in your own way. So the meditation is a way to work with the mind. So what we cultivate when we're sitting is to make the mind happy or calming the body or relaxing the body. There is a cultivation, An act of doing, The cultivation of joy and happiness, Of well-being and contentment. And these are all supporting the creation of or the conditions for the mind to begin to soften. And when the mind is soft, It's sort of like again the image of sort of like the candle wax or making the mind more malleable and flexible in the best possible way so that the mind can operate smoothly and easily and not in a reactive way. We're actually using this practice to cultivate deeper states of well-being. The mind is always being used. It's being used to apply and sustain attention and it can be supported by imagination. And it's pretty easy to have a lot of imagination that's not helpful. We can carry a lot of unconscious associations and projections onto our experience. An example is that I'm a lousy meditator. I can never do this. That's an imagined. You know it's also you're using your imagination when you have the thought. It's an idea that creates a certain atmosphere which in an extreme form becomes a self-filling prophecy. Right. If you're completely preoccupied with the idea that you can't meditate then you probably can't because of that preoccupation. And there's also fear. You know there's the fear of what's going to happen if I open my heart. If I really relax and really let go. Really feel what's here. And for some there might be good reason to have some caution. You know if you experience chronic anxiety or have had trauma then the imaginary idea of what's going to happen and why it's not really supportive is important to look at. So to have to be wise you know to be wise about whatever anxiety resides in the body whatever caution resides to not have to feel to not feel bad about it. It's there for a reason but we want to work with it and find another way of being learning how to relax with whatever we're carrying. So the role in imagination in the teachings the Buddha evokes images imaginations in similes and images. You know he evokes the imagery of the power that people have when they engage in this practice. Awakening just the image of awakening is opening your eyes to the Dharma. The eye that has a vision of freedom or the potential of freedom. So in a sense the teaching the idea is to become a visionary using the imagination to know a possibility. What's possible for you. Imagining the fulfillment of that. You know I often use the example like if I'm holding my fist tight you know really and you if you just hold your fist tight for a few minutes and then you release one finger while still holding the other fingers tight and you can sort of feel the release around that. So I can imagine oh I think it's possible I have a vision I can see the potential of how free my hand can be if I open the whole hand and release it. That's like the potential that we have. It's imagining a vision of ah there's freedom here. There's no longer holding. So it's imagining a vision of the potential that's available. Like it's possible I have vision and I can there's a possibility of seeing clearly. I see the potential of opening my whole hand and relaxing it. So imagination can be harmful. It can. And it can also be forward leading and opening. It can help us grow and develop. To be able to distinguish between these two qualities of imagination is important. You know in the similes for freedom from the hindrances which I kind of went to a little bit last week the Buddha says like visualizing oneself visualizing is the words used or the translation that I have as no longer sick. Visualizing oneself as no longer in debt. Visualizing oneself as no longer enslaved. So visualizing touches into something deeper than imagining. It's more embodied. You're visualizing this in the mind's eye. So once the imagination has functioned in a useful way and if it does you know great if it doesn't put it down. You know if it helps in supporting and settling us that's great. But then at some point you don't hold on to it. You let go into deeper states of calm where at some point the imagination what got you to settle what helped you to stay is no longer supportive and useful. So you put it down. So I wanted to share on this because I think it's beneficial and for some and again like I read earlier if it's not beneficial check it out. If it doesn't feel beneficial to you then put it down. It's not necessary. So Thursday will will go deeper into the mind. But for now I'd like to just take some questions and see how this exploration the sort of deviation from our from the 16 steps has landed for you. Thank you for your your kind attention this morning.

Reviews

Thank you for this superb talk, Lisa. You put complex material across so well 🌟