Taking some deep breaths,
Grounding into the body.
Just feeling the breath.
Deep into the belly.
Start to notice the mind.
Whatever the mind is doing.
Busy,
Quiet,
Whatever the thoughts are.
Just bring some attention to the mind.
Don't need to make it right or wrong or try to change anything,
Just noticing what the mind is doing right now.
Be in the dream of separation that makes us believe that we are separate people.
It is because we are identifying with these thoughts.
Identification means that we believe that they are our thoughts.
We feel like we own them,
That it's personal,
That it's about us.
And so part of meditating is to see if we can loosen the grip of identification.
That attachment to thinking,
That ownership or possession that is happening automatically and spontaneously.
But we'll see if there's something in us that can.
.
.
Help to release that a little.
And bind that.
Slightly And so we just notice the thinking process,
Just become aware of it.
Whatever it is.
Notice how some of the thoughts have a personal quality to them.
They feel like that's my thought.
Thought is about me.
I'm never going to be able to quieten my mind.
I'll never awaken.
I'm not good at meditating.
Maybe I'm very good at meditating.
But it's referring to the personal self as if the personal self is talking to itself about itself This is identification with mind.
Just bringing some awareness to how that operates just notice it there's no need to feel bad This is all a part of where we begin.
We notice how this works.
We learn through our direct experience what identification actually is.
It is taking thoughts personally.
It is taking ownership of the thoughts.
Notice in your direct experience how this is going on.
Notice how they have an emotional impact when we take them personally it may boost us up and make us feel good we may experience pride inflated ego I'm doing such a good job of meditating here.
We feel puffed up.
Or perhaps it's It's talking badly to ourself,
Criticizing ourself.
Feeling guilt.
It has an emotional impact when we take it personally,
When we're identified with it.
Just notice the emotional impact.
There's two parts here.
One is that it is being taken personally.
This thought is mine and it is about me.
And because of that,
It is emotional in some way.
Just exploring what identification with mind actually is,
What it looks like experientially.
See for yourself.
When I take a thought personally and I believe it's my thought,
There is an emotional impact.
So from that,
I can establish that if I'm feeling,
Emotionally positive or negative about a thought.
That I am actually identified with that thought.
I believe it's about me.
I'm taking it personally.
Ego is taking ownership of that thought.
Now thoughts are just thoughts.
They're neutral,
They're a movement of consciousness.
And with no identification there is no emotional impact.
Just like a cloud passing in the sky.
It's just a movement.
Movement of energy.
So when we meditate we're trying to get to this space within ourselves.
Try to find this place where this disidentification starts to happen.
Can we stop attaching to the thoughts?
Stop taking them personally?
So as we sit very still.
We deepen more into meditation.
And access the stillness of our being.
We may find it gets easier.
Naturally stop identifying.
With the thinking process.
Perhaps one.
We identify with.
And the next we don't,
It just floats past.
Try to notice the difference.
Notice how there's no emotions connected to the ones that you're not attaching to.
In neutral.
I'll never awaken.
We're not identified with that,
It just floats on by.
And part of meditation is finding this place where we're observing this process going on.
Deepening into a beam.
Which is the part that is witnessing all of this going on.
And as a by-product of that This disidentification process starts to happen,
An unhooking.
Bit by bit See,
It's not necessary for the mind to be completely silent.
It's all about identification.
Are you attaching to the thoughts?
The thoughts are innocent,
It's okay if they're there.
Not about repressing thinking.
But can we find that within us to unhook from it,
To not take it personally,
Take it lightly,
This is the process of dis-identification.
With thinking.
Retrain ourselves.
Deeper and deeper silence is felt thoughts become less and less important.
Until there is only stillness.
Your true self,
Your true nature.
