MA 55 Mind Like A Mirror

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This studio-recorded track of 29 May 2024, in the course of a guided meditation compares the mind to a mirror - for which only a small mirror can reflect the whole world - and how one should respond to objects in the mind no more than a mirror would respond to the things it reflects.

Transcript

So we can start by getting ourselves comfortable,

Sitting calmly for a moment and gently closing our eyes.

Seeing as there's no rush,

We can take as long as we need to get settled.

For now we don't actually need to do anything.

It's enough just to be,

Just to exist in our body,

Just to be alongside all the other living,

Breathing manifestations of life on this planet.

And when we're ready,

Our practice might be simply to notice,

Noticing our thoughts,

Noticing our body and our body sensations,

Noticing our environment,

If anything needs to be changed or responded to.

For now we just notice,

Noticing and accepting,

Noticing things as they are and letting them be.

To fully relax our shoulders,

We might just shrug fully and then let our shoulders drop back to their natural height.

We might lengthen up through our spine,

Beyond the crown of our head,

While simultaneously drawing down into our seat.

We can rest the backs of our hands across our lap,

While tucking our right index finger lightly under the tip of our left thumb and turning to relax our state of mind.

Even without calling forth pictures in the mind,

We'll probably notice visual images coming unbidden to the mind.

The faces of loved ones,

Our homes,

Other familiar places,

Previous meals or replays of movies.

Such images arise spontaneously throughout the day,

But we are often too engrossed in external sensations to notice them,

And each night our mind becomes a dream theatre,

Where we interact with fictitious scenarios and people.

Visualization or imagination is therefore a mental technique we are all familiar with,

For unless we work in the visual arts,

We will have little or no control over our ability.

But in meditation we become increasingly able to channel and harness this ability.

When you are new to meditation,

It may even seem impossible to internalize the mind within the body,

Because we are not used to bringing the mind inside the body.

Normally our awareness is pulled away from us by the sights,

Sounds,

Tastes and touches from the outside world,

Or the tendency to keep on thinking without end.

But the moment we try to keep the mind in one place at the center of the body,

We'll find it difficult.

It's difficult for adults,

But easier for children,

Who have a nervous system that still hasn't been hardened up by the way they are trained to think in the school system.

If you ask a six-year-old to meditate,

Visualizing at the center of the body,

They are able to do it naturally.

They just observe without thinking,

Which means that their mind is easily stilled.

And together with that innocence of mind,

They are able to reach attainments in their meditation easily.

In contrast,

Adults spend their whole time thinking.

About what to do,

What they want,

How they are going to get it,

Where they are going to get it from,

And from whom they are going to get it.

This constant thinking leaves the mind clouded.

As we get older,

This way of deploying the mind becomes habitual,

So the adult mind is not as flexible as a child's,

And the pressure of constant thinking leads to stress.

We shouldn't despair nonetheless,

As adults are still able to get the same results as children with practice.

If we're new to meditation,

We may just need to de-school the mind and get back in touch with our inner child.

The mind has often been compared to a mirror.

For one thing,

Even a mirror the size of the palm of your hand can reflect the whole of a mountain.

In the same way,

A mind can contain infinite levels of awareness.

What's more,

Whatever object comes before a mirror does not affect the mirror itself,

And the mirror does not affect the object.

So like a mirror,

We can learn to treat thoughts and images with equanimity by learning not to judge them.

We need to avoid the misapprehension that meditation is about trying to stop thoughts.

If you can relate to thoughts,

Treating them like a mirror treats reflections,

Then whether thoughts are there or not,

The mind remains clear like a mirror over the sky,

Thereby freeing the mind.

Rather than being inert,

It's like taking in information in a peripheral way.

It's the same as how we can tell whether the person sitting next to us is young or old,

Male or female,

Even without looking directly at them.

It's like seeing without looking.

It's like we are looking just with our awareness,

Or looking right through an object,

Or just like letting the images play on the surface of the mind,

Like an undistorted mirror reflection.

So we direct our mind with the utmost gentleness,

Taking in information as if we weren't actually looking,

Seeing without looking.

It's like watching a furtive wild animal that will be scared off the moment we blink.

So we don't concentrate on it even with our awareness,

But just look straight on through.

The same sort of lightness of awareness that is more akin to subtly covering the object with a sprinkling of fairy dust.

And if we need to make use of a mantra to keep our thoughts in place,

The sound of the mantra Samma Arahang should be light and gentle,

Just resounding naturally from our mind.

In any case,

Before long,

The level of cloudedness in the mind will diminish to the point that we are okay with it.

And when we sit for meditation on subsequent occasions,

We will start to have the feeling of spaciousness inside,

Lightness inside,

As if our whole body has disappeared,

Or as if we've lost track of time.

This is the starting point of meditation proper,

Although it's only weak concentration at this stage.

Technically known as momentary mindfulness or Kanika Samadhi,

But we continue to train ourselves further in the hope of mastering meditation that is more subtle still,

To allow us to learn about the truth of life and the world,

To help us overcome suffering or gain a refuge in life.

Consistent daily practice in our meditation will lead us to the breakthrough we seek,

Where we reach a turning point that can sometimes take just a fraction of a second,

When the mind is able to reach a standstill in meditation.

But for now we continue in this way,

Lightly and gently,

For a few more moments in silence,

Until we come to the appropriate time.

So we continue to keep our mind on track at our center,

Gently reflecting the experiences in the mind,

Like a mirror with its reflections,

Monks from the forest tradition used to advise that we should just let the mind do as it wants.

Just watching without reacting to new experiences,

Not taking the bait for things that come into contact with our senses.

We need to regard all impressions as just more of the same,

Letting come and go without fighting them,

Keeping the mind in the present rather than thinking about what we're going to do tomorrow.

If at all times we just observe the characteristics of things in the present moment,

This will allow our mind to gain true equanimity.

If we find we are inadvertently involving our eyesight in the meditation process,

We need to take special care that we are not angling our eyes down towards the center of our body,

We need to make sure our eyes are still facing forward.

If we are focusing our eyes at the center of the body,

The more we try to focus,

The more pressure we will be putting on our eyes,

The more stressed we will become across our forehead,

And the meditation will just tire us out.

Actually we should just disconnect from our eyesight,

Or if this doesn't work then just imagine we are looking out of a dormer window to a distant horizon,

Even though our eyes are directed forwards looking at the view,

But with our mind we are reaching out to our center solely with our awareness.

So when we are meditating we need to take care not to put pressure on our eyes.

Our eyes should not be directed differently just because we are meditating,

They should remain at the same angle we'd use to look in front of us,

Even though our eyes are closed.

And of course we need to remain patient,

If we are not able to achieve the lightness we require today,

We can simply try again tomorrow,

But in the meantime we just keep on training ourselves both inside our meditation practice and between sessions,

Because there are no shortcuts on the journey towards stillness.

At the same time we need to adjust the mind every time we sit for meditation,

While noticing what more our mind needs,

In effect all it takes is consistency.

And if we find that the seventh base of the mind is not the best place for us to focus,

We can always start from a different place inside the body,

Anywhere that brings us contentment,

Or we might consider that the center of the body has enlarged to the size of the whole room or to the horizon.

In the meantime we just bring our mind to anywhere that feels right for us,

Sometimes there may appear to be light that comes and goes,

It may or may not be a sphere of light,

It may appear in front of us or to the sides or even behind us,

But we don't react to it,

We just reflect it like a mirror,

We play hard to get,

Not letting the mental object ensnare our attention,

We pretend not to be interested,

Even though it may fascinate us,

The wiser we focus on it,

It will disappear,

We just remain in stillness,

Watching with peripheral vision,

And when it's ready then it will come to our center in its own time.

So we continue in this way,

Lightly and gently,

For a few more moments in silence until we come to time for some loving kindness meditation.

So we continue in an unhurried way,

Taking a moment to allow the inner experience that we have built up today,

As a result of our meditation,

To manifest into positive and compassionate intentions for ourselves and others,

Just allowing these intentions of Just allowing these intentions of goodwill to seep into our subconscious,

Little by little,

Helping to rewrite the thoughts that arise from the subconscious,

And remind us of the positive truths that we may have forgotten somewhere along the way,

In the same way we allow the breath to nourish our body.

So we extend compassion for ourselves,

By reminding ourselves that everything about us is enough and just as it should be,

That we are already whole,

Confident and courageous,

That we are generous in sharing our loving kindness and letting it flow,

That we are grateful for our body and the life it allows us,

That we are grateful for our vitality,

Wisdom and intuition,

That we are grateful for the experiences we have already gained,

That we are loved,

Lovable,

Safe and supported,

We can secretly admire ourselves for how far we have already come,

How much we have already learned,

That we are worthy of love,

Success,

Happiness,

The kindness,

Care and respect of others,

That we believe in ourselves even when no one else does,

That we were born with everything we need inside to find our way through life,

That we may be well and happy,

Free from distress and worry,

Free from ill will,

That our hearts be filled with loving kindness,

Compassion and sympathetic joy,

And having put ourselves in a good place we extend loving kindness beyond ourselves in ever-widening circles with the wish that all living beings be well and happy,

May they too be free from distress and worry,

May their minds be free from ill will,

May their hearts be filled with love,

May their hearts be filled with love,

Although goodwill towards certain others at this stage may feel artificial and contrived,

The recognition of our negative feelings and the desire to wish to transform them into positive feelings is important,

In time indifference will change into equanimity,

And from equanimity into friendliness and concern,

When through the practice of the meditation on loving kindness we learn to shrug off insults rather than get angry,

To forgive rather than plot revenge,

And to be kind rather than rude or vicious or uncaring,

Our interactions with others will become considerably more enjoyable,

And our life will become subjectively happier,

We'll become more able to put aside our own self-interest for the sake of others,

To act out of loving kindness,

To free up our time to help those in need,

Manifesting these pure intentions will eventually become as much a part of the meditation on loving kindness as sitting quietly with our legs crossed,

So we extend our good wishes further for the wider world,

Opening a mind of compassion to living beings in all their diversity,

For the earth as a whole,

For the entire infinite and mysterious universe,

For a few more moments now in silence.

Reviews

So grateful to see a new practice. Thank you for guiding and teaching us. ☮️💖🙏🖖🪷🕉