Why should I write a book?
There are already many good books on meditation.
Who do I think I am?
I realize I've been lost in thought for a while.
Thinking,
I say,
In my mind.
This too,
A thought,
But a helpful one,
A conscious thought,
A thought in the service of increasing awareness.
I repeat one of the last things I heard or said in my mind,
Slowly and with awareness this time.
Who do I think I am?
Rather than getting lost in the content,
I investigate the process and form.
There is a beginning,
A middle and an end.
For a moment it's quiet.
And then I should write this down.
It can work well in the meditation book.
No,
I should wait.
It's important that I sit and meditate now.
But maybe I'll forget it.
Now it's so clear to me.
Thinking again.
I remember a suggestion.
Lose your mind and come to your senses.
Misremembering a conscious and helpful form of thinking.
I pay attention to what I sense here and now.
I hear swallows,
Their high-pitched and liquid song.
I feel air against my arms,
Cool and soft.
I'm on my way out of the fog of thoughts.
I'm coming to my senses.
I open my eyes and see a brown wooden floor.
So beautiful this little piece of the world.
I look around slowly and with great affection.
A room illuminated by the morning sun.
Buddha golden and shining.
See for yourself.
Sit with a straight back,
Alert and relaxed.
Close your eyes or rest your eyes on the ground in front of you.
Let breathing,
Sounds or bodily sensations be the focus of your attention.
When you notice that you've been lost in thoughts,
You can become aware of the thinking.
What kind of image or voice is it?
What's the quality of voice,
Tone and tempo?
Does it center on I and me?
Perhaps some of the voices sound like other people's voices.
Perhaps you'll notice that thoughts,
Rather than being very personal and something that defines you,
Are also interdependent phenomena created by various conditions.
Can you repeat some of the last things you heard or said in your mind,
Slowly and with awareness?
Notice how it has a beginning,
A middle and an end.
Let thoughts too,
Arise and pass away like other phenomena.
When you notice that you've been lost in thoughts,
You can also choose to leave the thinking behind and direct your attention to what you sense here and now.
It may be something you can sense bodily,
Such as holding your breath or breathing very shallowly,
Tensing of muscles,
Tightening of the area between your eyebrows.
It may be something you hear or smell.
You can also look around.
What do you see here and now?
Come to your senses.
What do you see here and now?
You
