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Instructions on working with thoughts

Joseph Goldstein · Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center · The Path to Awakening · 13 May 2023 · 50 min

0:02 This morning we're going to emphasize more explicitly one of the most important and challenging aspects of being mindful, and that is quite explicitly making thought the object of the mindfulness. You've Suggest a fix

0:30 probably noticed that we live a great deal of our lives lost in the realm of thoughts. And we often take the thought, To be the reality itself. And so, to a large extent, we're just living in the story of our lives. You know, the thoughts that come into the mind like everything else are conditioned by a lot of different things. Our past and our upbringing and our education and society. Suggest a fix

1:06 So it's not that our thoughts are all original and unique to ourselves. It's just a phenomena of mind. Which has basically taken over. In this respect, the practice of becoming mindful that we're thinking, of recognizing that a thought is there and what a thought is, is tremendously freeing. Kind of takes us out of the box of our own particular stories and perceptions. We can see them more clearly and then assess in any particular moment, is this helpful, is it not helpful? Instead of simply being carried away by the very many thoughts that are arising in the course of a day. Suggest a fix

2:07 Somebody once mentioned a study where they had counted the number of thoughts typically a person has. And I can't remember now, so it's possible I'm making this up. But my recollection is there was something like 10 ,000 thoughts a day or some huge number. I didn't know it. And you've probably noticed that we are not aware of a good many of them. We're just lost in them, and then at a certain point, we come out from being lost. So for myself, it's a tremendously interesting arena to really pay attention to and to understand, because there's kind of an immediate sense of greater spaciousness, of ease, of freedom. Suggest a fix

3:00 When we come out from being lost. Or when we're aware of the thought as it's happening. Very different space than being lost in it and identified with it. So I want to offer just a few approaches to becoming mindful of thought. But you may well discover some of your own as you're practicing. Suggest a fix

3:29 So one of the first things we can do is... To pay attention to when we become aware that we're thinking. Simply to notice, are we aware of the thought as it just arises? Do we become aware of it in the middle? Do we become aware of it after it's over and we remember that we were thinking? You know, we've already come out. Suggest a fix

3:59 And you may have experience of all three of them. Most likely, predominantly, the last one. Oh yeah, I was thinking. So it's not to be looking at this with any sense of judgment. It's just a way of focusing our attention and refining our awareness of thought as a process. So it's simply to notice, not adding a judgment about it, just to see. Suggest a fix

4:36 Then it can be helpful to notice if there are any predominant themes, the thoughts. Usually people have a top ten, maybe a top five, I don't know. It might be work, it might be family, relationships, the state of the world, whatever. We each have our own particular affinity for different subject matters. It's really helpful to begin to recognize if there are any particular patterns to the themes of the thought. And to see... Which ones are most seductive? Because some thoughts may be easier to pick up. They don't pull us in. And other thoughts, for whatever reason, we're just seduced by them again and again and get lost in the story of it. Suggest a fix

5:39 If you can begin to notice the top few themes anyway, it's helpful to recognize that, to set the intention in the mind. Keep an eye out for these. So just at the beginning of a sitting, you're priming yourself to be mindful, be aware of those thoughts which most typically carry you away or you get lost in. Family tape, work tape, whatever it may be. Suggest a fix

6:17 One of the most prevalent themes for almost everybody are thoughts of past and future. These are very interesting thoughts to recognize as such as thoughts because it really begins to change in quite a profound way our notion of time. Suggest a fix

6:46 We tend to think of the past as being back there in the future, someplace ahead of us, and we substantiate these concepts. We make a thing of past and future, and it's very interesting to observe how much of our mental activity is involved in these big classes of thoughts. And again, within the category of past and future, there may be particular themes, but the larger context of thoughts of past, thoughts of future. Suggest a fix

7:29 One of the most freeing aspects that I found... In noticing those kinds of thoughts is the realization that past and future are really concepts. Suggest a fix

7:47 How do we ever experience the past? It's only as a thought or image in the present moment. How do we ever experience the future as a particular thought or image? If we are lost in the concepts of past and future, It's like carrying... This is going to be an odd image, but two mountains on our shoulders. We're going through life burdened by the weight of past and future one way or another. Suggest a fix

8:29 And we don't often realize that our experience of past and future is simply a thought in the moment. The concept weighs heavily, but when we see it as just a thought, it's very light. And so to begin to go through our lives recognizing when these thoughts come so we're not just lost in and consumed by the content of our past and future thoughts, but we see them for what they are. It's just a thought. It comes and goes. And it doesn't mean, as we've said different times, it doesn't mean that we are ignoring the content. But rather by first seeing it for what it is, this is just a thought arising in the moment. That space gives us the space to assess, does this thought need a response? Suggest a fix

9:35 Does it need action? Does it not? Suggest a fix

9:41 You've probably noticed by now that most of the thoughts we have do not need a response. It's just this endless proliferation. But some do, you know, when we're mindful of thinking, past thought, future thought. So we're disidentifying with it, but it doesn't mean necessarily that we're ignoring the content. We're seeing it, and then seeing whether it requires any particular response or not. So it creates a lot more space in our lives and in our practice. Suggest a fix

10:31 So first noticing At what point in the thought process you become aware of it. Seeing if you recognize some number of predominant themes and then setting the intention to keep an eye out for them because they are so seductive, so easy to get caught up in, and to make a note of that particular theme. As I say, work, family, relationships, whatever it may be. Suggest a fix

11:10 Pay attention as best you can to the arising of thoughts of past, thoughts of future, and seeing if you can remember in the moment as you recognize that, maybe a little tagline to reinforce it, just a thought. It's just a thought. Things get a lot lighter when we see thoughts for what they are. Suggest a fix

11:41 And in the service of that understanding, Suggest a fix

11:47 One of my favorite exercises with regard to thinking and thoughts, especially when there are a lot of them, which is fairly frequent, as the thoughts are running through the mind, to ask the question, what is a thought? So on this level, it's not about what the thought is saying. It's about looking at the very nature of thought itself. Suggest a fix

12:24 So when thoughts are going through the mind, we can remember that question, well, what is this phenomenon? What actually is a thought? And that question helps direct our mindfulness to look directly, again, not at the content, but just at the nature of this phenomenon. Well, what is a thought? And my experience in doing that and looking at them is to see that thoughts, in essence, A little more than nothing. When I look at a thought, it's like a little blip in the mind. You might call it an energy blip, taking the form of a thought. But when I look, there's nothing much there. And yet, when we're not mindful of thought, we are creating a whole world, a whole reality. Suggest a fix

13:28 you know Based on the content of what the thought happens to be. So it's quite remarkable that when we're unaware of thoughts, unmindful, they have so much power in our lives. They're really directing our lives. And yet when we are mindful of them, as I said, little more than nothing. So to me this is a really fascinating way of applying mindfulness and investigation to a phenomenon. That is just so impactful on our lives. Suggest a fix

14:11 Underlying all of these different suggestions is something that I've been emphasizing, we all have a lot, is that one of the great powering forces in our practice is really interest. If you become interested in this, then mindfulness is easy. Because of the interest. And so, if we're sitting and we're kind of reminding ourselves, take interest in the nature of thought, in what the thought is saying, in when we pick it up, that interest is going to refine the quality of your attention, of mindfulness. So, have fun with all your thoughts when we take a comfortable meditation posture. Suggest a fix

15:21 Again, simply settling into the body, awareness of the body. There is a body. We become embodied. We're here. Suggest a fix

15:43 And as you're sitting, feeling the whole body, you may become aware of the sensations of the body breathing. Suggest a fix

15:58 And be receptive. Nothing to look for. No Suggest a fix

16:06 need to alter the breath in any way whatsoever. Suggest a fix

16:13 Just staying mindful of the body and aware of how the body is breathing. Really simple. Suggest a fix

16:34 if other bodily sensations become... Predominant in a calling your attention, those sensations become the main focus of your attention. Tightness or pressure, heaviness, vibration, whatever it may be. We're just open to those sensations. Suggest a fix

16:55 See how they're always becoming otherwise and Suggest a fix

17:05 they're no longer predominant. Settling back into the awareness of the whole body, of the body breathing. Suggest a fix

17:34 And if any strong mind state or emotion becomes predominant, maybe the hindrances. It may be more positive, wholesome states of mind. Suggest a fix

17:48 Become aware. Perhaps even use some mental noting to acknowledge and become mindful of those mind states, those emotions. Simply something else to become aware of, how they're manifesting in the body, in the mind. Suggest a fix

18:12 And then include awareness, mindfulness of thoughts in all the ways that I just mentioned. Suggest a fix

18:23 If at any time it just feels like it's getting too confusing, Too many things, you're not quite sure what to be aware of. Simply come back to the awareness of the whole body sitting. Suggest a fix

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43:11 Any questions about the instructions in your practice? Suggest a fix

43:25 Yes. So the question was, in noting, realizing that noting is also just a thought, and how to deal with that with respect to being mindful of thinking. Suggest a fix

43:39 It is just a thought. You do not have to note. Thinking after making the note. But I think that you probably noticed there is a difference in the kind of thought it is. Suggest a fix

43:58 Because most of the thoughts that I was talking about in the beginning are the ones that are uninvited. You know, we're just sitting and the thoughts are coming. The noting is an intentional thought. And so embedded in that already is a kind of mindfulness. and so I wouldn't... I keep it very simple. I kind of use the noting. But also remember that the noting should be very soft, like a whisper in the mind. It shouldn't interfere with the direct experience, but it connects us to the experience. In the back. Suggest a fix

44:41 Does good mean enjoyable? Yeah. Suggest a fix

45:04 So the question was about noticing that some thoughts are useful or good or pleasurable and others are not. Seeing that the assessment of them as being helpful or not, good or not, is itself another layer of what's happening in the mind, how to deal with that. Suggest a fix

45:29 I think it's really different functions going on. The assessment of whether a thought is useful or not, there's an aspect of wisdom in that. There is another mental process going on, It's actually an aspect of mindfulness. Because you're mindful not only of the fact that you're thinking, but you're mindful of the content. And I think someone mentioned how one of the meanings of the Pāli word for mindfulness, which is satay, means discerning what is wholesome and unwholesome. So all of that is embedded in mindfulness. I think what you might want to watch out for Suggest a fix

46:22 how you're relating to the assessment. Suggest a fix

46:27 One at a Suggest a fix

46:53 time. No. Suggest a fix

47:04 No. Suggest a fix

47:29 Okay, so the question was about what to do basically with thoughts that are interesting or useful. Yeah, fertile ground. So a couple of things. One, simply to be aware that there is a meditative phenomenon called Vipassanā brilliance. Suggest a fix

47:59 We're sitting and we have all these brilliant ideas about this or that. And some of them may be. But some may not be. But this is not the time, this is not the time to necessarily explore that. What I would suggest is that if we have some thoughts that do seem very fertile, you know, and maybe worthy of exploring, when those thoughts come in the context of a sitting, Suggest a fix

48:38 what's the right word? Really note, kind of highlight that thought. So that it's in your memory as something, okay, this would be worth exploring. And maybe after the sitting, not to do the exploration, but just to jot it down so you remember. If you do that in the midst of a sitting, of acknowledging that, I think you will remember till the end of the sitting. Because otherwise, you'll just be spending your time lost in thought, even if they are productive or useful, but it's not the purpose. purpose of the practice. So it is coming back to the body, to the breath, and not dragging yourself back, but it's just all gentle. Just acknowledge, oh, interesting thought. Suggest a fix

49:27 Okay, what is it? And then back. So it's very relaxed and open, but attentive. And remembering what the point of the practice is, which is basically to notice what's arising. Whatever it may be, thoughts or images, and I meant to include everything I said about thoughts could be applied to images in the mind. To recognize what's happening, to see its impermanent nature, that's really the essence. But you can accommodate those interesting thoughts in the way I mentioned. Okay, I think, as usual, there's a bunch of announcements. Suggest a fix

50:17 Yeah. Suggest a fix

Talk by Joseph Goldstein, recorded at Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center, 13 May 2023. Original at Dharma Seed: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/77876/. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

Listen on Dharma Seed · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0