Monday, July 04, 2005

Meditation on Mind

I thought I'd share some experiences in meditation .....

The Ocean and the Waves .... thoughts are like gossamer ripples on the surface of the ocean. Waves are not something other than the ocean. They are just an aspect of it, not different in nature. Thoughts kinda ripple on the surface of it. Really fragile hollow little things. How is it we get caught up in them so much and attach so much importance to them! They are so ephemeral and transcient and rainbow like! The image of the Magicians illusion is so true. They appear as though conjured up, and have no more substance than an illusion ... and yet they plainly appear.

The Origin .... where do thoughts come from? If the thought is intentional, i.e. I deliberately cause it to arise, then the thought seems as though it follows a current deep within or below, and the thought itself seems like a ripple on the surface. The current below, which feels much more powerful than the thought itself is what? ... Intention .... or willful action .... volition. It is plainly apparent how intention seems to be of greater weight or consequence that the effect of the intention is, that is, the thought. I guess this experience matches up with the teaching on karma, which give such a 'weight' or significance to volitions. They are the driving forces of our suffering, and our experience. When viewing my mediation experience, thoughts seem so much less 'substantial' than intention does.

Their Destination ..... where do thoughts go to? They seem like distant echoes. When the thought has gone, it appears to leave a trace, something which traces their prior existence. The thought itself though seems uttterly empty, and without substance. And the trace, the echo, is itself a thought of a kind, or perhaps not even that .... an echo of a thought, a pale reflection of what might have been, which has even less substance and solidity than that which it purports to recollect.

All of it - thoughts, recollection of thoughts, still mind - all of it seems of the same nature .... expansive, open, spacious, and without enduring substance at all. Yet there are also echoes and illusions, which somehow appear or manifest withing/around/through that open spaciousness. Located where? - nowhere, yet they seem to appear. Of what substance? - of nothing, yet they seem to appear. Of what significance? - how hard to judge. It seems as though 'stuff happens', yet its substance is wafer thin. Yet beings remain, suffering seems to be, and responding to this is the only thing which makes sense. What else makes sense in life? We all lick the honey off the razor's edge .... how to help beings see what they are doing and stop such action?

This is the question ......

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