Discovering Buddhism at Home -FAQ

Module 1 – Mind and Its Potential (page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

In the first meditation, are we supposed to follow the chain of thoughts forward or backwards from a specific thought in time?  And since there are 65 thoughts in a snap, how do we identify the precise moment before or after this specific thought?

I felt very relaxed and sleepy after doing the first clarity meditation.  But aren’t I supposed to feel an increase in energy?  Also, I find it very distracting to imagine being surrounded by lots of people during the motivation.  Any advice?

During the motivation practice, is it ok to also imagine important people in my life who are no longer alive?

In the first meditation, are we supposed to follow the chain of thoughts forward or backwards from a specific thought in time?  And since there are 65 thoughts in a snap, how do we identify the precise moment before or after this specific thought?

A student writes:

I have a question about the first meditation. I have done the meditation 5 times, and each one gets harder and harder. On this last one, it hit me that was I following each thought moment back or was I following the interconnecting web of thoughts and events that lead up to the moment. For example, I happen to look at my altar cloth and then I thought it worked well (got it recently) and then I followed that back to when I purchased it, what led to the purchase, etc. Or is it not to the event memories but the thoughts. What was the thought moment right before I thought of the altar cloth? What was the thought right before that? Then it gets confusing when it is stated that there 65 thought moments in the finger snap and that we are not aware of them all. Then how am I going to get previous thought moment right before I thought of the altar cloth.

Thubten Yeshe responds: 

Yes, you are right. You are picking up a particular thought or image and making a story about and around it. That’s what we do all the time. We don’t just look and see an altar cloth; we see an altar cloth and then write a mental book about this particular altar cloth or altar cloths in general, or something (apparently) totally unrelated that the visual image of the cloth triggered.

But, with regard to this particular altar cloth on your altar, the moment that preceded the first thought in your rambling story was a visual perception of the cloth itself. Then with that in mind (in the form of a mental image) you made up your story.

With this meditation what we are trying to do is simply to get a handle on how the continuum operates by looking back as closely as we can (gaps are inevitable) at the stream of thoughts, images, emotions that flows through our minds continuously. We look for the connections and relationships. We don’t need to create them; they are there. But, when we actually ‘see’ them, understand the mechanism that is operating there, we begin to understand something very important about the mind and its momentary continuum.

Don’t try to remember every mind moment; that’s virtually impossible for us. Try to see the connections and relationships between this moment and preceding ones, this pattern of thoughts and preceding ones. See where that process takes you.

Best wishes and happy traveling,

Thubten Yeshe

The student responds: 

Interesting. I do experience the problem during meditation. When doing a breathing meditation, the monkey mind does quite down. But when I move away such as following the mental continuum or to do some visualization. Basically when I start putting the mind

to work, the monkey mind does arise during meditation. And it becomes a struggle to stay with the task at hand.

Thubten Yeshe responds: 

All of us experience the ‘monkey mind’ to some degree during meditation. Our job is to gently, continually bring the mind back to the object of meditation. In that way we develop our mindfulness and when we have continuous mindfulness we have single-pointed concentration.

Relax into the process as much as possible. One thing that just gives energy to the monkey is trying too hard. Find a balance between a lazy mind and a mind that is stressed out from pushing too hard. The mind is ‘working’ any time you are meditating whether you are doing a visualization or focusing attention on the breath. The object of meditation just changes, but the monkey mind is quite capable of wandering off somewhere else when you are doing a breathing meditation. The trick is finding the most skilful balanced approach; not too tight, not too loose.

Good luck,

Thubten Yeshe

I felt very relaxed and sleepy after doing the first clarity meditation.  But aren’t I supposed to feel an increase in energy?  Also, I find it very distracting to imagine being surrounded by lots of people during the motivation.  Any advice?

A student writes: 

I just did the first clarity meditation. That was a very interesting experience. Very relaxing and calming. Matter of fact after I was through, I sat down on the couch and felt like it was bedtime. I had no trouble getting to sleep. I have always wondered about that effect. Kathleen McDonald and elsewhere state that you should feel some sort of increase energy. I have never felt that. If anything, pent up tension energy has been released.

Another observation is on the motivation sequence. The motivation asks us to imagine all the people in our lives being around us in the room and alive. Truthfully, I find the idea and visualization to be distracting. The only time I have not felt that is when i am chanting Om Mani Padme Hum and I imagine all the people in my life are with me in the room and chanting along with me. That tends to be powerful.

Thubten Yeshe responds: 

The release of pent up energy is fantastic, and in the end will give you more energy in everything you do. Tension is very hard work, to be relaxed and at ease is much less taxing so you have more energy for other things.

Regarding imagining the people of your life, just put them there lively and vibrant; then, sort of forget them, let the image of these people just rest in the back of your mind. You don’t have to remain focused on them, but you might find that putting them there in the first place automatically helps you to remember them during the day, as well as during your meditations. In that way you can direct positive energy in their direction, and recall the experience of the Equanimity Meditation in relation to these people. We create so much karma in our relationships with them; it’s important to keep that karma clear and constructive.

Best wishes,

Thubten Yeshe

During the motivation practice, is it ok to also imagine important people in my life who are no longer alive?

A student writes: 

Is there any reason when imagining all the people in my life during meditation that I should not include the dead who are important to me–parents, grandparents, mentors, etc.?

Thubten Yeshe responds:

Good idea.

t.y.

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