![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cattasallaTwo words summarize the fundamental approaches we should take when working with the mind in meditation: Yes and No. Yes to the fact that whatever is happening in the mind is happening, but no to following it and getting caught up in it.
We cannot control our minds with force. The Buddha spoke of taming the mind, but when we tame a wild animal we do better to coax them to cooperate than coerce them to submit. If you want to befriend a feral cat, you offer food. First you just place it out and let the cat get used to its presence and location. Then you can gradually get closer, and eventually the cat may allow you to pet them. Similarly, you cannot compel the mind to obey. You can only create the conditions for freedom by showing it that there is more nourishment in letting go of that which creates suffering than holding on to it.
This means, at first, the mind will run wild, as anyone who has tried meditation knows. All kinds of things will happen: thoughts, images, fantasies, memories, to name a few. Some of this will be painful or difficult. Some of this will be frightening. Some of this will be repulsive. Some of this will be things we judge to be wrong, wish we didn't think, and want to push away. They may even actually be wrong in the sense that if they were acted upon they would lead to harm for ourselves or others. There may be rage, sadness, or fear.
The worst possible thing we can do when our mind is showing us something we don't want to see is to pretend it's not there. The worst possible thing we can do when our mind is doing something we don't want it to do is pretend it's not doing it. Denying these things will not cause them to go away. At best they may be hidden for a bit, but they will continue to pull on thoughts and lead us to suffering without our understanding why.
In many contemporary descriptions of mindfulness practice, it is called "nonjudgmental" and "non-reactive" awareness. When teachers call it "nonjudgmental," it does not mean not recognizing that some thoughts or mental activities are beneficial and others are harmful. It does not mean deciding that every thought has the same ethical value, nor adopting an amoral stance. It means we should not condemn ourselves if noxious thoughts arise. These thoughts are not a mark of our moral character. They're just something the mind is doing. Minds follow habits. They incline down the slopes of canyons carved by prior experiences and actions, and obviously we can’t change the past.
In the Sabbāsava Sutta, MN 2, the Buddha provides seven strategies for dealing with that which is within our mind that shoves in unwholesome thoughts and wishes, and blocks complete freedom of the heart. In Pali (the liturgical language of Theravāda Buddhism that is the closest we have to what the Buddha actually spoke), one of them is adhivāsana. This is usually translated as "enduring" or "tolerating," but it also means "agreeing," "consenting," and "accepting." Endurance is not a matter of gritting your teeth and engaging in dramatic combat with yourself. It is agreeing that what is happening is indeed happening. "This is happening to me. Yes, I accept this. I agree that I am having this experience." Even if it is terrible, even if you wish it weren't happening, it is still happening, and fighting it will only make it hurt more. Now, acceptance does not necessarily mean approval. That is not to say one should not try to extricate oneself from an abusive relationship or defend oneself from physical attack, nor that one should become some kind of overly pliant doormat to be stepped on by every bully. Accepting that a bad situation exists does not mean passively remaining in it! But it is to say that the struggle of denial will pile more hurt on top of the hurt that is already happening, which means more healing will be necessary later.
Now, just because something is happening in the mind does not mean you need to act on it or follow after it. This is what teachers mean by "non-reactive." If a thought is enticing, we gravitate toward grabbing onto it, and we get caught up in it in a way that severs us from being present and leads to future suffering. And by "enticing" I don't just mean pleasant thoughts, like obsessing over how delicious that cake is or how cool the newest phone will be. Sometimes thoughts of anger or indignation are also enticing. We might weave stories about how that person is a bad person and we are better than them. Wishing something else was happening and wanting to flee an otherwise neutral or uncomfortable moment (in which you are not actively being harmed) is also enticing. So while we say, "Yes, I am experiencing this and not something else, and I accept it and agree to reality," we also say, "No, I will not be carried away and entangled with these thoughts." We stay still.
After we coax that feral cat into trusting us, maybe even sitting in our lap and purring while we enjoy a late spring day on our porch, at some point we're going to want to take the poor dear to a veterinarian to have them spayed or neutered. We don't want the cat population to swell to unsustainable levels, however much we may love cats. And we don't want our harmful thoughts to multiply, proliferating to make our lives unnecessarily difficult. We want to trace them to the source and cut that off. This is the task ahead of us. Learning where they come from and how to heal the wound that they issue from.
We cannot control our minds with force. The Buddha spoke of taming the mind, but when we tame a wild animal we do better to coax them to cooperate than coerce them to submit. If you want to befriend a feral cat, you offer food. First you just place it out and let the cat get used to its presence and location. Then you can gradually get closer, and eventually the cat may allow you to pet them. Similarly, you cannot compel the mind to obey. You can only create the conditions for freedom by showing it that there is more nourishment in letting go of that which creates suffering than holding on to it.
This means, at first, the mind will run wild, as anyone who has tried meditation knows. All kinds of things will happen: thoughts, images, fantasies, memories, to name a few. Some of this will be painful or difficult. Some of this will be frightening. Some of this will be repulsive. Some of this will be things we judge to be wrong, wish we didn't think, and want to push away. They may even actually be wrong in the sense that if they were acted upon they would lead to harm for ourselves or others. There may be rage, sadness, or fear.
The worst possible thing we can do when our mind is showing us something we don't want to see is to pretend it's not there. The worst possible thing we can do when our mind is doing something we don't want it to do is pretend it's not doing it. Denying these things will not cause them to go away. At best they may be hidden for a bit, but they will continue to pull on thoughts and lead us to suffering without our understanding why.
In many contemporary descriptions of mindfulness practice, it is called "nonjudgmental" and "non-reactive" awareness. When teachers call it "nonjudgmental," it does not mean not recognizing that some thoughts or mental activities are beneficial and others are harmful. It does not mean deciding that every thought has the same ethical value, nor adopting an amoral stance. It means we should not condemn ourselves if noxious thoughts arise. These thoughts are not a mark of our moral character. They're just something the mind is doing. Minds follow habits. They incline down the slopes of canyons carved by prior experiences and actions, and obviously we can’t change the past.
In the Sabbāsava Sutta, MN 2, the Buddha provides seven strategies for dealing with that which is within our mind that shoves in unwholesome thoughts and wishes, and blocks complete freedom of the heart. In Pali (the liturgical language of Theravāda Buddhism that is the closest we have to what the Buddha actually spoke), one of them is adhivāsana. This is usually translated as "enduring" or "tolerating," but it also means "agreeing," "consenting," and "accepting." Endurance is not a matter of gritting your teeth and engaging in dramatic combat with yourself. It is agreeing that what is happening is indeed happening. "This is happening to me. Yes, I accept this. I agree that I am having this experience." Even if it is terrible, even if you wish it weren't happening, it is still happening, and fighting it will only make it hurt more. Now, acceptance does not necessarily mean approval. That is not to say one should not try to extricate oneself from an abusive relationship or defend oneself from physical attack, nor that one should become some kind of overly pliant doormat to be stepped on by every bully. Accepting that a bad situation exists does not mean passively remaining in it! But it is to say that the struggle of denial will pile more hurt on top of the hurt that is already happening, which means more healing will be necessary later.
Now, just because something is happening in the mind does not mean you need to act on it or follow after it. This is what teachers mean by "non-reactive." If a thought is enticing, we gravitate toward grabbing onto it, and we get caught up in it in a way that severs us from being present and leads to future suffering. And by "enticing" I don't just mean pleasant thoughts, like obsessing over how delicious that cake is or how cool the newest phone will be. Sometimes thoughts of anger or indignation are also enticing. We might weave stories about how that person is a bad person and we are better than them. Wishing something else was happening and wanting to flee an otherwise neutral or uncomfortable moment (in which you are not actively being harmed) is also enticing. So while we say, "Yes, I am experiencing this and not something else, and I accept it and agree to reality," we also say, "No, I will not be carried away and entangled with these thoughts." We stay still.
After we coax that feral cat into trusting us, maybe even sitting in our lap and purring while we enjoy a late spring day on our porch, at some point we're going to want to take the poor dear to a veterinarian to have them spayed or neutered. We don't want the cat population to swell to unsustainable levels, however much we may love cats. And we don't want our harmful thoughts to multiply, proliferating to make our lives unnecessarily difficult. We want to trace them to the source and cut that off. This is the task ahead of us. Learning where they come from and how to heal the wound that they issue from.