Thought Control

The next set of meditations will teach fundamental skills for controlling thoughts and mind, including awareness of thoughts, discarding thoughts, directing thoughts, and holding thoughts. These skills are essential for staying motivated and focused on particular tasks.
Thought Awareness, Discarding Thoughts, Directing Thoughts, Holding Thoughts, Motivation and Focus

• Practice each step for 5-10 minutes at a time, for a minimum of 3 days
• If struggling, slow down and practice for more days
• If enjoying a particular meditation, feel free to continue beyond 3 days
• Goal is to understand different functions of mind and how to practice them

The goal is to sort of equip you with an understanding of what are the different functions of mind and how can you practice them.

• Close eyes and notice whenever a thought arises
• Acknowledge each thought: “I am thinking about this”
• Be aware of getting lost in a chain of thought
• Inverse relationship between awareness of each thought and getting lost in thought

Already we’ve discovered one really important thing, which is that if we get lost in thought that must come with sort of losing our awareness. And as we practice being aware of thoughts will almost protect ourselves of getting lost in thought.

• Key goal: train capacity of awareness
• Practice for up to 10 minutes for at least 3 days, or continue daily

• Practice bringing up thoughts intentionally
• Engage the Indriyas (sense organs) to understand relationship between sensory input and thoughts
• Look at different objects and notice thoughts that arise with each object
• Shift attention from one object to another, not lingering too long
• If thoughts unrelated to object arise, switch to new object to re-engage relevant thoughts
• Don’t get lost in a train of thought; use senses to evoke random thoughts

Notice that as you look at a particular object, particular thoughts will arise. You may have sort of noticed that you got lost in a particular train of thought which is okay for a moment. But as soon as your awareness returns, hopefully you shifted to something else to evoke another kind of thought.

• Practice for 5-10 minutes for at least 3 days (6 days total with Meditation 1)
• Capacity for awareness from Meditation 1 helps signal when thinking about each object

These meditations lay the foundation for understanding and controlling the mind’s functions, preparing for more advanced practices to come. Consistent practice is key to developing awareness and mastery over thoughts.

see also:: Thought Control Meditation