Thoughts in Meditation.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
Deepak, I have a question about thoughts and meditation. I have recently started meditating and I am finding it very difficult. My question is when thoughts arise, mainly negative ones, whether it is during meditation or waking hours should I let thoughts finish? I ask because I try to cut negative thought off mid way and counter with something positive, I suppose I do this because I feel like if I don't the negative thought is more likely to manifest. This seems to go against the teaching to "watch thoughts" though. I end up having a battle in my mind and it is driving me crazy, especially in meditation because it feels impossible to settle into silence "the gap". I want to experience this but I just feel more frustrated than anything. Can you please offer advice? Thank you.
Answer:
Thoughts in meditation have a different function than outside of meditation, so I’ll just address that issue. When we are meditating, it is natural to have periods of thinking the mantra alternate with thinking thoughts (any kind of thoughts). This is because thoughts indicate that the mind is coming out of deep abstract areas of the mind to the conscious, more superficial levels. This cycling deep within and back to the surface is the normal process of meditation and indicates that you are meditating correctly. When you notice you are thinking some thought other than the mantra, then you don’t worry about whether it is a negative thought or not, you simply take it as a signal that it is time to easily return to thinking the mantra. Don’t struggle against the thought or try to push it away. That will cause mental strain and interrupt the process of meditation. Avoid all that emotional and mental diversion by switching over to the mantra when you notice you are thinking any other thought in meditation.
Love,
Deepak
Could Deepak recommend a mantra to use?
Hi deepak, I agree with u, when thought merge u should say the mantra, to over come those thoughts but, it`s hard!!!.... & I believe it shouldn`t be. Does that mean your not ready spiritually?
One Master Easwaran, to whom I turned to in personal distress, compared the wandering mind to the trunk of an elephant. Constantly moving as it walks past a marketplace. The moment the mahout places a small stick before it, the mighty elephant holds that stick with its trunk and ceases all restlessness. A mantra is something we hand over to our ever wandering minds. Holding on to that mantra is the only way we can calm our minds. Every time the mind wanders come back to the mantra. With time the mind will become the mantra.