I’ve also found the use of “Not Mine” or “Not Me” to be helpful. Sometimes it’s so hard to settle down in meditation it feels like the first time.  I remember a man in a group meditation session that I sometimes attend noting at the end of a session that sometimes it’s easy to let thoughts, feelings, distractions, etc. go by like stray logs in the river, but sometimes a real show boat comes along and before we know it we climb aboard, light the lights and start playing the slots.

Jaiboon

Jaiboon-

Thanks for sharing that with us. I will take some time this afternoon to read it again. Recently I heard a talk from Ajahn Brahmavamso that sort of addresses the issue by looking at all things from the perspective of “Not Mine” which has helped me somewhat. He has one use the reflection “Not Mine” in regards to thoughts, feelings, pains etc. to draw the mind away from identification of those things. It has a helped me a bit when I allow the mind to get carried away. I can repeat “Not mine” and try to let the thoughts flow through me and fade away rather than hitching a ride on them and getting swept away by the current. Maybe this will help others working with a wandering mind. At any rate, thanks for drawing my attention by to the new translation Jaiboon, i’ll check it out again this afternoon.

Justin

There is a really excellent new translation of an Ajahn Cha talk on the Abahayagiri site under FEATURED TEACHING called Still Flowing Water.  He talks about wandering mind here as a part of a really…well, enlightening explanation of concentration, discernment and the precepts. In the end you see that how they function in formal sitting meditation is only the beginning of how they can work in daily life, moment to moment. The concepts are nothing new, but the explanation is somehow so clear and useful on a practical level that I’ve read it three times. I know it’s made a difference in my outlook every day since and I had to pass it on. It’s a gem.

Jaiboon

Agreed! Ajahn Cha rings like a bell...so clear you wonder why you didn’t see it before. Ajahn Sumedho, too, with humor. You can get a lot of their teachings on the Abhayagiri Web site under teachings...Ajahn Cha or Ajahn Sumedho. There are also audio dhamma talks of Ajahn Sumedho available there or at the Amaravati Buddhist Monestary Web site and more of Ajahn Cha at Wat Pa Nanachat International Forest Monestary Site.

It always helps to realize that everyone has dificulties with meditation and other aspects of practice.  If you havent read much yet of Ajahn Chahs teaching do your self a favor and do a search for his books at Amazon.com.  Of all the books i have ever read regarding Buddhist Practice, his teachings are in my opinion the best you will find anywhere.  They have been a real eye opener for me and a great help.

With Metta

Dorothea- I can relate to you resolving to be mindful on your way to the printer. I think that trying to find little moments of awareness throughout the day as being very helpful. In light of the unfortunate events of Virginia Tech, I found myself wishing for all the students that I deliver mail to to be free of suffering and its causes. I can’t say that I was able to keep that intention alive for the whole time I was delivering but there certainly were moments of mindfulness present. i will keep trying.

Yup. That’s my experience with the way the mind is—jumping around like a monkey. But slowly, slowly I find that the periods between jumps get a little bit longer. I relate to Justin’s comment about “the mind sometimes seems to go looking for something to get annoyed with or to have issues with.” After years of practice, this still happens to me—but less often, with less intensity, and with less persistence. The practice really does work. Take this as a testimony. But I still have a long way to go . . .

I try to do what Juan (and A. Sudanto) suggested. When the mind is jumping around, I try to bring it into the body—relaxing all my muscles as much as possible. Feeling my shoulders come down and my neck relax. Noticing the feeling of my feet pressing against the floor as I walk.

For a time, when I was working in an office, I had to leave my desk to walk to a printer periodically. I made a resolution to be mindful whenever I was walking to the printer. It was a little moment of reality midst the stream of work-related distraction. I began to look forward to walking to the printer!

Dorothea

Thanks to both of you for your input. It’s great to know that there are actuaccly others out there that are trying to walk this path. I find that I can sustain awareness for a very little amount of time, but I keep pulling myself back to it. Also, I can relate to when you said that sometimes your mind is so amped up that it becomes even more difficult to discern things. We can all take heart in knowing that at least we are aware of a path at all. There are millions out there that don’t even know that there is a path. Best of luck to you both.

I think it’s just the way the mind works, certainly my mind. I used to think my mind was especially undisciplined and erratic until I heard about the common Monkey Mind jumping all over the place. Bringing myself back to the moment usually helps me let the”mental fermentations” go, at least when I catch myself. Sometimes the Monkey is so amped it doesn’t respond to my meager discipline. I guess that’s why meditation is called a practice, but Mindfulness in everyday life is the real challenge. There’s dhamma talks on the subject all over the place, but Ajahn Sumedho has one in print right here on the Abayagiri web site:

[Quote] “So just by awakening, seeing it the way it is, is a refuge. Every time you’re aware of what you’re thinking—not critical, even if you’re thinking something really ugly and nasty—you’re getting to be an expert. This is what you can trust. As you develop this, have more confidence in it. Your awareness will become a stronger force than your emotions, your defilements, your fears and desires. At first it may seem like emotions and desires are much stronger, that it’s impossible to simply be aware. You may have only a few brief moments of awareness and then back into the raging storm. It may seem hopeless, but it’s not. The more you test it out, investigate and trust this awareness, then more stable it becomes. The seemingly invincible power of the emotional qualities, obsessions, and habits will lose that sense of being the stronger force. You will find that your real strength is in awareness, not in controlling the ocean and waves and cyclones and tsunamis and all the rest that you can’t possible ever control anyway. It’s only in trusting in this one point—here and now—that you realize liberation.” [End quote]

From Attending to the Here and Now, given by Ajahn Sumedho at the Spirit Rock retreat on July 3rd, 2005.

Keep the faith.
Metta
Jaiboon

Happens to me all the time.  As in, most of the day.  The last time I was at Abhayagiri, Ajahn Sudanto told me that when he finds his mind wandering he brings it back to the body, which is one of the foundations of mindfulness.  I’ve found that very helpful.  It can remove a lot of complexity created by the mind.

Ever since I have gotten more serious about the practice I find myself noticing more and more how much my mind wanders. I work as a private mail carrier and should have no stress in my job but the crazy things that pop up in my mind can be crazy sometimes. I find that the mind sometimes seems to go looking for something to get annoyed with or to have issues with. Does anyone else have this happen? If so, how do you work through it? Any stories and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Justin