Reframing Experience

อาจารย์ อมโร

Reframing Experience

When we experience the ordinary flow of activity – walking from one place to another, talking with a colleague, checking the time – we can notice and reframe experience.

Instead of, ‘I am walking. I am talking. I am checking the time,’ we can change the framework to, ‘There is walking. There is talking. There is checking the time.’

In a sense, we can retrain the mind to see the experience of the world in a different way.

As we sit down for lunch, lunch is happening in our mind. We might think, ‘I’m putting food in my mouth,’ but our mouth is ‘in’ our mind. We might think, ‘I am sitting in a room,’ but the room is in the mind.

Our inner world includes thoughts and emotions, liking and disliking, approval and disapproval.

Rather than getting caught up in these experiences, there can be the awareness: ‘This is a perception of liking,’ ‘This is a perception of disliking.’

This reframed perception can be applied to seeing, tasting, feeling, hearing … the whole gamut of experiences: ‘This is hearing. This is seeing. This is reflecting. This is what’s going on.’

We also habitually perceive what we experience as ‘wanted/unwanted’, ‘liked/ disliked’, ‘good/bad.’ Instead, we can take a step back and cultivate a different framework.

For example, when we get something we want, we can reflect: ‘I was anticipating this. Now I’ve got it.’ We can notice anticipation changing to gratification. Then we can notice the experience of change itself rather than getting lost in the experience of, ‘Hey, I got what I wanted! Hooray!’

The world is happening in our mind. This is not just a mind game; it is a reframing of experience. So, what is the effect of that? How does that change the way the world is felt? How does that change the way the world is appreciated?

This reframing is not just a matter of learning behaviours or obeying instructions. The whole point of following instructions or advice is the internal effect it might have.

What really matters is the change of heart. When there is this shift of view, this change of perspective, how is it felt?

Let that really soak in – the world is happening here, in the mind.

We recognize the world as patterns of perception. Arising and passing. What is the felt sense of that in the heart? Is there a quality of freedom? A quality of ease? Is there a way that the sense of stress (dukkha) ends?

Experiment with this and see if it can be sustained.

Of course, we may forget or become distracted. It is natural to get lost. We may realize that an hour has gone by and that we were completely absorbed in our own projections, our loves and hates and dramas.

But then there is the reframing: ‘Oh yes, this is the experience of getting lost in a drama. It feels like this. This is the mind getting lost in stories. Aha!’

This reflection by Ajahn Amaro is from the book, Mind Is What Matters, “Going Nowhere,” (pdf) pp. 22-23.

Gentle and Humble

อาจารย์ เลี่ยม

Gentle and Humble

You need to train to bring forth an attitude of gentleness and humbleness. The words “gentle” and “humble” are about our good conduct as Sangha members – something that we need to practise by ourselves and develop in ourselves. With these qualities, the Sangha is well accepted by society. Anyone who behaves gently and humbly will always be well respected, even by the devas. The devas praise gentle…

What Is Head Hair Anyway?

อาจารย์ ตั๋น

What Is Head Hair Anyway?

What is head hair anyway? Regardless of whether it is long or short, it is just the earth element; but we consider it to be our own, ourselves, and so we keep it clean and give it lots of attention and care. You have probably combed your hair and noticed that two or three hairs have fallen out. When you next see this, try reflecting on them by asking yourself: ‘Are these hairs really who I am, my…

Words: How Well Do They Work?

ฐานิสสโร ภิกขุ

Words: How Well Do They Work?

As we have noted, the Buddha saw that every truth expressed in words is instrumental, a means to an end. This is in line with the fact that all words are fabricated by the mind, and—as he himself observed—all fabrications are put together for the sake of something. They’re meant to serve an aim. The Buddha chose his words so that they would serve the most beneficial aim of all: leading the listene…

One’s Own Mind

พระไตรปิฎกบาลี

One’s Own Mind

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There he addressed the monks: “Monks!” “Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him. The Blessed One said: “Even if a monk is not skilled in the ways of the minds of others [not skilled in reading the minds of others], he should train himself: ‘I will be skilled in reading my own mind…

Adjust the Approach

อาจารย์ มุนินโท

Adjust the Approach

Personally, I have found that when I approached practice with a striving-gaining attitude, my mind became more disturbed, not less. I spent many years trying to make my mind peaceful because that is what I understood the teachers were telling me to do. Eventually, when I came to realize that not everyone was out of balance in the way I was, I was able to accept that I needed to adjust my approach.…

Seeing Clearly

อาจารย์ สุนทรา

Seeing Clearly

To see something clearly depends on certain conditions. We learn to appreciate what it means to be still. What does that mean? It simply means that you stop moving with the movements of your mind. You stop agitating yourself with that which is agitated in yourself, being confused with that which is confused within you, being unhappy with that which is unhappy inside you. When we reach the place of…

Keep Everything in Context

ฐานิสสโร ภิกขุ

Keep Everything in Context

The Buddha recognized that meditation can dig up unskillful thoughts in the mind, unskillful states, but he had a solution for them. It comes down to how you breathe, how you talk to yourself, the perceptions and feelings you focus on. The most famous case was that of some monks who were practicing body contemplation without any supervision. The Buddha had gone off on a personal retreat into the f…

Physical Therapy for the Mind

อาจารย์ กรุณาธัมโม

Physical Therapy for the Mind

(From a talk recorded in July 2013) Recently I’ve made visits to a physical therapist because I have some ongoing muscle issues that have plagued me for the last twenty years. Often this type of situation originates with a small abnormality that causes pain, and many people will subconsciously allow the body to adjust to it or slump in a certain way to relieve that pain. Although this gives tempor…

Greedy for the "Extras"

อาจารย์ วีรธัมโม

Greedy for the "Extras"

In our monastic training, we try to create a very low standard of what we need in life. I took care of my elderly mother for about nine years until she died. During that time, I lived with her in her condo apartment in Ottawa. When an extremely old person died, it was sometimes mentioned on TV or in the newspaper. Once, there was a British airman who died at 113 years of age; my mum was ninety-thr…