In a previous post, we discussed the distracting thoughts that arise in meditation and how we can use them as reminders to strengthen our connection with the field of care and our true nature of open awareness.
In a recent letter from one of the inmates I correspond with, he wrote (without knowing anything about my local teaching):
“Remember, Awareness of Distractions IS Awareness.”
Every time we recognize, remember, or realize that we have been distracted from our object of mediation, we have exercised our mindful present moment awareness. We have brought awareness to the distraction and in that space of awareness, it can release itself, we can relax, and return to the object of our meditation.
Notice I said, ‘return to the Object of Our Meditation’, not return to ‘Our Meditation’. This is because remembering to notice the movement of the mind and seeing the distraction come into awareness IS meditation. It is not an intermediate stage we have to go through to ‘get back’ to ‘our meditation’. This is the practice: Recognize, Release, Return. Just like it says on the shampoo bottle: lather (see the suds arising in the mind), rinse (release the grip on the suds and relax), repeat (return to your object and wait for the next distraction).
Another of the inmates I work with wrote that, perhaps due to his ADHD, he can never remember the content of the thought that drew the mind away from his object of meditation. “Wonderful! An Advanced Practitioner,” I replied. This gives us an even deeper way to practice with distractions. Rather than seeking after the content of the distracting thought, I suggested that he become aware of the feeling tone that is left in the mind from the distraction, the echo of the thought.
Every thought that arises comes pre-fitted with a feeling tone:
Positive: (I like this, I want more, I’ll hold onto this one)
Negative: (I don’t like this, I want it to go away, I want to escape this feeling)
Neutral: (sensations without a strong emotional charge, that are neither pleasant nor unpleasant, background noises that don’t bother us, or neutral mental thoughts. Without awareness of these, it can lead to boredom or restlessness in the mind, or ignorance and delusion if not recognized as such).
So, the practice recognizes that the underlying feeling tone is more important than the content of the thought that drew the mind away!
If we can easily release the feeling tone that arose, relax the mind and body, and return to our object of meditation, then we don’t need to do anything else, just repeat the next time we are distracted.
If however, the feeling tone is strong or very triggering for us, then we can move directly into the practice of Compassionate Presence to Feelings. [You don’t get any deductions for ‘switching’ practices mid-stream.] If the residual feeling tone is strong, we can just be present to the feeling with a sense of compassionate acceptance. We give the feeling all the space it needs to dissolve and integrate into our open aware presence. With continued practice, we may find we can drop into oneness with the feeling and realize its true nature as our own. And, at that point, we can just rest in the basic space of awareness, the natural openness of the mind.
Home 
Leave a comment