Thinking
Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:15 am
How can I tell if thoughts are harmful or beneficial?
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He knows without doubt or hesitation that whatever arises is merely dukkha[8] that what passes away is merely dukkha and such knowledge is his own, not depending on anyone else. This, Kaccaayana, is what constitutes right view.
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Yes. I think perhaps the various mental factors outlined in the abhidharmas can help sort it out in more detail.futerko wrote:Desire, aversion and ego-clinging.
If I understand correctly. all or most of the traditions recognize that 5 kinds of hindrances or veils arise when we attempt to concentrate. Also, views on access or neighborhood concentration vary, but there is some talk about disturbing experiences occurring once the veils / hindrances are suspended / subdued. I do not know the exact terminology for these, if any. I could look it up, but for now, I gather the discussion about upacara samadhi or access concentration is found in commentaries? Anyway, I think the stranger disturbing experiences of access concentration might be the same as the makyo 魔境 talked about in Zen? I have been told it is best to ignore these and they'll go away.Johnny Dangerous wrote:In meditation?
I've been led to believe that there are no harmful thoughts in mediation unless you cling to them, I suppose that's true always really. I've had some unpleasant experiences recently (coinciding with life getting harder, and a bit of depression, big surprise) in meditation with bizarre and intrusive thoughts. All the advice i've gotten here, from spiritual friends in real life, and stuff i've read says to just keep going' and sit with whatever it is that's giving you grief. Not easy, but i'm beginning to think it's the right answer.
How can one recognize desire from aversion ?futerko wrote:Desire, aversion and ego-clinging.
How can I tell which thoughts lead to cessation, equaminity, and unbinding and those that lead to the other place?catmoon wrote:Do they lead to cessation, equanimity, unbinding?
How do you know you are experiencing grief and not happyness?Johnny Dangerous wrote:In meditation?
I've been led to believe that there are no harmful thoughts in mediation unless you cling to them, I suppose that's true always really. I've had some unpleasant experiences recently (coinciding with life getting harder, and a bit of depression, big surprise) in meditation with bizarre and intrusive thoughts. All the advice i've gotten here, from spiritual friends in real life, and stuff i've read says to just keep going' and sit with whatever it is that's giving you grief. Not easy, but i'm beginning to think it's the right answer.
lowlydog wrote:How can I tell which thoughts lead to cessation, equaminity, and unbinding and those that lead to the other place?catmoon wrote:Do they lead to cessation, equanimity, unbinding?
The issue is less about the thoughts themselves and more about your relationship to them, so the root cause is ignorance, which means for example, the idea that one needs something which would change anything at a fundamental level of the self.lowlydog wrote:How can one recognize desire from aversion ?futerko wrote:Desire, aversion and ego-clinging.
All I have to offer is the old Zen trick of checking your mind each time you step through a door. And variations on that idea.lowlydog wrote:Hi catmoon
During my day to day activities and meditation thoughts are overwhelming and trick and decieve me, is there anything impartial I could observe that could act as a warning sign of these impure thoughts?
Definitely. Anger will tense up the whole body and interfere with free breathing. It changes your posture too.Do impurities have any effect on the breathing process?
Could you explain this?futerko wrote: One antidote to this is to keep the awareness in the central channel.
When you do a formal meditation, one of the aims is to centre your thoughts... so you sit and you think about what's for dinner - where is your mind at this point? Someplace off in the future imagining eating, cooking, or ordering out... or you think about a conversation that happened last week or last year, and what you could've said, and how it might have looked... your mind is locating itself elsewhere, chasing ideas about, flitting between them like a butterfly that never settles - it's not grounded anywhere, and always off balance, reaching for things, distracted.lowlydog wrote:Could you explain this?futerko wrote: One antidote to this is to keep the awareness in the central channel.