Many thoughts during meditation

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by janielee

I've been asking about this for a while - no thoughts, but everyone here says it's nigh impossible to keep this for long................

Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. But that is just my belief. I have not got there yet, but my mind is certainly quieter than it used to be.

Thoughts arise out of nothing and dissolve back into nothing. There is a space between thoughts, and we can rest in that space. And that space becomes longer when we sit in meditation for long periods.

But I find that I am attached to thinking. When we block the arising of thoughts then a subtle internal pressure builds up, and it is very tempting to revert to the easy familiarity of thinking. But if we persist in blocking thoughts from arising then there is a point of release where we expand into a larger quiet space. In this larger quiet space it is easier to continue blocking the arising of thinking.

This is easier in meditation than in ordinary daily life, where so many things try to claim our attention. Blocking thoughts for even a minute is an achievement.

Going back to the yoga sutras, Book 3 sutra 10:

The restraint of rising impressions brings about an undisturbed flow of tranquility.

Alice Bailey comments in The Light of the Soul:

The point of balance between excitation of the mind and control can be achieved with greater frequency by constant repetition, until the habit of stabilizing the mind is acquired. When this is accomplished two things occur:

1. An instantaneous control of mind at will, producing
a. A still mind, free from thought forms,
b. A quiescent responsive brain.

2. A downflow into the physical brain of the consciousness of the perceiver, the soul.

This becomes increasingly clearer, more informative and less interrupted as time elapses, until a rhythmic response is set up between the soul and the physical plane man. The mind and brain are completely subdued by the soul.

You may also be interested in The Attention Revolution by B. Alan Wallace. This considers the development of shamatha, which is a "path of attentional development that culminates in an attention that can be sustained effortlessly for hours on end."

The book is written from a Buddhist perspective. In this book he gives ten sequential stages of the development of attention. He states:

The stages start with a mind that cannot focus for more than a few seconds and culminates in a state of sublime stability and vivdness that can be sustained for hours.

B. Alan Wallace is not just repeating theory - he is a serious practitioner of this path.

In the end it comes down to persistence, persistence, persistence.

Peace.