In continuing our conversation about how Eastern thought relates to obsessive thoughts and anxiety I thought I would quote a couple of paragraphs from a book that I read that has probably helped me more than any other book I've read. The book is "Turning The Mind Into An Ally" by Sakyong Mipham. It's a book intended to help anybody gain a more balanced mind through a Buddhist approach, not just people with anxiety disorder. Actually Sakyong states in the book that the the practices he teaches can be beneficial to anyone no matter what their faith is.
The first paragraph is from the chapter titled "Taking Our Seat". He is explaining the state of mind we are trying to achieve when meditating.
We need precision to apply the technique and bring our minds back to the breath. It's said that great meditators become so centered that they can feel their blood flow. They can actually sense the atomic level of their cellular structure. We need gentleness to keep the process neutral and light-handed. We don't need to analyze or judge a thought when it arises, or judge ourselves for having it. The contents of the thought, whether it's about the football game or our deepest, darkest secret, are neither good nor bad. A thought is just a thought. Chastising ourselves for thinking is also just a thought. So the instruction is to see the thought as a distraction and come back to the breath. This kind of gentleness makes for a healthy meditation practice.
This second paragraph is from the chapter titled "How To Gather A Scattered Mind"
So we simply recognize those thoughts, and then we recognize them again. We're noticing the movement of our mind. Once we've recognized them, we begin to acknowledge them in passing: "Oh! A thought!" The point is to be quick and neutral. If we look at the thought slowly, deliberately, or judgmentally, we'll only add more thoughts to the process. That won't help. A thought has occurred, it is neither good nor bad. Recognizing and acknowledging brings us back to where we are, sitting on a cushion and trying to place our mind on the breath. We're learning how to cut though the discursiveness.
I thought these two paragraphs, though they are an extremely small taste of what Buddhism is about, would help to illustrate how I think it relates to helping people cope with anxiety, or any other negative state of mind.
Many people think that Buddhism is a religion where one worships Buddha. It's not that at all. It's just a path, a way to achieve a more healthy and balanced state of mind. I'm not trying to push Buddhism on anyone. I recognize the fact that it is not the only path, but it would be nice if I could increase someone's understanding, and maybe introduce it to somebody that it will help as much as it has helped me.
Tom
