Pointing your mind at something, and then letting it go

Watch the video and then answer the questions below it.

Was it easy or hard to sit there for 5 minutes without doing anything?

• Easy: Skip to next question

• Hard: Which statement is the most accurate?

  • It was hard because I was impatient or it was difficult to sit there for 5 minutes.  Good Answer.  You did it right: There was no goal for anything specific to happen.  It was uncomfortable, but you sat there with the discomfort.

  • It was hard because I couldn’t picture the giraffe well or it wasn’t blue.  If the giraffe wasn’t blue, no problem.  Nothing to do.  Just sit there.  If you tried to picture the giraffe for a moment but didn’t see it, you tapped the balloon to here - In the circle.  Good job.  You can’t really fail at this unless you think it was supposed to be different from what it was.  And it wasn’t supposed to be anything.

  • It was hard because my mind was all over the place but not on the giraffe.  There was no goal for anything specific to happen.  If you followed the instructions, which was basically just to sit there, and your mind was all over the place, then you did it correctly.  You can’t really do it wrong unless you think it was supposed to be different from what it was.  And it wasn’t supposed to be anything.

Except for the first five seconds and the moments you tapped the balloon into the circle, were you controlling what your mind did, or was your mind just doing what it was doing?

• • Doing what it was doing

  • I was controlling it

    • Were you trying to control it, or could you not help controlling it even though you weren’t trying to control it.

      • Trying to control it.  Remember, you don’t need to control anything because there is no goal in this type of meditation.  If you think you should have a goal for your meditation to be a certain way, hopefully I can help you understand that that isn’t the point.  The point is to get better at accepting whatever happens.

      • Not trying, but I was controlling it anyway.  Don’t sweat it.  That’s unintentional, so you don’t have to worry about it.  That will likely change over time.

      • It felt like some of each.  As long as you weren’t completely and obviously trying, you’re doing fine.

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