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lmaher22
USA
217 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 29 2012 : 2:40:11 PM
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I know there is really no advice for me but after 1 and 1/2 years I still have a great deal of resistance to the mantra. I don't know why? I keep coming back and back to it as I'm suppose to but the thoughts are so strong! I wonder if the thoughts are pushing through for a reason or is it just 'monkey brain'? Probably the ladder.
Best to all.
L |
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woosa
United Kingdom
382 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2012 : 3:50:50 PM
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Hi lmaher
Don't worry about what happens while repeating the mantra. Just keep easily repeating it. Just let the thoughts happen. Think of it this way - by being upset about having too many thoughts, is in fact another thought to add to your already many thoughts! 
So in short, don't worry about it and keep repeating the mantra. Things will change with time.
All the best!
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2012 : 6:20:08 PM
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Mantra and thoughts can intermingle. It's over-regulation to try to either separate and/or merge thoughts + mantra. The technique of easily favoring the mantra's repetition is a fluid process that implicitly contains an element of flow in refining the sound in stillness. If we were focusing on the mantra in a rigid way that attempts to cling to it, freeze it, solidify it, etc...then we would get stuck on a certain level of the mind. It's the refining of the mantra that corresponds to the increasing level of stillness that overwhelms the mind like a joyous tsunami of serenity (or much more subtly, like the wink of an eye from a small bird resting in a distant tree).
The "resistance" you speak of is probably a preconceived notion you're clinging to about the mantra being always separate from thoughts--which is not the case at all. The mantra is a tool and malleable object that provides room and spaciousness for awareness to spread its wings in a very loose form of concentration. Also, you might be thinking that the effectiveness of Deep Meditation depends on how many times you can repeat the mantra--which is not true. The effectiveness is in following the transient, holographic object of the mantra through incredibly dense layers of thought/karma/obstructions. With that perpetual and continual sweep, stillness is cultivated not because you have repeated the mantra rigidly, but because you have surrendered to the flow of favoring the refinement of said object.
That's why it's important to realize the magic is not in the mantra per se, but in the finesse of easily favoring. Then the mind--and all its charade of thoughts--becomes more like a friend than an enemy. Stillness is not a sought-after object but more like a remembering, an awakening to who you are--the witness.
Stop trying to wage war with your thoughts using the mantra as your weapon. Instead, let the mantra be an illuminating torch that will go through all the dusty and dark caves--none too obscure, none too boring, none too grand or magnificient for the awareness that is following the mantra. Because we are THAT. 
That's a long answer to a short question.  |
Edited by - Bodhi Tree on Sep 30 2012 9:36:02 PM |
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cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2012 : 5:06:41 PM
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Hi L,
I second the wise advice that woosa and Bodhi have already given.
I would add that thoughts themselves are not a problem. They have no power of their own. Suffering comes in when we cling to thoughts or give them attention they don't deserve. By doing this, we empower thoughts to pull us this way and that. Instead of just observing the monkey through the plexiglass, we allow ourselves to be disturbed by its screaming and poo-flinging. Monkeys do as monkey-nature dictates.
With mantra practice, thoughts will become quieter and more subtle, and less frequent at times. But the true beauty is when thoughts are no longer attached to. They will still arise. The mind is a thought factory, after all. But when you allow them to be, they will no longer disturb you.
quote:
Originally posted by Bodhi Tree
Stop trying to wage war with your thoughts using the mantra as your weapon. Instead, let the mantra be an illuminating torch that will go through all the dusty and dark caves--none too obscure, none too boring, none too grand or magnificient for the awareness that is following the mantra. Because we are THAT.
Amen!
Love
cosmic |
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lmaher22
USA
217 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2012 : 10:20:32 PM
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| Thank you all. Don't even cling to the thought of 'not to cling'. Sweet. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2012 : 11:21:31 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by lmaher22
Don't even cling to the thought of 'not to cling'. Sweet.
Bingo, bongo, bango. I hear slot machines hitting jackpot and fireworks bursting in the background. |
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