I’m reading this book. And finally it is grabbing my attention. Just as she struggled to learn how to meditate, I struggled the same to stay with a book.
** I just found out how difficult it is to copy some text from a SCRIBD book even if you are a paid subscriber **
Just wanted to save some typing while reflecting on this subject. But it is not to be..
“I knew that to eliminate the ‘I want’ frame of reference I would have to become more relaxed — to be a participant in the middle-way, a way that recommends no over-indulgence nor extreme ascetism.”
This resonates with me in my thinking about reading. I found that my mind often wanders when I read. Maybe it’s the fact that I read on my ipad or like now I am reading on my big 27″ apple monitor. The ease of reaching for the keyboard and do some searching in the browser does not help me when I am ready. Maybe that’s why Scribd has a full screen mode so you can focus better. Nevertheless, my mind wanders like hers when she was meditating. Yes, I can gently bring my mind back to the text in front of me, but it is equally frustrating for me as it was for her. And to be honest, this applies to most things we need to focus at hand. I often put audible on and listen to a book while I cook or clean (rare occasion), it helps me finish the physical tasks while engaging my mind. Even then, my mind can wander away from the narrator and go into its own stories. Maybe a few minutes later, I will catch myself and pay attention to the book again.
So the mind wanders often and all the time without our awareness. If we do pay attention to its wandering, we probably will get frustrated often. This is the struggle between ‘over-indulgence’ and ‘extreme ascetism’. The word compromise comes to mind, which means the same as ‘middle-way’ in her book. Also, mindfulness is to be able to observe the mind wandering and detach from it instead of identify with it. The peace and calmness comes from that observing entity which understands that the mind likes to bounce around but it does not need to.
So be kind to yourself. Do not get flustered by the quickness and aimlessness of the mind. It may be the nature of the mind. It may be the animal instinct that has existed in us for generations. Just know that I am not the mind, or the thoughts, or the dreams, I am separate from them. Observe them and let them go.