No, mindfulness is not thought control, and I didn't mean to leave that impression (if I did.)
But thought control – or let's call it something less Orwellian, like thought habits - help me find a state of mindfulness when I've let the wheels start spinning off in unfocused directions.
Mindfulness is not often fun for me. There are times, especially in the spring, when it is very pleasant – but not fun.
To tell the truth, I'm not much into fun. I'm not comfortable with it.
I haven't been on a long cross-country drive in years (since 2001, to be specific) but one of the things I like about them is that once I've gotten about 40 miles out of town and hit my cruising speed on the interstate, I tend to quit worrying about stuff happening back at home. There's nothing I can do about it, so I can just let it go.
(I know some people are unable to do this, but I can.)
The state of mind I have while on the road must be, I think, somewhat like that state of being comfortable with uncertainty that Pema Chödrön writes about so frequently, and that Alan Watts described in my favorite Watts book, The Wisdom of Uncertainty.
Ideally, I'd have that 'road trip' sense of comfort all the time. I spend too much emotional energy worrying about things I can't control or influence.
2 comments:
Oh, goodness! If I ever wrote a book it would be called "Road Trip Sense of Comfort". I could not have said it better. That is exactly what happens to me on I-40, especially between Gallop and Flagstaff. I LIVE for it. However and unfortunately, it became an additive process, i.e. STRONG attachment, and I am trying my best to give it up......
In the practice of meditation
there is no need for a special place.
Once the heat of the ego is put out,
naturally there is a sense of well-being.
--Dongshan
I think it's cool that Pema Chödrön has umlauts in his name.
Is he Austrian?
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