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Milarepa was a well-known Tibetan meditation practitioner and Buddhist trainer who lived from 1052 to 1135. He mentioned, “If you run after your ideas, you’re like a canine chasing a stick: each time a stick is thrown, you run after it. As a substitute, be like a lion who, somewhat than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One solely throws a stick at a lion as soon as.”
What a beautiful picture!
Your Thoughts Like a Canine
First, the thoughts being like a canine. Isn’t that so acquainted? Canines aren’t very reflective. Neither are we, more often than not. A thought seems in our minds, and our consideration goes chasing after it mechanically. Like a canine chasing a stick, we pursue the thought, take it up, and chew it over.
In meditation, ideas come up very often, as a result of though a part of you intends to meditate and quiet the thoughts, different components of your mind are scanning your expertise to see if there are any threats to your well-being that must be handled.
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If, as is often the case, there’s nothing threatening happening in your speedy expertise, these components of your mind will comb by way of reminiscences of issues that occurred prior to now, or have a look at your future itinerary, and search for issues that is perhaps of concern. And so, for instance, you may dredge up an encounter the place your emotions received damage, and also you replay the occasions, typically in a number of methods, “workshopping” numerous eventualities. Otherwise you may take into consideration one thing developing that’s perhaps a bit scary, and begin imagining all of the issues which may go improper.
You extra from a easy thought — perhaps only a snippet of a dialog, or a snapshot picture — to a full-on drama.
Buddhism talks about this as prapañca, or “proliferation.”
Your Thoughts Like a Lion
However then there’s the lion. Your thoughts is sort of a lion when it sees the stick of a thought flying by, and as a substitute of chasing the stick, it turns towards the stick thrower. It lets the thought go. It acknowledges that an try has been made to distract it. It isn’t taken in by that try. It’s inquisitive about what this entity is that’s attempting to govern it. And so it turns and appears.
The Stick Thrower
Who’s throwing the stick? In Buddhist phrases we’re again to Māra. Māra is a mythological personification of distraction. He’s the psychological trickster who needs us to be distracted and reactive. He needs us to chase the sticks he throws. Māra is that a part of us that’s all the time attempting to throw us off-balance.
Methods to Do This
Perhaps turning to face the stick-thrower isn’t one thing you’ve ever finished. So methods to we get began?
It could assist to really feel the lion high quality of your thoughts. Consider a lion’s regular eyes. Its low growl. Its power. Its fearlessness. Let these qualities fill your thoughts and your physique. Strive it proper now, as you observe the house of your thoughts. Should you’re something like me, it in all probability feels fairly good.
So generally after I’ve seen my thoughts go chasing sticks in my meditation a couple of instances, I’ll flip towards the place the place ideas come from. And I’ll observe it, ready to see what occurs.
However then I am going additional, and dare Māra to tempt me.
Calling Out the Satan
I’ll say one thing like “Come on, Māra. Present me what you bought. Present me what you’re fabricated from.” After which I’ll simply watch, like a lion, and see what he comes up with. The watching is imbued with lion power — a way of power, confidence, and braveness. I really feel this power in my physique as properly.
I can remind myself that the sticks, or ideas, are actually illusions. They’re not actual occasions that I’ve to cope with. They’re psychological fabrications.
Often after a couple of of Māra’s sticks have flown previous me, my interior canine will make an look once more. And so I’ve to maintain on summoning the interior lion, and turning again to face the stick thrower.
And so I’ll say, as soon as once more, “Good one, Māra! Intelligent trick. Your phantasm fooled me that point. For some time. So, what else do you have got?”
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