Two phrases capture the method - 'notice what you are noticing' and 'think about thinking'. Action verbs - 'to notice' and 'to think'. They involve using my mind in an extra-ordinary way. I have to break old habits - I must stop seeking distractions and responding to them automatically and without thinking.
Sit quiet doing nothing and the green grass growsLilies born to bloom and die unseenSit quiet doing nothing and the tree leaves fallThere’s nothing moving but my mind |
notice what you're noticing
think about thinking
Why should somebody want to change their mind and, how can they do it?
Let's begin with 'dissatisfaction'. Not enough of what you want and too much of what you don't want. This drives the urge for change. How can we use it?
Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Cut out distractions that don't satisfy you. Enter your secular monastery. Early to bed and early to rise, withdraw from the media, keep to a plain diet, and use 'leisure' time for 'just sitting' and reading wisdom books. If you must give it a name, call it 'renunciant frugality'.
With a simple life you begin to notice what 'really' happens in your head. It comes as a shock to many people and is more than most can handle. T S Elliot said that, "Mankind cannot stand too much reality" and most adolescents rush to switch the telly back on because, "This is boring".
You might at this point give up the day job and re-arrange your life; or you might go on living in what looks like the same old way but, from inside, it will be a world transformed.
Illusory blues are a thief in the nightWho steals away what you thought was rightC’mon, wise up, get real, notice what you feel |
