Becoming More Mindful Of Our Own Beautiful Minds

Hey everyone,

Welcome to the Wake Up Call.

This is Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 386.

We're looking at the seven factors of awakening which are mindfulness,

Investigation,

Energy,

Joy,

Tranquility,

Concentration and equanimity.

And just to stay with mindfulness for another week or two,

There's the first foundation,

Mindfulness of the body,

Talked about that.

The second foundation,

Being mindful of the filters,

The way we experience this moment as pleasant and we want more or this one is unpleasant,

We don't want it at all or this one is neither and we couldn't care less.

And now the third foundation,

Mindfulness of mind.

And I love talking about mindfulness of mind with lawyers because we have these beautiful minds.

We know how to think,

We know how to analyze,

We know how to argue,

We know how to judge,

We know how to figure out anything.

Basically,

Our minds are amazing.

And mindfulness of mind isn't about how powerful those functions are or how to hone them.

It's about stepping back and just knowing what's happening in our minds.

So,

Awakening to what's happening in our minds.

So,

For example,

Just right now,

What's happening in your mind?

Is thinking happening?

And if it is,

It's not a question of what you're thinking,

It's just about noticing that thinking is happening.

So,

Do that now.

And if thinking is happening,

Then you could even invite the question,

What is a thought?

Right?

Because what is a thought anyway?

Does anyone know?

I love when Roshi Joan Halifax says,

I had a thought.

And she means,

I think,

A thought just popped.

And I once had the experience on retreat of being so quiet that I could watch that happen.

Watch thoughts as they popped.

And if you've had that,

It's pretty amazing,

Isn't it?

Because mostly we think,

Or I think,

I'm generating my thoughts,

But mostly I'm not,

We're not.

They're just happening.

For example,

Right now,

If I say the word coffee,

Each one of us may generate one or two thoughts.

And they're not thoughts that we ordered up since you had no idea I was about to say coffee.

They're just thoughts that popped as a result of hearing that word.

Or if I say war,

Or if I say motion,

Thoughts will just pop.

And it's the same if we see something or smell something or taste something or feel something in our bodies.

The place where this is most obvious to me is on the cushion where no one is saying anything at all.

And I've controlled the environment for many things,

Like things that I'll see,

My eyes are closed or hear,

It's quiet,

And still the thoughts pop.

And I have no idea where they came from.

So mostly we don't decide what we'll think about,

Or even that we'll think at all.

And this isn't a problem as long as we remember it.

But when we forget it and get lost in our thoughts or carried away by our thoughts,

Then we might begin to believe them.

And that can be a problem.

So let's say I have the thought,

And I admit to have had this thought before in my life and my practice as a lawyer,

That person isn't very smart.

So if I'm aware that this is just a thought,

I can come back to my breath.

And remember that I really have no idea how smart the person is,

Or that it may not be relevant,

Or that may not even be appropriate,

Or useful,

Or kind to consider that.

And then I have a choice.

And the choice is most likely going to be to let the thought go.

But if I'm not aware that it's just a thought,

I may act accordingly,

I may act on that thought,

I may treat the person as lesser than or not worthy,

I might be impolite,

I might be disparaging.

So mindfulness of mind is noticing that thinking is happening,

Which gives us the space to take a look and see whether the thought is true and useful,

Or untrue and unhelpful,

Essentially leading to less suffering,

Or to more suffering.

And then if the thought's not true or useful,

Or leading to less suffering,

We can work with it through a classical process of first waiting for the thought to pass so that we don't speak or act on it.

And if the thought persists,

Focusing on some other aspect of the situation,

And if it still persists,

Inclining the mind in a more positive direction,

And if that doesn't work,

We can consider the disadvantages of the thought and the disadvantages of acting on it.

And if that doesn't loosen the thought,

And let it just float away,

And all else fails,

We can use our minds to crush the thought.

And when I get to that last step,

Which happens plenty,

It's because some thought persists and persists and persists,

And nothing else has worked.

And then I just have to turn to my own mind and say,

No,

Kind of sternly.

Mindfulness of mind is also about emotion.

Emotions also pop in the moment,

Joy,

Gladness,

Sorrow,

Sadness,

Anger,

Frustration,

Jealousy,

Confusion,

Hundreds,

There's hundreds.

Being unmindful of emotion is treacherous.

I'm feeling anger,

But I'm not mindful of it.

So my words and actions are informed by it.

They're laced with anger,

And then they harm someone.

So being mindful of emotion is first recognizing the emotion.

And I'm going to go through the RAIN acronym,

So recognizing the emotion.

So if sorrow is present,

Just as an example,

I name it sorrow.

And then second,

It's allowing space and time for sorrow.

And this might only be a minute,

But it might be an afternoon.

Changing the pasture for the horse,

As the Tibetans say,

Which means creating a bigger space for sorrow to dance in,

Or for anger to run around in.

And seeing the moment for what it is,

An emotion that is here,

And that also will go.

So being mindful of it.

And then investigating it,

And all of that can happen in a quick minute.

So anger feels like this in my body,

It feels like tightness in my chest,

Like clenched fists or a clenched jaw,

Like being on fire.

Or sorrow feels exhausting,

Enervating,

Impossible,

But still it's here.

So I take a breath and invite the full measure of anger or sorrow to be present,

Not fanning the flames,

But just honoring it for a moment.

Just honoring it,

Being mindful of the emotion,

Honoring it,

Investigating that sense of it.

And then last is remembering that I'm not defined by whatever the emotion is.

I'm not a sad person or an angry person,

I'm putting that in air quotes,

And the languaging can be helpful.

So instead of saying,

I'm angry,

I can say anger is happening,

Or I'm feeling a lot of anger,

Whatever the languaging is that works best for you.

And also remembering that everyone has sorrow.

Everyone has anger,

Frustration,

Jealousy,

And also joy,

Love,

Delight.

Right?

And so I'm not alone when I'm reminding myself about that with respect to the difficult emotions.

And I don't need to be alone when I'm reminding myself about that with the positive emotions.

I can share my positive emotions,

Or I can join with someone else whom I perceive as having that same or a similar positive emotion.

And then in this last piece about attending to emotion,

Being mindful of emotion,

Awakening to emotion,

Remembering the importance of self-compassion,

Remembering that there's a lot of emotion.

You know,

Anger is not only hard to feel,

It's hard to admit that I'm having.

Sorrow is not only hard to experience,

But there may be some shame underneath that.

You know,

Remembering this is a difficult moment,

This too shall pass.

So this is all mindfulness of mind,

Mindfulness of thinking,

Mindfulness of emotion,

So that we're not captivated by our emotions and instead we awaken to them.

And then we can be discerning about whether it's a good idea to allow them to inform what we say and do.

And we can be compassionate towards ourselves and towards everyone as we move forward.

So let's sit.

Just taking a couple of deep breaths,

Settling in,

Letting the words go,

Allowing the body to be quiet,

The mind to be quiet,

If that's available.

And just taking a moment to notice that you're breathing,

You're alive.

Here we all are together,

Connecting to the earth and to ourselves and to one another.

And then stepping back into awareness,

Noticing that awareness is present,

The awareness to notice that breathing is happening,

That the body is sitting or standing or lying down or walking,

An awareness of what's going on in this beautiful mind.

Maybe for you right now,

A lot of thinking is happening.

No worries,

No judgment,

Just watching.

Isn't that interesting to see that thinking is happening?

Maybe there's an emotion that's present,

Maybe joy just for taking a few moments of quiet,

Or maybe anxiety,

Wanting to get to the day,

Get into the day,

Something is calling to you.

Just noticing if an emotion is present.

And if the mind wanders,

Just noticing that thinking is happening and coming back to the present moment,

To the breath,

To awareness.

Or if there's a strong emotion,

Just noticing that it's present,

Taking an interest in your own beautiful mind.

Thanks for being on the Wake Up Call,

Everyone.

Have a beautiful Thursday.

Enjoy the sunshine if you're in Northern California,

It's sunny.

Be safe out there.

See you next Thursday.