Vinaire's Blog

August 19, 2014

This issue is now obsolete. For latest references please see: KHTK Mindfulness. The specific reference that updates this issue is Cleaning up Trauma.

This was part of a basic series of essays, which started this blog. These essays were later revised and the original versions were deleted. However, these essays were then added back to maintain a complete record.

The basic idea introduced in this essay is experience mental reactions fully without resisting them when they are naturally presented by the mind.

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Suppose an instance comes to your mind when you fell from a bicycle. You feel nausea and disorientation. Simply experience that feeling or sensation without avoiding, resisting or suppressing it back. You may at first feel an increase in the intensity, but then that intensity starts to discharge and, ultimately, go away.

Uncontrolled thinking comes about when one is trying to predict what may happen tomorrow, or when the data needed to resolve a problem is missing and cannot be located. Often such data is suppressed in the mind, and the anxiety to find it keeps it suppressed. So, the mind goes on thinking.

When one simply looks and experiences the mind, without thinking or exerting in any way, the hitherto suppressed data start to come to view. Old problems begin to resolve as missing data shows up.

With continual practice of looking and experiencing, the uncontrolled thinking in the mind eventually calms down.

As you do the following exercises, make sure that you are well rested and not hungry. Your body should not be a distraction while you are experiencing the mind.

Exercise 2-6

READ YOURSELF OR HAVE A GUIDE READ EACH ITEM TO YOU.  DO NOT FORMULATE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHILE LOOKING. THAT WOULD BE THINKING.

(1)     If nothing comes up, continue with the next item on the list.

(2)     If something comes up, experience it freely.

(3)     Do not consciously add any thinking to what is observed.

(4)     Take as much time as you need to experience fully.

 

Look at an instance:

1. When you were happy.
2. When you climbed a tree.
3. When you ate something good.
4. When you received a present.
5. When you enjoyed a laugh.
6. When you helped somebody.
7. When you threw a ball.
8. When something important happened to you.
9. When you played a game.
10. When you jumped down from a tree.
11. When you won a contest.
12. When you had a good laugh.
13. When you met someone you liked.
14. When you flew on a plane.
15. When you were at a beautiful place.
16. When you jumped into a pool.
17. When you enjoyed a beautiful morning.
18. When you went for a walk.
19. When somebody teased you.
20. When you sat in a coffee shop.
21. When you danced with joy.
22. When you raced with someone.
23. When you completed something important.
24. When you experienced a pleasant surprise.
25. When you met somebody after a long time.
26. When you were caught in a rain.
27. When you heard a thunder.
28. When someone smiled at you.
29. When you played with a pet.
30. When you held someone’s hand.
31. When someone picked your body up.
32. When you were spinning around.
33. When you read a good book.
34. When you felt breeze on your face.
35. When you saw a beautiful flower.
36. When you smelled a rose.
37. When somebody called you.
38. When you were in a play.
39. When you sang aloud.
40. When you watched a movie.
41. When your team won.
42. When you rode with friends.
43. When you visited a garden.
44. When you played in water.
45. When the weather was stormy.
46. When somebody gave you a hug.
47. When you liked somebody.
48. When you slid down a slide.
49. When you ran toward somebody you liked.
50. When you enjoyed a beautiful weather.

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