In comparing the Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises by Dacher (2006), I can see that different aspects of my mind are activated. With the Loving Kindness exercise, I’ve come to spend extra time afterwards basking in the vision of the essence of me as a mature woman, embracing the essence of me as a young child, in this beautiful blended energy of wholeness that brings me great peace. In the Subtle Mind exercise I need to stop the program in order to get all of my 10 deep breaths in then start it back up. I find the flute music and waves distracting when I’m trying to learn how to witness my thoughts, maybe because I'm trying too hard. Normally I love sounds of water such as rain, streams and oceans. I can see thoughts come and go but I don’t know where they come from or where they are going. I am beginning to understand what is meant by “grasping and clinging” to thoughts and that is pretty interesting. So, I’m thinking this new exercise will need several sessions to achieve the stable calm-abiding that is mentioned by Dacher. It does sound like an interesting experience and I’m looking forward to it.
References
Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
5 comments:
It is very interesting how different we are from each other. I would say for me personally, the loving kindness exercise was harder than the subtle mind. I also felt like the water in the subtle mind was a constant and made it easier for me focus my mind. I too feel like I am finally understanding what is meant by "grasping and clinging" to thoughts. I really like how you write and enjoy reading your posts!
My wife has the same problem with trying to subtle her mind, my wife is a very busy person and she never sits down, always moving. I think you should keep working at it over time the subtle mind will come.
Norrison “the-creation”
I loved your experience of your mature woman embracing the young child. For me, loving kindness was very healing. It was the energy of the loving kindness I gave to others turned inward towards me. I allowed myself to be kind to myself and felt my inner child become healed and it was a beautiful feeling. I became aware of my inner child longing for loving kindness from me because this was not nurtured or was lacking at times in my childhood. The subtle mind helped me to connect my thoughts in a continuous loop. It strengthened my ability to acknowledge reality. My thoughts became focused and purposeful. Subtle mind exercise brought me into a "flow state," which helped me to avoid the paralysis of analysis. This exercise was a bit unsettling when I felt myself going to a level I have never let myself go to. I became fearful and pulled back. I was unsure and wondered if I was ready. I began to get butterflies in my stomach. This really impressed me. Afterwards I thought about it and wondered if it was teaching me how fear can keep me from experiencing new levels of understanding and perhaps has been at the center of my life - keeping me from doing many things in life. This is really interesting stuff.
Hi Barb,I like your comments. It is really challenging to focus on the breathing and hear noise in the background. I think for me it must be completely quite. Do you think if it were quite it might be a little easier?
Denise Turner
Hi Denise, yes, I think when I'm learning a new mental technique I do better to not be distracted by anything else. I did fine with loving-kindness meditation because I've meditated off and on sense I was a teenager. I had a grandmother that was a borderline fanatic on all things metaphorical. So, I think once I get the routine down, I'll be okay with the background sounds.
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