This is in response to a video titled “I don’t meditate” (which was meant to be a video response).
How people view meditation is a topic that I’m really fascinated by.
I’ve watched people learn to meditate for awhile and get tripped up often. I see people confusing meditation with the vehicle of meditation—breath, candle, movement, mantra, whatever.
To me, these are induction points from the finite to the infinite, but nothing more. With the vehicle discarded and once in that brief space of infinity, I don’t see many meditation teachers talking about changing their relationship with thoughts.
Because thoughts will inevitable arise, and that’s where people tend to spin out. It’s always their thoughts. And plus, they can be incredibly subtle.
Regardless, at some point, a person will have to say to themselves, “I will not listen to that thought again, I will not put my focus into it.”
And that is where the finite parts of meditation (breath, etc.) leave people feeling frustrated, as it doesn’t address their thoughts.
So my question to you, is how would you teach people to change their relationship with their thoughts? It’s something I’ve thought about since 2003 when I became a monk.