The mind is constantly nosy, always extending itself out. To be more precise, the defilement of desiring is causing the nosiness. Observe what happens when you pass by a conversation – the tendency of prying into what others are talking. The more you pull away from it the more you tend to hear than before. Hence the practice of watching the mind – MYOM – Mind your Own Mind Business is pretty important if you wish to have peace of mind.
It seems like we have no interest in our own businesses except of others. Just imagine giving yourself the task of watching the mind the next time it goes to any senses. The tendency of it is always out there instead of in here. As if the whole world is our business. It is of no wonder that we are so seriously affected by what the world is and make it our own. Sigh. This mind is indeed a life long journey to “tame” if ever there is such a thing!
Well, one of the main reasons why we are unable to get the technique right and keep failing in observing the mind is because the beginning purpose of it is already incorrect. The idea of watching the mind, to many, even myself, is to “handle” the mind – as if it is some kind of sumo wrestling – a war of some kind. There is a tendency of intending to “kill” it rather than learning from it. Meditation is about learning, so that you start to get a good feel of how it works, hence having the wisdom of creating causes for the effect to take place.
In fact the tendency of “handling the mind” comes from our attitude towards our own experience. Ask yourself how do you feel when you realize there are so much anger, upset, judgment, jealousy, and many of other negative emotions that plague the mind daily? I am sure you have these rotten feeling of fixing it, hoping that you can be more loving and understanding instead of having those yucky experiences bombarding the mind each day.
So long as we have the wrong attitude towards all this negativity, our immediate tendency is about wiping them up, hence handling the mind becomes our obsession instead of first learning to understand how all these stuff comes into being.
So the only way to start afresh, as a new year resolution, if you are one who is keen to do inner housekeeping, is to have the attitude of what is there to learn from this mind. Look at the mind as nature rather than me. Identification always makes one become that and hence entangle at its mercy. So before you start looking at the mind, give yourself a reminder that you are not trying to control or manage the mind but rather learn a little more about it. Give each experience a voice instead of pushing it away and I am sure you will enjoy meditating than before. Apply more interest and awareness towards your daily moments – it helps to make your day more meaningful.