exhausted young woman yawning while reading textbook in armchair

Meditation makes my mind dull and sleepy, what can I do?

The problem here is that the Shamata [calm abiding meditation) is strong but there is very little insight [Vipashyana meditation]. You need to become interested in the nature of the thoughts instead of just letting them go. If you let them go too quickly it is almost as if you are cutting them off rather than simply letting them be. It is a very fine edge or distinction… Continue reading Meditation makes my mind dull and sleepy, what can I do?

portrait photo of woman in red top wearing black framed eyeglasses standing in front of white background thinking

Do we have to abandon rational thinking? A conversation about thinking, intuition and faith

Sane people think – rational people think. So why do you say we have to abandon rational thinking? I would say we need to abandon clinging to views, opinions and intellectual conclusions when opening to the true nature of reality… Continue reading Do we have to abandon rational thinking? A conversation about thinking, intuition and faith

Meditation: Recognising ‘the watcher’ as thinking too

When we talk about meditation in terms of letting go of thoughts, it can seem as if it is a matter of setting oneself up as an observer of one’s mind and to root out thinking. This is a misunderstanding of the whole process. Setting up a watcher in this way perpetuates our false sense of what we are and what our experience is. The observer might well be well intentioned, but the problem is that it is heavy-handed and believes too much in itself. Continue reading Meditation: Recognising ‘the watcher’ as thinking too

Video: What’s really going on when we feel our meditation isn’t working?

Lama Shenpen answers a question on meditation from a teaching given in 2014. What’s really going on when we feel our meditation isn’t working? Is it really ‘not working’? How should we reflect on this, what insight might we be missing?  Continue reading Video: What’s really going on when we feel our meditation isn’t working?

When can thoughts be helpful in meditation? How can we learn to trust them?

Just be very simple about it. There is a thought that thinks ‘let it go’ and there is the intuitive sense that this means something and an intuitive response that lets you do it. That is simply responsiveness and well-being, a sense of what would feel ‘right’. Somehow when you get the right touch it is not really thinking…In itself thinking is not a problem, but it bends back on itself and gets into knots. Continue reading When can thoughts be helpful in meditation? How can we learn to trust them?

A Student’s Question: How can we work with judgemental voices during meditation?

Just wake up and look. Where are they? What are they? Who told them to come? Who told them to go? Just look straight at them – how long do they last? How many of them are there? What is the sound of their voices? This kind of direct looking is what meditation at its best is. Continue reading A Student’s Question: How can we work with judgemental voices during meditation?