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Thoughts in Meditation

Posted Mon, 02/23/2009 - 20:46
27 Comments
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Question:

 I'm new to meditation and have trouble getting into the gap between my thoughts. It seems that every time I try to meditate, thoughts keep running through my head.  I can't make them stop!  What can I do to still my mind so that I can enter the gap between my thoughts and begin experiencing the benefits of meditation?
 
Answer:
 
Thoughts are a natural byproduct of the meditation process. You shouldn’t try to push thoughts away or resent them. They signal that a subcycle of your meditation period of settling down has completed. The mind has released some bit of old conditioning and has returned to the conscious level and is now ready to begin the cycle again.
 
And between the point where you were thinking the mantra and then found yourself thinking other thoughts, there was a brief discontinuity where the mind briefly experiences the gap. In the beginning, it is so fleeting that there is often no cognizance of it afterward. Over time however, that experience of the gap will become more familiar and open up and extend for longer periods of time. You may notice, for instance , after some thoughts pop up in your mind in meditation that just before then there was a space where you weren’t thinking the mantra, and you weren’t thinking any other thoughts either. You were just there awake, without thoughts. That is the gap, that is your Self.
 
That  experience will naturally develop as you continue meditation, but it has to be allowed to happen, you can’t make it happen by trying to clear your mind of thoughts, because that is just mental effort, or more thoughts.
 
Love,
Deepak
 
Comments (27)
dymty's picture
Posted by Phillip Zeuner on Monday, February 23rd, 2009
I've been meditating (TM) since 1994 and I still have a head full of noise every single time: Music, thoughts, errata, etc. The only time I think I've come close to 'the gap' is when I am on the verge of nodding off but don't. I even took a course of Deepak's "Primordial Sound" meditation to no avail. Same incessant chatter. So I just sit there, saying my mantra, watching my breathing. It might be working though, but I have no idea. Half would say my life is okay, half would ask what the hell have I been doing for the last 15 years? (but I could say that about the last 25 years. yuk yuk)
rishi's picture
Posted by Sreenath R on Thursday, April 8th, 2010

If you been practicing for 15 years, no way that you could miss gap. Its just like the difference between deep sleep and OK sleep. With Deep sleep you just don't know but you feel more refreshed. So is a deep meditation. If you fall asleep then there was a transition state(gap) which you just don't know. The only way you could know is how centered/relaxed/calm/contented after you meditate. However that being said, sometime we just know it. So if you really like to deepen your practice, try attending seduction of spirit at chopra center. That being said, thoughts are part of my meditations and they really don't bother me much.

kathi.casey's picture
Posted by Kathi Casey on Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Thank You Deepak for those encouraging words. I have been meditating for several years and some days I can find the gap, other times vriti creeps in, but I allways stay and wait for the noise to leave again. Just today, I was asked this same question about making one's thoughts stop by a very dear friend and was not sure how to answer in a way that would be easily understood, yet would leave him with the desire to continue trying. Thank you for your words of wisdom. Best of Health, Kathi
shweta's picture
Posted by Dr. Shweta Gulati on Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Philips, your description of mind and meditation in post above was very cute and amusing. Your nodding off and coming close to gap brought smile right away.
dymty's picture
Posted by Phillip Zeuner on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Hi Shweta, HA! Maybe you have also (almost) fallen asleep during meditation? ;-)
ardverk's picture
Posted by Ed Croucher on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Have I the right to meditate when vast swathes of my fellow humans cry out for a willing ear?
ardverk's picture
Posted by Ed Croucher on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
With a collective unconscious, perhaps it doesn't matter. The effect is just the same, inner or outer, whatever turns you on!
Hello's picture
Posted by Kara is Eck on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Of course you do, Ed :) The gap is very, very elusive to me too. The important thing is to continue sitting there the time you have promised yourself (not that I always do), be patient and to let the thoughts be. Often I going for a long walk before meditation helps me. It clears the mind and disperses some of the restlessness before meditation. I imagine any form exercise works but personally I favour walking. I have not tried this fully but I think it helps to really love your thoughts. When something appears you could try to send love to that thought and it will rest and no longer beg for your attention. Best of luck to us! Sara
Hello's picture
Posted by Kara is Eck on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
ps: love and acceptance, maybe: ds
runestone0's picture
Posted by Bob Ellal on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
I found that in the Taoist mediation I do that the "gap" or as the Chinese would say "thought of no thoughts" comes during longer periods of meditation, somewhere between the half-hour and hour mark. I find it more difficult to achieve in say, 20 minutes--I have to go longer. I don't know if these periods are anything profound: i.e. realizing my true self. Or are they just tricks of the mind? Regards, Bob
ardverk's picture
Posted by Ed Croucher on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Walking; what an excellent suggestion, Sara. One can bump into all sorts of ear-bashing on the way and then go home to set the record straight in quiet oblivion. Farmers are not keen on a wild man frightening their sheep or telling them that God owns the land long before they. Ah, but I've cracked it. I meditate first and go into my walk like a ghost. It's amazing. I walk right by the farmers and they never see me, but the sheep always give me a nod and a wink.
Hello's picture
Posted by Kara is Eck on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Bob, the very question wether something is tricks of the mind or not is silly :). EVERYTHING is consciousness. Also even if what you are experiencing for some reason isnt The Gap it is certainly close and if you just keep at it it will get stronger. There is nothing to be afraid of. Thank you for your support, Ed. Exactly. When you walk you let your thoughts wander as they like so when you come home you feel a bit more ready. Cleansed, if you like. I will have to think a bit more about the sheep and the farmers. Best Wishes Sara
ardverk's picture
Posted by Ed Croucher on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
The mind is a very tricky place, Bob.
runestone0's picture
Posted by Bob Ellal on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Sara, Regarding the thought of no thoughts, or the gap: If it could be talked about, everybody would've told his brother. As far as my being afraid of something, meditation or mind tricks don't qualify. The only things that make me afraid is something happening to my sons--or a third bone marrow transplant. And they can't give me one of those--my heart will explode.
rajeshmsharma's picture
Posted by Rajesh Sharma on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Complete Yogic Lifestyle leads to Complete Samadhi! Peace! Love Rajesh http://rajeshmsharma.blogspot.com
mydomainpvt's picture
Posted by Sharmishtha Basu on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
beautiful and helping post. thanks a lot deepak. god bless u. sharmishtha
Ruch's picture
Posted by Ruchira Kitsiri on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
This 'GAP' is one of the very first things I heard of chopra's explanations and ways of meditating - But I never got around to figuring out that one. but then again I never was into meditation much.
Adriana's picture
Posted by Adriana Ochoa on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
What I can share is my own experience... I have been practicing The Primordial Sound Meditations for 6 years and it is wonderful to tab in your true being if only for fraction of time, which is timeless. At first it was quite an experience, overcoming the fear of letting yourself go, in deep silence where a black velvet wraps you in its immensity. Rushira: The "gap" is the space between the thoughts, or the silence between the notes. After a while you start to open drawers you left closed time ago and also understand the timeless of "I am". From my experience it has been one of the ways to silence all the noise and recognize little by little that we are pure being. Although I do my primordial sound meditation daily, there are 3 types of experiences. My mind plays and leaps from thought to thought, even though, I try to push in the mantra. I get in the gap, now more often and it is not all the time. I fall asleep and it is ok, because as I wake up...the feeling is that something was washed out and cleansed. Adriana
muqtada123's picture
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Joshnod's picture
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suchi787's picture
Posted by suchi787 on Friday, May 14th, 2010

Meditation is very good for health. but one can do this if he practice for some time otherwise many thought process crowds in his mind while meditating. So if initial thoughts come & go within you, let them occur. Don't panic. hiv symptoms menopause symptoms

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