Vipassana
I have written a reading note before, the main content of which is to teach us how to look inside ourselves.
- Understanding the brain
Learn the structure of the brain, recognize the nature of anxiety, and learn to be patient with the things you encounter.
- Understand the subconscious mind
Understand that the subconscious mind is a double-edged sword. Making good use of the subconscious mind can help us double our efficiency and discover that life brings me unexpected surprises.
Get rid of our procrastination by eliminating ambiguity. And how to become a powerful person by "feeling".
- Understanding metacognition.
Metacognition: Metacognition is the highest level of cognition, which can recognize and understand its own "thinking process"
Understand the essence of "I reflect on myself three times a day" in "The Analects". Metacognitive ability is the ability to reflect that we are accustomed to and take things for granted.
Metacognitive ability is the combination of awareness and self-control. Therefore, from a practical perspective, metacognitive ability can be redefined as:The ability to self-examine, actively control, and prevent being influenced by the subconscious mind.
After having a certain understanding based on Vipassana, Let’s look at concentration today.
Appearance-Concentration
Concentration can be viewed from two aspects: emotion and learning according to daily life.
Let me tell you a story before you start. After reading it and thinking about today, I believe you will quickly understand the meaning.
A traveler asked the old monk: "What were you doing before you attained enlightenment?"
The old monk said: "Chop wood, carry water, and cook."
The traveler asked: "What about after attaining the Tao?"
The old monk said: "Chop wood, carry water, and cook."
The traveler asked again: "Then what does it mean to attain the Dao?"
The old monk said: "Before attaining the Dao, when cutting firewood, one thought about carrying water, and when carrying water, one thought about cooking; after attaining the Dao, cutting wood means chopping wood, carrying water means carrying water, and cooking means cooking."
emotional focus
There are several words you may have used in our daily reflections: lack of concentration, distraction, distraction, and half-heartedness. . .
When we have metacognition, it is very interesting to use metacognition to observe our attention. I believe you can easily observe this phenomenon:The body is doing A, but the mind is thinking about B.
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When running, your hands and feet are moving, but your mind is thinking about arrangements for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow;
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While eating, my mouth is moving, but my heart is worrying about my relationship with others;
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When sleeping, the body does not move, but thoughts pour out like a waterfall...
This behavioral pattern of "doing A and thinking B" actuallyaffects us, making us unconsciously You will be troubled and dull . In a sense, it is the source ofour troubles and incompetence.
Of course, there is also insomnia. I was so sleepy a second ago, but as soon as I put down my phone, I started to wake up.
"Action" is like the body, "feeling" is like the soul
Sometimes, do you feel that you have learned nothing after studying for a whole day? Sometimes you concentrate on locating the problem. Although the study time is short, you feel a sense of satisfaction and solidity.
The biggest difference between the two is whether actions and feelings are unified.
Of course don’t blame yourself first, let’s explain why we are like this?
This is usually the case when we are just starting to learn a skill, or when we are just children. We are engaged, receptive, peaceful and spiritual.
As we become more proficient in action, we focus less and less on the action and more and more attention is scattered elsewhere, so we no longer have the patience to feel the action.
The mind and body begin to separate.
When the mind wanders, the action loses perception, and attention cannot form a closed feedback loop because of the lack of feelings.
This is why when I communicated with a fitness coach before, he told me not to distract myself by watching videos on my mobile phone while exercising. Focus on the activity of your muscles, the twisting of your joints, and the frequency of your breathing.
Of course, as long as you exercise, it will have an effect. In terms of the mind-body separation model, the physical impact is really a trivial matter.What is really serious is the impact it will have on our emotional state. and ability enhancement will have a lasting negative impact.
The causes and dangers of distraction
There are two reasons for distraction:
- One is that they feel that the present moment is too boring, so they pursue more interesting things;
- The second is that the current moment is too painful, so they pursue more comfortable things.
Because the body is trapped in reality, it has no choice but to let its thoughts run wild.
Recently on Zhihu, it has become very popular to ask questions about how you would spend your money if you won five million. A netizen in the comment area interestingly said, "Brothers also come for mental health care?"
In fact, the essence is because:The cost of distraction is too low, and human nature is eager for success and seeking refuge, so by default, We all unconsciously stay in our mental comfort zones.
This is why we often say that we need to jump out of our comfort zone, which makes sense.
It’s a pity that “wandering is a temporary pleasure”, but afterwards we have to bear all kinds of losses caused by mind wandering, the biggest loss of which is the deterioration of the quality of life.
When I was in high school, forgetting about food and sleep was just a word. If a multiple-choice question asked me to choose a rhetorical technique for this idiom,I would definitely choose exaggeration.
Until when I was studying for my master's degree, I used to sleep in the laboratory. I didn't want to go back to the dormitory if I couldn't adjust the experiment. I often forgot to eat for the experiment. Now that I think about it, I felt really wonderful during that time.
It turns out that a person can really concentrate on one thing and forget to eat, drink and sleep.
Mind wandering can allow us to live at any time, but it cannot allow us to live in the present.
Life is made up of fragments in the present moment. The fragments in which the body and mind are integrated constitute a high-quality life of happiness and concentration. The fragments in which the body and mind are separated constitute a low-quality life in which the mind and body are distracted.
How long has it been since you spent all your time doing something?
Distraction can also cause procrastination and inefficiency.Because emotions always lag behind behavior, people are often slow to enter the state when doing things and require emotional transition.
That’s why sometimes you need to take a breather!
The essence of distraction is escape
People with a unified body and mind are more likely to jump out of their comfort zone and face difficulties head-on.
But it’s part of our nature to be distracted. The reason behind this has to do with our brain’s memory mechanism, so don’t blame yourself.
Any information we hear, see, touch, taste, and smell through our senses will lead to some other memory content. And because our senses are controlled by the subconscious, and the subconscious never disappears, as long as we are awake, this Such distractions can happen at any time.
This is also why we need to exercise metacognition, because growth is the process of overcoming nature. We must use awareness and self-control to restrain nature, otherwise we will be influenced by the subconscious without knowing it.
How can we align our feelings with our actions?
Take back your feelings and return to the present moment
It’s not too late to know now, because just one move can turn things around:Return feelings into action.
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When running, take back your feelings and fully appreciate the movements of your legs and arms, your breathing and the breeze in front of you;
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When sleeping, take back your feelings and feel the tension and relaxation of your body;
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When eating, take back your feelings, feel the sweetness of each mouthful of food, and experience the entire process of taste from beginning to end. Don't rush to stuff the second mouthful of food into your mouth before finishing the first.
So stop looking at your phone while eating, go for a walk, relax your mind, don’t think about anything, and feel the wind blowing on your cheeks.
Body feeling is always the best medium to enter the present state, and feeling the process of things disappearing is a good way to focus Training. It reminds us that the key to the unity of body and mind is not only to focus on the present moment, but also to enjoy the present moment,and this kind of enjoyment will definitely make us more calm and less panicked.
Slowly practice withdrawing feelings and return our attention to the present moment. Our worries will gradually decrease, our energy will be stronger, our emotions will be more peaceful, our bodies will be softer, our perceptions will be more sensitive, and our thinking will be easier. Go deep.
Now look back at the old monk's story at the beginning to see if you understand its meaning.
Let’s talk next time! Have Nice Day!
I am Hcoco, a technical scholar.