[Meditation and Distracting Thoughts] Distracting thoughts and delusions won't go away! How do I get rid of them!? [Including Mantra Meditation]

Many people who have started to become interested in meditation often have the problem that distracting thoughts and delusions arise one after another during meditation and will not stop.

Some people are unable to successfully clear away these distracting thoughts, their concentration is quickly broken, and they often give up and stop without gaining any of the benefits of meditation.

Regarding being swayed by distracting thoughts and delusions, even though it is a major theme in meditation, it has not been touched upon in this "Meditator" note until now.

This is because, in my opinion, I do not place that much importance on completely eliminating distracting thoughts during meditation, and I am not obsessed with it.
Therefore, despite it being a theme that many beginners and those new to meditation would be interested in, I had forgotten about it.

Recently, I have been posting maniacal content about Esoteric Buddhism, and just before that, content about dieting that had little to do with meditation (lol), so this time I would like to touch upon the legitimate topic of distracting thoughts and meditation.

Distracting thoughts and delusions are noisy! -- Meditation? Or lost in thought?

Even if you take the time to meditate while busy, the more rushed and busy you were right up until that moment, the more unnecessary distracting thoughts and delusions will arise during meditation, making it impossible to meditate.

"Did I do that? I have to take care of that business first thing tomorrow." "The TV show I watched earlier was interesting. But is that kind of thing really possible?" "Next month is my friend's birthday. They celebrated mine before, so what should I do this time? Oh, I'll book that place! I have to contact that person too. I wonder how they are doing? Come to think of it, their daughter is studying abroad, right?" and so on and so forth...

Once you are caught up in distracting thoughts and get on board with them, they expand and develop one after another, and sometimes your entire meditation time is occupied by a daydream state.

If this happens, it really isn't meditation. I think the benefits of meditation are diminished by the amount of noise from distracting thoughts and delusions.
It is certainly true that meditation is more stable and deep when distracting thoughts are quiet.

Therefore, if you are going to practice meditation, you need to face this issue as well.

What should I do about distracting thoughts? Is it possible to erase them?

If meditation doesn't deepen and its effects are reduced when distracting thoughts are noisy, should distracting thoughts be erased? If so, how do you erase them?

To put it bluntly, I believe that it is almost impossible for a meditation beginner to completely remove distracting thoughts and reach a state of no-thought.
Even if you continue for a while, I believe it is difficult to completely eliminate this problem of distracting thoughts.

In the practice of meditation, I think it is better to adopt the direction of giving up on trying to completely remove distracting thoughts and delusions.

At the beginner stage, I believe that all you can do regarding distracting thoughts is to notice them, let them flow by without getting caught up in them, let them go, and return to the concentration of meditation.
This will quiet the distracting thoughts.

I believe that even if you have distracting thoughts, as long as you settle down, it counts as meditation and is effective.

I was able to overcome severe depression and anxiety even without practicing meditation that aims for a state of no-thought.
Even during the meditation I did at that time, I had various distracting thoughts.

　Because I was suffering from severe depression and anxiety, negative thoughts would indeed pop up during meditation.
While meditating, I would sometimes worry, "Is it really okay to be doing this?" Even so, in my case, I got better.

Regardless, regarding distracting thoughts during meditation, I believe the best approach is to notice them early, let them pass, and repeatedly return to your meditation.

A recommended meditation method for those with intense distracting thoughts ―― Mantra Meditation

　I place importance on simple meditation (basic meditation) where you focus your awareness on your breathing, and I make it a daily routine.

However, with this kind of meditation, I think there are people who cannot concentrate at all because their distracting thoughts are too intense. There are various meditation methods for such people.

Among them, one that I personally think is most effective is what is known as "Mantra Meditation."

This is meditation performed while chanting a mantra (whether it's a spell, a sacred word, or anything at all) in your mind.
I have experience with Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the past, though I quit after a short time.

Another famous one is called "So Hum Meditation." It is a meditation where you chant "So" and "Hum" in your mind in sync with your exhalation and inhalation.

Some people think the mantra chanted during this meditation must be mystical or have specific significance, and there are even methods where a mantra suited to each individual is imparted (for a fee, and a significant one at that), but I believe anything is fine.

You can just pick a sound you like from Sanskrit, Greek letters, or elsewhere. Whether it's "So, Hum," "Su, Ha," "Zeta, Mu," or "Ramda, Ahum," anything works.
It is said that simple sounds without meaning are best.

One trick to mantra meditation is not to focus too much on adjusting your posture or breathing, but to keep chanting the mantra in your mind at a comfortable pace and intensity.
Even if distracting thoughts arise, direct your awareness back to chanting the mantra.

To give you a more core tip, it is good to feel as if you are relaxing your mind and body to the point where you might fall asleep, and then using the single act of chanting the mantra to keep yourself from falling asleep.

A note of caution, but if you grasp the knack and meditate using this method, you may enter a deep state, or your consciousness may become hypnotic, so please limit this meditation to 20 minutes or less per session, and up to twice a day.

Please practice in a quiet and calm environment. Do not practice in an environment where loud noises might occur suddenly.

When ending your meditation, please be conscious of stopping and returning to normal, and slowly emerge from the meditative state. Do not stand up suddenly.

Please follow these precautions, especially if you have entered a deep state.

I have experience with mantra-based meditation systems like Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the past, but I currently have no interest in them and do not practice them.
Therefore, the "Book of Meditation" does not touch upon mantra-based meditation systems.

Mantra-based meditation systems involve the clearly active task of chanting a mantra, which makes it easier to concentrate, so they might be suitable for people whose distracting thoughts and delusions do not easily quiet down.

Beyond distracting thoughts — No-thought? For example, Nimitta (inner light)

I mentioned that it is almost impossible for a meditation beginner to completely eliminate distracting thoughts and delusions, but even so, for practitioners who meditate seriously and spend a reasonable amount of time, a slightly different perspective can sometimes be seen.

It is what lies beyond distracting thoughts. It is a state that could be called no-thought, free from distracting thoughts.

However, this stage is not for meditation beginners, and slightly difficult things can become involved.
In other words, it is a stage where special meditative experiences, so-called mystical experiences, or hallucinations are likely to occur.

There are various experiences in a state that could be called no-thought, but a common one is the experience of "seeing light".

Such things depend on aptitude and constitution; there are people who see them easily even if their meditation has not progressed that much, or it may involve psychopathology or nervous fixation, so it is difficult to judge.

But, well, these things do happen.
The reason why they exist is that the subconscious and the unconscious are involved.

Regarding the light seen during meditation, it is appropriate to describe this as the "light of consciousness".

Especially in Esoteric Buddhism and mysticism, consciousness is often compared to light (radiance), and it is thought that actual experiences are involved in the origin of such metaphors.

In Buddhism, this light is sometimes called Nimitta. Also, in common parlance, it might possibly come from Xian-dao (Neidan), but it is also sometimes called Tanko (Cinnabar Light).

It tends to become a case of "Light of consciousness? What's that? Spiritual? Occult?" and in fact, on the internet, there is a lot of information claiming things like "This is the mystical light of the chakras! It's an aura!" or "It's the light of the developed third eye! It's related to psychic powers!"

Well... whether in Buddhism or Xian-dao, it seems there are indeed ideas that link the state of seeing Nimitta (Tanko) with supernatural powers.

However, I also think that it might not be anything that mystical. I believe that things similar to this Nimitta (Tanko) are experienced daily even by many ordinary people who are not enthusiastic about meditation.

To put it bluntly, it is a dream.

Just because you are sleeping with your eyes closed in a dark room, does that mean your dreams are pitch black too?
If it is daytime in your dream, it is bright.

So why is it bright? It is because a dream is a mental image, and it is created by the brain.

The state of consciousness known as dreaming arises from brain activity.
The bright light in a dream could be called the "light of consciousness."

(In the first place, being able to perceive electromagnetic waves and visible light as "light" or "bright" is due to the workings of human nerves and the brain. Through brain activity, we come to "perceive" physical things as "light." Well, in a sense, that too might be called the "light of consciousness.")

My view is that the light seen during a certain stage of meditation is likely of the same nature and similar to that.
It is the "light of consciousness."
I believe that through meditation, one enters a special state of consciousness—brain and neurophysiology—and that light occurs even though one is not asleep and dreaming.

Well... regardless... when you become proficient in meditation, you may experience all sorts of strange things. It is more about the human brain and neurophysiological system than it is mystical.

Most people are not meditation geeks, so they do not reach this stage. There is no need to, either.

But if you do reach this point, you might lose your marbles and go a bit crazy, so if you reach this stage and want to continue practicing meditation, it might be better to find an excellent teacher who is experienced, possesses good character, and has a solid sense of reality.