What does fishing have to do with meditation? In his recent article “Meditation: Catch and Release” Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche suggests using the fishermen’s phrase “catch and release” as a way to work with thoughts that arise during meditation practice:
We might think our meditation should be completely free of thoughts, with our minds totally at peace, but that’s a misunderstanding. That’s more like the end result of our practice than the process. That is the “practice” part of the practice of meditation — just relating to whatever comes up for us. When a thought appears, we see it, acknowledge its presence, let it go and relax. That’s “catch and release.” When you meditate, you repeat this catch-and-release process over and over again. One minute, you’re resting your mind on your breath, then a thought comes up and pulls your attention away. You see the thought, let it go, and go back to your breath. Another thought comes up, you see it, let it go, and go back to your breath once again. Mindfulness, catching your thoughts, brings you back to the present and to a sense of attention, or non-distraction.
Read the rest of “Meditation: Catch and Release” in The Huffington Post here.
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