Satisfaction Contemplation: An Exercise On How To Think and Enjoy Thinking

[r0ckyreed]

I loved Leo’s new video on satisfaction meditation. I think it is important to be able to sit with yourself without doing anything and be totally satisfied and joyful doing so. This is all good.
 

However, the same needs to be done with contemplation. Meditation alone does not clear and unravel all the self-deceptions we have. Contemplation is more “important” than meditation for this reason, as contemplation I feel like is the gateway of living an examined life.
 

A good start to being able to sit alone and think clearly and deeply is to be able to be satisfied alone without trying to analyze anything. However, the issue I have with just meditating is that we don’t train our minds to actually think. For instance, Leo also mentioned this but many people even Buddhists demonize thinking as dangerous and want to silence our minds rather than know how to use them to analyze life deeply. But this attitude will always create a negative relationship with the mind if we try to always empty it. It’s important to know how to use it, which can start with satisfaction meditation, but it should not end there.

I have personally noticed that I used to contemplate a lot before actualized.org and when I did so much meditation and neglect contemplation, I noticed that my mind was not working as well as it used to. I noticed that my memories and imagination decreased since I always brought wandering thoughts back to present moment. I noticed that meditation can dumb our minds if we go overboard and not use it with contemplation. It’s like meditation is stretching and contemplation is exercising to me. Stretching gives us flexibility and agility over our minds and self, but without exercise, our minds aren’t able to go as deeply as it can.

So here is my alternative exercise in conjunction with satisfaction meditation: Learn how to be satisfied with focused attention only on thinking about ONE topic. This will be a challenge as I have noticed as your mind will like to wander and not focus on the contemplative topic of interest. Start with contemplating “what is satisfaction? And can I be completely satisfied with sitting here by myself thinking about thinking?”

Another challenge is that thinking alone can be challenges due to the traumas or anxieties that come up. But learning how to do satisfied contemplation can help one to overcome these challenges. If you meditate by suppressing those memories by coming back to the breath, then you aren’t really making as much progress with your mind as you may think. The traumas and anxieties will still be there to rule you later. Learning how to think alone and be satisfied is to also be satisfied with all your thoughts about the past.
 

Sit with your thoughts and notice where your mind goes and the judgments about them. Dont suppress anything. Then you can contemplate them deeper to gain a better relationship with the mind. That is really the essence of meditation I think is to make friends with yourself (your mind) by being completely satisfied with this moment.

Try out satisfaction contemplation. Have a journal or just use your mind and enjoy the process of examining reality. However, the deepest insights cannot be conceptualized. So make sure your contemplative efforts are not just conceptualizations or theories, but rather tools of the mind to focus and raise your consciousness deeper into experiential realm. Thinking out loud can also help from mind wandering when contemplating.

Have fun!  

Edited August 9, 2021 by r0ckyreed