Day 16 of 30: Am I Crazy?

From my years of coaching experience, a common scenario is someone shows up to me with a lot of energy:  “I am so crazy!”  I make a guess that they’re at our current stage in developing an insight meditation practice.  “What do you mean?”, I reply with curiosity.  And they answer something like, “Now that I have more awareness of my thoughts, I think some crazy, random stuff. And it just keeps coming.  All the time.”

If you had this thought or similar judgments of your mind and its thoughts, it is common at this point.  It is a potential step in this journey.

An influential book for me was Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth.  In it, he shares a relevant story from his life that I will paraphrase below:

He is on a subway to the university he attends.  Next to him is a woman muttering out loud to herself.  He diagnoses that she must have a mental disorder.  Soon, he arrives to school and heads to the bathroom before starting his work for the day.  As he washes his hands, he glances in the mirror and sees a man next to him looking at him with a puzzled stare.   At that point, Eckhart notices that he had been lost in thought considering his work for the day, and at the sink he had been muttering out loud about his plans.  He was unaware that he was around other people.  He realized that the difference between him and the woman on the train, if any, is one of degree.  Perhaps they had more in common than originally he had thought.

For today, the proposal is the same as previous days: Calm focus meditation until you notice a deepening concentration, and then direct your awareness to watch your mind for the remainder of your time. As each thought arises, say hello to it, welcome it, and then let it go.  After letting it go, return your awareness to your felt sense of breathing for a few breaths before returning your attention to your mind again.  Continue until the end of your meditation time for today.

Throughout the day today, my invitation to you is to notice whether your perspective of others changes at all.  Is your increased awareness of how you think a source of insight into how it is to be human?  If you’d like, please share your experiences in the comments on this page as a way to support each other’s journey and to co-create our virtual community.

Please share what you notice and any other observations in the comments below so everyone can benefit from your experiences.  Please raise awareness of this content by sharing it using the social media icons adjacent to it.  Please reach out to me if I can support you.

See you tomorrow!

Best wishes,

Rob