Click on image to enlarge, for easier reading

I’m reading a really good book, Joyful Wisdom , by Yongey Mingur Rinpoche. In the book, he explains that his father  taught him to meditate in a manner that a child would understand.

The father, a meditation master himself,  explained….

 meditating could be imagined as the mind being like a tree,

with the attention being like a little bird landing lightly on one branch…

and the bird sitting quietly or observing or checking it out…

what a lovely image.

The various branches might include one’s  own thoughts/feelings/ reactions:   like this,  don’t like that, like this a lot, want more of this, really don’t like that, want to get rid of that,  various thoughts, emotions etc. (all of which seem to be what most of my pages and posts seem to be about)

And the father went on to explain that little bird might want to flit from branch to branch, but to notice when it does that and to keep gently bringing it back to that one branch, and go back to resting quietly on that branch.

Well, then I thought more about the idea of the tree…it occurred to me that going beyond “quieting”  the mind,  and  actually “checking out” what is going on in one’s  own mind...whether while meditating or walking around…. (“mindfulness”) ….is a bit like going up through the roots of that tree  and “googling the mind…”  ….. and so I combined the image of  the tree, with it’s many branches, and the computer mouse accessing through the roots and trunk…for “googling the mind….”

I love googling just about anything (I’m a bit like a raccoon)…but don’t much like slowing down enough to check out the mind, especially not the “negative mind” …seriously, the idea of sitting and meditating about/when being upset or sad or other negative emotions is about as appealing to me as going out into a thunder/lightning storm…or a wet, drizzly day…..but,  I’m told by people that I really trust that sitting and  settling, accepting, and  investigating  can lead to very positive shifting…I guess that sitting quietly and watching might be a good way to learn more about the dynamics  and habitual patterns of the mind….well, I guess maybe so….

and so….

I made this page

to help me tap into my own sense of  wonder and curiosity….

………”googling” the mind….

Link to a page  in Reflections from a Friend….with similar ideas….“Meditation….to gain a better experience/understanding of….”

Already….a revision…a simpler version. There are just the 2 “mice” and “cords” in this page….not the other words….one coming from each side.  So, maybe this is  a bit like 2 kinds of meditation: the “thinking/analyzing” one and the “non-conceptual” one.….or maybe it’s a bit like tapping into the 2 different sides of the brain: the left brain or the  right brain...whatever, it’s pretty….

click on image to  enlarge, for easier reading

I like the ideas in these images, so I made some smaller ones: this page, below, contains the two pages above and 2 images with just the tree….I also like the tree by itself…kind of like an image of a quiet mind…the way the book, Joyful Wisdom, described a quiet mind…simply the image of a tree…

( I think I’ll  print these on clear transparency film and laminate them, for window hangers…Costco sells a good basic laminator, called Purple Cow, for $30.00, with laminating materials included. They’re pretty printed on paper too…I  usually print “pages” on  60 or 90 pound card stock)

Note: the initial idea of the computer mouse etc came from a tshirt that I just bought at REI: the tshirt has a picture of a woodsy path with  a  computer mouse under it…with a caption: “Be your own search engine”…great idea….so that idea led to the progression of my own ideas that developed into these pages….

“Tapping into” left brain/right brain strengths is an interesting idea: link to  a simple online quiz to learn about one’s own left brain/right brain tendencies….kind of interesting questions…the questions give insights into simple understanding of some of a person’s “style” or preferences….I tend to use both tendencies, varying by setting,  so choosing one response wasn’t really accurate…but it’s still interesting….results give percentage of each,  based on responses to questions.