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Ken McLeod Biography

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“As we become adept in communication, we forget that the concepts and words that we use in language are abstractions. In other words, we fall asleep to what is real--actual experience-- and take concepts to be real. As with language, so with every other aspect of experience. We forget that thoughts are thoughts, feelings are feelings, and sensations are sensations. We instead take the contents of thoughts to be real entities, feelings to be what we are, and sensations to be external objects. Think of an elephant, for instance. If you forget that you are thinking about an elephant, then you take the elephant you are thinking about to be an actual elephant. 'Absurd!' you say, but isn't that exactly what happens when you are distracted in meditation? A thought of a dispute with a friend arises. You don't recognize it as a thought. In the next moment, you are engrossed in an argument with your friend. You forget not only your meditation practice but also where you are. Your world of experience has collapsed down to the dispute with your friend. You are completely obsessed with it. The only argument that is taking place, however, is the one in your mind.”

ThinkingRealityMeditationThoughts
Book:Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention – Essential Methods for Equanimity, Compassion, and Joy
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“The deepest level of obsession is obsession with a sense of self. A sense of self, generated as a reaction to non-referential space, lies at the core of every habituated pattern. A self is felt to be a permanent, independent unit. The feeling of permanence manifests in life as a feeling of dullness, of not being quite present. The illusion of independence arises as a feeling of separation. The feeling of being one thing arises as a feeling of incompleteness or dissatisfaction. Together, these three qualities obscure the mystery of being.”

BuddhismAnattaNo Self
Book:Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention – Essential Methods for Equanimity, Compassion, and Joy
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