Possibly relevant is that I find it virtually impossible to single-task in general. I am massively parallel, and I’m accustomed to being aware of several processors at once. I can shut one down without it being a big deal; trying to do it to all of them simultaneously gets the result I described.
Meditation isn’t about “shutting down” anything, or at least certain types of zen meditation aren’t. They’re about shifting your awareness to a third-party perspective on those processes, rather than identifying with them as “self”.
So for example, if you have a thought that comes up that the situation is intolerable and you can’t handle it, then you notice it in the way you might notice that an update message has popped up on your computer, or that you’ve just received some email or something. Like, “Ah, that’s nice.”
You notice your brain’s activity (and anything else happening around you) as merely information, rather than as reality. Zen meditators are advised to treat everything in this way, whether it’s a vision of Hell or a glimpse into Heaven, and not to be distracted even if they seem to be growing psychic powers or having meetings with the Buddha.
The objective is both the active realization that your thoughts and experiences are neither as truthful nor urgent as they appear, and the development of your ability to act from centered awareness, rather than being tugged this way and that by your cached thoughts.
Meditation isn’t about “shutting down” anything, or at least certain types of zen meditation aren’t. They’re about shifting your awareness to a third-party perspective on those processes, rather than identifying with them as “self”.
So for example, if you have a thought that comes up that the situation is intolerable and you can’t handle it, then you notice it in the way you might notice that an update message has popped up on your computer, or that you’ve just received some email or something. Like, “Ah, that’s nice.”
You notice your brain’s activity (and anything else happening around you) as merely information, rather than as reality. Zen meditators are advised to treat everything in this way, whether it’s a vision of Hell or a glimpse into Heaven, and not to be distracted even if they seem to be growing psychic powers or having meetings with the Buddha.
The objective is both the active realization that your thoughts and experiences are neither as truthful nor urgent as they appear, and the development of your ability to act from centered awareness, rather than being tugged this way and that by your cached thoughts.