...There are five experiences that meditators have. The first
experience is called like a waterfall. Alot of people get
frustrated with meditation because they sit down and meditate and
they cant stop thinking.. and they get frustrated by this and they
say Oh I cant meditate, all I do is think. I cant concentrate.
This is actually good. What we do is we never pay attention to our
mind.. so when you sit down of course your mind is going to be
rushing like a waterfall from a mountain because you never pay
attention to your mind before, ever. So of course there is going to
be many thoughts. So thats the first experience that is a good
sign...(Someone asks a question, inaudible) No no... its just like
your thoughts.. you have so many thoughts that it feels like a
waterfall of thoughts. Alot of people kind of freak out at that
because they think theyre not meditating because they think that
somehow meditation means youre not thinking. It doesnt mean that.
Meditation means that youre focusing and concentrating on your
mind.. so the first experience youre going to have is that youre
going to notice all of the thoughts in your mind.
The second experience is called like a rushing mountain stream.
What happens is sort of a torrent of thoughts kind of perpetuates
and then still very rapid, but it is like a mountain stream because
it flows very rapidly but it becomes very narrow.
The third experience is called like a pond. What that means is that
its like a small pond with small streams coming into it. So your
mind starts to become a little calm. But still your thoughts still
comes kind of consistently but generally it is more calm.
Then the third (should be fourth) experience is called like a
river... what that means is that on the surface your mind is very
calm but there is a fairly strong current of thoughts under the
surface.
Then the final experience is called like a ocean with waves. That
means now your mind is very expansive, and conceptuality kinds of
brushes the top of the mind, just like the waves brushes the top of
an ocean.
Then there is a sixth experience which is when you are an
absolutely perfect meditator which is called an ocean without
waves... and then at that point they give the example.. thats like
when your mind, just like an ocean, is completely flat and calm,
reflects the stars from the night sky.. so too your mind is just
absolutely placid like a flat ocean and it just reflects phenomena
without getting engaged in them in any single way. So that is like
the Sixth (Experience) and that is way down the road... right now
what were dealing with is the first experience and that is like
the waterfall.. and I point this out to you so that you wont think
that youre not doing the practise correctly. Actually, you are
doing the practise correctly if you notice a lot of thoughts. If
you dont notice a lot of thoughts that means you have gone to
sleep.. (laughter) And that means probably youre not doing the
practise at all...
~ Dharma Talk "Healing, Liberation and Awakening" by Loppön
Malcolm Smith.