Dark Side of the Mind

One of the most challenging parts of meditation is what's sometimes called the dark side of the mind. (baby crying) These are the thoughts and fantasies that we'd rather didn't appear in the mind. Whether they're exciting, violent, vengeful, or maybe even sadistic in nature, we might think we shouldn't be experiencing them. But these thoughts are perfectly natural and there's obviously no need to act on them. But why do they seem to appear more often once we begin to meditate? Well, typically, we go through our day with quite a heavy filter on the mind, blocking out these thoughts so we don't lie, either habitually or intentionally. When we block them out habitually we're unaware that it's even taking place, we're just so caught up in our day-to-day thinking. But by meditating, we're creating more space in the mind. So it's not that there are more of these thoughts, we just see them more clearly. But when we're blocking them out intentionally, we already see the thoughts clearly, but we're resisting them, perhaps fearful of what they say about us as a person. But what meditation shows us is that we're not our thoughts. So there's no need to judge them to identify with them. We see that don't make us a mean person, a terrible person, a twisted person. And it's through this process that we discover peace of mind, allowing thoughts to come and go, at ease with the mind exactly as it is....