Page 360 - Bodhayanti Parasparam Vol 4

BODHAYANTI PARASPARAM – VOL 4
of the mind becomes too intense and becomes conceptual. And, therefore, the mind generates lots of thoughts, past, present, and future, and so on. They are so many and so intense that we can not stop them or let go of them. Now, this can be either a pleasant or an unpleasant excitement. It could be excessive excitement in being too happy or too enthusiastic: Or it could be a feeling of deep unhappiness or discontentment. In either case, the result is the thoughts which distract us. Now, there are, obviously, a lot of things that can go wrong with meditation, but basically all of them are included within these two types of defects, torpor and excitement.
When we look at torpor we need to use positive motivation to get rid of torpor and that will be effective, because the nature of torpor is a mental dullness which is, to some extent, a lack of motivation. Therefore, recollecting the qualities of the Master and recollecting the benefits of meditation can sometimes promote the clarity that will cut through the torpor. We should keep in mind that the' form of emptiness is the emptiness of the
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