is your mokney mind more active in the AM or PM

[bayamo]

I sit (or try to) twice a day I've noticed that in the AM my mind is WAY more active than in the evening. Man the sh!t that pops in my head is wicked bizarre. Every 2 or 3 minutes I find myself saying OK it's just clouds let'em through. Now at night, I find it much easier to "think non thinking". Should I pass the AM sitting, or just keep up at what I am doing.
Thanks

[Kyotai]

Perhaps easier does not mean better. When the mind is tired, in your case perhaps fewer thoughts weigh down the mind. In the morning, having a full day ahead of you, perhaps that is when your mind is most active. That may also be the best time to practice. I am not an expert by any means, but if it were me, when things are wicked bizarre. . Let them be wicked bizarre, and then let it pass naturally. I would sit morning and at night if that works for you.

Gassho

Shawn

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[Kokuu]

Hi Bayamo

My mind is far more active in the morning too. I still sit both am and pm but knowing that my mind tends to be more active in the morning makes it easier to sit with that.

Sitting at both ends of the day would seem to be good practice. We can't always sit when the weather is cloudless and sunny!

Gassho
Andy

[bayamo]

Thanks!

[Rich]

Active or inactive doesn't matter. A healthy brain produces thoughts. When you are sitting you are probably more aware of them. I wouldn't skip a morning sit because of them. I would have quit this practice long ago if having an active brain was a showstopper. Samadhi can be one moment.

[Nengyo]

Mine is always at a 100%. It never shuts up, I just ignore it.

[Mp]

Active or inactive doesn't matter. A healthy brain produces thoughts. When you are sitting you are probably more aware of them. I wouldn't skip a morning sit because of them. I would have quit this practice long ago if having an active brain was a showstopper. Samadhi can be one moment.

Nicely said Rich. =)

Gassho
Shingen

[Nameless]

During the day the monkey mind wants to hop around more for me. I'm a night owl anyway, so I even feel physically healthier at night. Nighttime practice comes easily, but daytime practice is... well great practice.

Gassho, John

[Heion]

My mind is equally active, I'd say. I try not to let it bother me though, you know? I see it as empty, an active mind is just the same as a calm mind; even though we should tame it.

Of course, that is easier said than done.

Gassho,
Alex

[shikantazen]

For me the evening sittings are always way calmer than my morning sits. That is just an observation. It shouldn't mean one of the sits is better than the other though.

Gassho,
Sam

[Neika]

I find it varies. Did I have a good day, am I relaxed, am I anticipating the day ahead, or upset with the one I am finishing. Regardless of how I feel, or how I think I feel, I try to sit with it. Learning to sit regardless of my emotional state, and not only when I really want to, has made my zazen 'better'. If we only sit when we are in the mood than our zazen practice will never really be what it could.

[Taigu]

Monkey mind?!!!

Do you understand the very words of Dogen: ploughing clouds???

We have a bunch of senior guys here. Too old. Geriatric.

We need babies who do not unerstand a f.... Word About monkey mind.

Happy new year to all, morning, evening, monkey or not


Gassho

T.

PS: thank you to Rich, the one that gets it AS IS.

[Jundo]

Taigu, our 800 pound gorilla!

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/800-pound%20gorilla

Actually, looking at what people advised, I feel that most of the folks said pretty much the same on this, and we have a wise bunch of bonobos here: Monkey sometimes is very active, monkey sometimes settles down ... but in any event, in either case, see through that monkey and don't pay his monkey business no nevermind. Let monkeys be monkeys, even as we might tame the greedier, angrier side of our inner chimp. Know monkey-non-monkey.

I find my mind is actually a bit quieter when I first get out of bed. But, the point is not to cage, chain or neuter the monkey, as if with a tranquilizer gun or like some circus act. The key is to see through the monkey to the non-monkey, where there is nothing to break or smash, no other to chase or bite, no territory to protect, and the universe is one Great Banana ripe for the picking.



Then, the monkey-non-monkey will tend to settle down on his own and be no bother. Dogen once wrote (in Tenzo Kyokun)

your thoughts speed about like a wild horse and feelings careen about like a monkey in the trees. Let the monkey and horse step back and be seen clearly and the gap is closed naturally. In this way, turn things while being turned by them. Clarify and harmonize your life without losing the single Eye [of transcendent wisdom] which sees the context or the two eyes [of discriminating consciousness] which recognize the details [of this complex world].

Monkey-non-monkey ... and I ain't monkeying around!

Gassho, J

[Shokai]

_/\_

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[William]

Recently changed to a morning sit and realized the same phenomenon. My mind seemed to be much more active in the morning. I'm not deterred though.

Gassho



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