Guide Meditation Instructions for Analytical/High-IQ Minds

[JayJay]

First we stabilize the mind and our attention by following the typical meditation instruction: focus on a sensation of your preference and be aware when thoughts distract you and come back to the object of concentration if such happens.

(1) Deconstruction of Conditioned Phenomena

When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn't, that isn't.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.

Deconstrution of conditioned phenomena means to observe how phenomena that are usually perceived by the mind as separate and independent are actually the byproduct of a very long chain of other phenomena that are all in causation. This can be applied to anything but is more easily applied and observed in thoughts and sensations since these two tend to be very related. This chain of causation can be investigated in meditation by trailing along the possibles causes that condition the appearance of a suffering thought. For example, when uncomfortable feelings arise, a thought that manifest uncomformity related to this sensation arises, and in turn this thought conditions other thoughts and sensations. Observe the long chain without getting sucked into it.

(2) Deconstruction of the Deconstructor

The observer is the observed.

You are there comfortable practicing analytical meditation on conditioned phenomena. Observing the chain of causes and conditions, and paying close attention about how the movements of the mind arise based on previous causes, but what if we pay attention to the one doing the deconstruction. Isn't the deconstructor perhaps just another set of causes and conditions coming together manifesting themselves as a thought "I'm meditating", "I'm deconstructing phenomena" or similar, and a flow of sensations in certain directions that created this sense that there is a substantial being performing the action. Isn't perhaps this deconstructor part of the same flow of causes and conditions he pretends to deconstruct? Isn't the meditator that which is actually meditated upon? Try to look and investigate deeply into this deconstructor and how he came into being and perhaps, if he actually exists.

@Quintilian @Amor Fati @Apollo Tenzen​

 

[Ganapatya]

This is a great summary. I had a lot of success with the Mahasi Sayadaw noting technique, which brings all of these things into consciousness in a way that is very easy to see.

I do have a contradictory suggestion, though: people who are used to thinking and analyzing a lot can actually benefit from a Zen approach: start the timer, sit there, get up when the timer goes off. That's it. Don't try to understand anything, don't try to realize anything, just sit there and let everything happen. A feeling of curiosity and openness to experience can really help here.

If this instruction is too vague, Shinzen Young's Do Nothing meditation can also be very useful. The instruction is simply: any time you notice an intention to do something with your attention, drop that intention. You're just letting the mind do its thing and trying to relax any effort to make the meditation go any particular way. I found this profoundly transformative, and it helped me to get to the heart of a lot of what OP is talking about here.

May you realize the truth in this very lifetime.

 

[JayJay]

This is a great summary. I had a lot of success with the Mahasi Sayadaw noting technique, which brings all of these things into consciousness in a way that is very easy to see.

I do have a contradictory suggestion, though: people who are used to thinking and analyzing a lot can actually benefit from a Zen approach: start the timer, sit there, get up when the timer goes off. That's it. Don't try to understand anything, don't try to realize anything, just sit there and let everything happen. A feeling of curiosity and openness to experience can really help here.

If this instruction is too vague, Shinzen Young's Do Nothing meditation can also be very useful. The instruction is simply: any time you notice an intention to do something with your attention, drop that intention. You're just letting the mind do its thing and trying to relax any effort to make the meditation go any particular way. I found this profoundly transformative, and it helped me to get to the heart of a lot of what OP is talking about here.

May you realize the truth in this very lifetime.

"One who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma; one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent origination"