..續本文上一頁your posture, and do a lot of walking meditation. That”s one thing to do. You can walk for three hours at a time, until you”re really tired.

　　Q: I do walking meditation a couple of hours a day, and I usually have a lot of thinking when I do it. But what really concerns me is this dark state when I sit. Should I just try to be aware of it and let go, or is there some means I should use to counter it

　　AC: I think maybe your postures aren”t balanced. When you walk, you have a lot of thinking. So you should do a lot of discursive contemplation, then the mind can retreat from thinking. It won”t stick there. But never mind. For now, increase the time you spend on walking meditation. Focus on that. Then if the mind is wandering, pull it out and do some contemplation, such as investigation of the body. Have you ever done that continuously, rather than as an occasional reflection

　　When you experience this dark state, do you suffer over it

　　Q: I feel frustrated because of my state of mind--I”m not developing samadhi or wisdom.

　　AC: When you have this condition of mind, the suffering comes about because of not knowing. There is doubt as to why the mind is like this. The important principle in meditation is that whatever occurs, don”t be in doubt over it. Doubt only adds to the suffering. If the mind is bright and awake, don”t doubt that. It”s a condition of mind. If it”s dark and dull, don”t doubt about that. Just continue to practice diligently without getting caught up in reactions to that state. Taking note and being aware of your state of mind, don”t have doubts about it. It is just what it is. When you entertain doubts and start grasping at it and giving it meaning, then it is dark.

　　As you do your practice, these states are things you encounter as you progress along. You needn”t have doubts about them. Notice them with awareness, and keep letting go.

　　How about sleepiness

　　 Is your sitting more sleepy or awake

　　(No reply)

　　Maybe it”s hard to recall if you”ve been sleepy! If this happens, meditate with your eyes open. Don”t close them. Instead, you can focus your gaze on one point, such as the light of a candle. Don”t close your eyes! This is one way to remove the hindrance of drowsiness.

　　When you”re sitting, you can close your eyes from time to time, and if the mind is clear, without drowsiness, you can then continue to sit with your eyes closed. If it”s dull and sleepy, open your eyes and focus on the one point. It”s similar to kasina meditation. Doing this, you can make the mind awake and tranquil. The sleepy mind isn”t tranquil; it”s obscured by hindrance and it”s in darkness.

　　We should talk about sleep also. You can”t simply go without sleep. That”s the nature of the body. If you”re meditating and you get unbearably, completely sleepy, then let yourself sleep. That”s also one way to quell the hindrance when it”s overwhelming you.

　　Otherwise, you practice along, keeping the eyes open if you have this tendency to get drowsy. Close your eyes after a while and check your state of mind. If it”s clear, you can practice with eyes closed. Then after some time you take a rest. Some people are always fighting against sleep. They force themselves not to sleep, and the result is that when they sit, they are always drifting off to sleep and falling over themselves, sitting in an unaware state.

　　Q: Can we focus on the tip of the nose

　　LP: That”s fine. Whatever suits you, whatever you feel comfortable with and helps you fix your mind, focus on that.

　　It”s like this: in teaching meditation, if we get attached to the ideals and take the guidelines too literally, it can be difficult to understand. When doing a standard meditation, such as mindfulness of breathing, first we should make the determination that right now, we are going to do this …

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