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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich,

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and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

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Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

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When I recently explained that I don't meditate to control my thoughts,

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I meditate so my thoughts don't control me, some readers were confused

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or questioned the difference. There's a common misconception that meditation

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is about clearing the mind, making it quiet or blank, which is why many who try meditating

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for the first time quickly give up, exclaiming their thoughts were racing nonstop

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and they couldn't turn their brains off, which is what they thought was the goal.

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So, let me be clear, that even after years of meditating, my mind still wanders 

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whether I'm in meditation or not,

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but now, when I watch my mind running around like a puppy playing in the backyard,

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 I can call it back to me at any time, sort of like saying, "Come here boy,"

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and the mind obeys. It's not about tying the puppy to a tree with a short chain

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so it doesn't go anywhere; that would be cruel and only drive it mad and more 

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resistant to structure, it's about differentiating between play-time

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and paying-attention-time. The key is balance and discipline.

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If you've ever had a dog, then you know that even when they are well-trained,

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certain things will still grab their attention, and you can tell that they want to bark,

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investigate, run, or play, so they look up at you with those puppy eyes as if asking,

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"Can I please go? I've been so good. Let me chase that squirrel, even though I know 

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"I can't catch it, nor do I have any idea what I would do with it if I could."

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Rather than chasing squirrels, however, we chase thoughts with more thoughts,

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often in the form of worrying, which usually turns out to be a complete waste of time.

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What we must do is assert ourselves as the ones who decide when the mind can run free,

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and when it needs to sit. Otherwise, it's like the dog taking you for a walk

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instead of the other way around. I'm not even sure this metaphor works,

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especially if you're not into puppies, so let's look at the quote, "Nobody can drive you 

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"crazy unless you give them the keys." People will certainly try, and if life was a car ride,

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then we need to be selective about who we let into our car, and certainly picky about who

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gets to ride in the front, because if you let your ego ride, then pretty soon it will

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take the wheel. First things first: claim your spot in the driver's seat with your hands 

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on the wheel. Random thoughts cross my mind all the time, I just watch them 

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like the trees on the side of the road as I zoom past them.

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I admit, some of the thoughts are disturbing, but they are not me, they are a byproduct

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of everything to which I am exposed throughout the day,

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and unless I seal myself off in a bubble where I control all the auditory 

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and visual stimuli that I receive, some freaky stuff is bound to make its way into 

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my thoughts: violence in a movie or a breaking-news story, even a song,

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can easily hook my attention and try to hijack my mind in various directions.

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The practice is not to turn off the world, it's to not let the world take the wheel. 

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It's funny how we try to control so much in life when most of it cannot be controlled, 

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and some even call themselves "control freaks," yet invest very little effort into

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learning how to control what we truly can, which is where to focus our attention 

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and how to respond to what's happening around us.

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To be able to do that skillfully, we need to practice. It's no different than learning any

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other skill; we learn to walk before we can run, and you teach a puppy how to sit and

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stay before moving on to other tricks.

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We, on the other hand, have been trained to multi-task, but most of us don't know 

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how to single-task, or to just BE, performing no task at all. If that sounds foreign to you, 

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I rest my case. Meditating so your thoughts don't control you doesn't have to be done

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cross-legged with incense burning, it can be done while jogging, painting, gardening,

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or even while brushing your teeth.

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The moment your mind wanders, you bring it back. You start out by watching your mind 

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like you would watch a movie: you go into the theater and you pay attention 

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to what's going on the screen. We are actually SO good at paying attention to the movie, 

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that we can consume an entire bucket of popcorn without noticing until it's all gone.

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So, just watch the movie in your mind with curiosity, not judgment.

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It's fascinating where the mind wants to go, but you are not your thoughts, 

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you're the observer. Once you get that down, look at your hands. You're the one holding

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the steering wheel. If you don't want to think about something, steer away from it.

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That's where a mantra can be really helpful; it gives you something to steer 

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your mind toward. When your thoughts jump to something someone said to you at work 

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yesterday, bring your mind back to your mantra or your breath or whatever you

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want to focus on. Then, you'll see that all these thoughts are just like advertisers 

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trying to grab your attention, but you don't have to buy everything they're selling.

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You can just say Thank you for the information, and move on.

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It is SO liberating and precisely why I don't meditate to control my thoughts, 

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I meditate so my thoughts don't control me. I hope that makes better sense now.

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If you find value in these podcast episodes and love how there are no commercials

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for car insurance or whatnot, it's possible thanks to listeners just like you who donate

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just one dollar a month through Patreon.com/BuddhistBootCamp

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Thank you for sharing the online posts with your tribe, telling people about the podcast

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and books, and for walking beside me on this journey. I appreciate you.

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Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless 

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and Buddhist Boot Camp.

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For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com,

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where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project, 

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watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.

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We hope you have enjoyed this episode,

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and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.

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Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏🏼