Why do I get angry? What am I paying attention to? Where did I leave my car keys?

Mental phenomena like these pass through my mind a hundred, a thousand, times every hour. I usually find them so intoxicating that I rarely see the need to answer the question as being separate from the thought that expresses the question.

Bringing awareness to our mental life, seeing how thoughts and emotions rise and fall, is a valuable meditation practice and one that I am making slow, steady progress on. However, other meditation practices await anyone willing to explore. Robin sent me this link to a recent NY Times article (“A Master of Memory in India Credits Meditation for His Brainy Feats”) about the astounding memory of a Jain monk in India. The monk describes his powers of concentration as nothing special, “I have sacrificed everything, and that is why I can do this,” he said. “Anyone can do this, it is not a miracle. My message is this: When you know your own capacity, when you get rid of your distractions, the power of your mind is immense.”