Investigate the mind and know you are doing it

The mind has lots of faculties and one of the most interesting of these is its ability to investigate phenomena and see what is going on. People who are new to meditation have something called beginners mind which is a natural curiosity driven by the novelty of what they are doing. Old lags like me, tend to need a bit of effort to regain interest in something they've seen a thousand times before but once we get going the pleasure of seeing stuff soon lights things up.

Anyway, that's not really what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to say is: investigation is a key mental faculty in meditation. You don't have to believe me, I'm just planting a seed in your mind for later on so that when you realise you are investigating phenomena you'll say something like: 'sheesh kebab, this is investigation and that blogger dude was right - it really is a thing'.

Then you might say, "I'm investigating and I know I'm investigating. This is what knowing is like!"

Once you realise the difference between having an experience and knowing an experience in your mind you'll start writing your own blog just to tell everyone how exciting it is because it is HUGE!

You're welcome. It's also worth noting that investigation follows mindfulness like night follows day, so just keep paying attention. Notice the difference between mindfulness and investigation if you can.

Once you've recognised these two mental factors you'll be set up nicely for the rest of your meditating life.