When I tried track-back meditation, it was a mess that didn’t seem to lead to anything but confusion and mind wandering. That was ~2 weeks ago, though, and in the meantime (i) my distractions have gotten briefer, so the chain of events leading to it has gotten shorter, and (ii) I have developed a smidgen of introspective awareness, which I used to lack. As a result, I sometimes take a second to trace back where a distraction come from while meditating, and can often do so in a controlled manner now. It’s really interesting how many chains of thought start from something I see or hear; you’d never know by looking at just the last thought in the chain.
So a lesson from my experience might be that if your track-back meditation is going poorly, regular meditation may help. Although the bigger lesson is don’t listen to me; read The Mind Illuminated :-).
Yes, great points.
When I tried track-back meditation, it was a mess that didn’t seem to lead to anything but confusion and mind wandering. That was ~2 weeks ago, though, and in the meantime (i) my distractions have gotten briefer, so the chain of events leading to it has gotten shorter, and (ii) I have developed a smidgen of introspective awareness, which I used to lack. As a result, I sometimes take a second to trace back where a distraction come from while meditating, and can often do so in a controlled manner now. It’s really interesting how many chains of thought start from something I see or hear; you’d never know by looking at just the last thought in the chain.
So a lesson from my experience might be that if your track-back meditation is going poorly, regular meditation may help. Although the bigger lesson is don’t listen to me; read The Mind Illuminated :-).