Compassionate Integrity Training CIT-Faciltator-Guide-2.1-Final | Page 60

C OMPASSIONATE I NTEGRITY T RAINING
A S ECULAR E THICS A PPROACH TO C ULTIVATING P ERSONAL , S OCIAL AND E NVIRONMENTAL F LOURISHING
C OUNTING Y OUR T HOUGHTS *
Goal: To allow participants to witness first-hand how many thoughts come and go in one minute. This
exercise is designed to be used prior to the Focused Attention meditation practice.
Materials: Method for tracking time (such as a stopwatch), paper and writing instrument.
Time: 3 to 5 Minutes
Instructions:
1.
Ask participants, “I will be setting a timer for one minute. During this one minute, I invite you to
count the number of thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations that come into your mind. If you
would like, you may take out a piece of paper and something to write with and tally these mental
events on the paper. Remember, thinking about a thought, or an emotion, etc. is also a thought.
When I say ‘Go,’ you may start.”
2. When everyone is ready, say “Go” and start the timer.
3. After one minute, say, “Stop counting and write down the number you tallied up on your paper.”
4. After everyone has had a chance to write down their number, ask, “Would anyone like to share the
number you wrote down?” You may wish to multiply some of these numbers by 60 to demonstrate
how many thoughts we have in an hour. You may wish to point out that even this number is likely
too low, since it can be difficult to actually keep track of the number without practice or to
determine when one thought ends and the next begins.
5.
After several people have shared their numbers, ask the whole group, “Did your number surprise
you?”
6.
Then ask, “How much control did you feel over which thoughts appeared or did not appear in your
mind? How much control do you have over the thoughts in your mind, in general?”
7.
Facilitate a discussion about the importance of attention. Some questions you can use are:
a. “What does this tell us about attention?”
b. “How important is attention?”
c. “What if we could improve our attention?”
C ENTER FOR C OMPASSION , I NTEGRITY AND S ECULAR E THICS | L IFE U NIVERSITY | M ARIETTA , G EORGIA
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