First, intentionally ignoring mental objects trains the mind-system as a whole to ignore them automatically whenever they appear in consciousness. Second, when they’ve been consistently ignored and for long enough, the thinking/emotional mind no longer presents these potential distractions as continuously or vigorously. Thought processes do continue at an unconscious level, but when they consistently fail to become objects of attention, even as subtle distractions, they eventually stop appearing in consciousness altogether. The thinking/emotional mind simply stops projecting its content into
...more
