Behind the Scenes (extract)

"We’re both the creator and the watcher: the creator and the audience of all the little plays or movies we create in the mind. And those movies can have a huge impact on us. This is where our actions come from. You visualize yourself doing something and then you decide whether it’s worth doing it or not. When you meditate, the question is, “How do you create that image? And is it a reliable image? And who’s doing the building? Who’s doing the deciding?” You want to get interested in this, because otherwise you’re just watching movies all the time.

And it’s not an innocent process, because sometimes the movies will inspire you to do things you later regret. So you have to watch out. Think of yourself as being behind stage, instead of out in the audience. You get to see how the play is put on and you begin to see how artificial it all is. That helps you see through some of the illusion."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Behind the Scenes"

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