Getting ideas while meditating

[jbischke]

Not sure if this is the proper forum for this but here goes...

One thing that often happens to me while meditating is that I get great ideas or strong intuitions. I'm wondering what I should do with them. In other words, should I have a pen and paper next time to me while meditating and stop my meditation practice to write them down? Or should I just let them go and and trust that they'll return when I have an opportunity to act on them? I'm torn on this one...part of me thinks that it's always best to capture ideas/inspiration as they occur (I always carry around a notetaker wallet for this explicit purpose). However, another part of me thinks that the whole point of meditating is to reduce attachment to things in the physcial world and if that's the case wouldn't writing things down be somewhat counter-productive (not to mention the discontinuity it would bring to the practice).

I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have.

[youcould2]

Yes! I'd also like to hear more on this one. In my own meditation practice, I try to let the thoughts that occur just float through and not let my focus go to them, but rather to get back in the moment.

So, that's a great question.

Looking forward to the thoughts of others.

Shanti,

Ron

[Adam]

It depends on the purpose of the meditation. When I meditate, it is usually for information, and is very full of imagery. If I had a thought that I knew I would lose if I continued the meditation, then I may end it and write that thought down.

On the other hand, if I were meditating to empty my mind, then I would put that thought aside somehow and continue the meditation.

Whatever the purpose of the meditation, there is a trick to recalling thoughts using visualization. It is the same trick that some people who have 'expert' photographic memories use. When you want to remember something, turn that thought into an object and place it in a scene.

For example, if during a meditation, I get insight into the nature of faeries (remember, this is only an example) then I may picture a jar with a fairy inside, and use that as my cue to remember the insight when I come out of the meditation. If I have an idea for a business that is certain to take off, then I'll picture me putting a coin in my pocket, and the next time I have any spare change, I'll remember the idea.

[JJH]

I too place a high value on creative ideas, and meditation is definitly the most fertile ocean of deep ideas. However, I don't stop to write them down during meditation. Whatever happens in meditation, I simply allow that to be okay.

What I do, is set an intention to remember all the great ideas that might happen to show up during meditation. Then what starts happening is the ideas don't show up in the meditation - but immediately after, which sparks an intense jump into the flow state - and I just write and write, and new ideas are miraculously available as I type. Very cool.

[sunshinelady]

Originally Posted by Adam

Whatever the purpose of the meditation, there is a trick to recalling thoughts using visualization. It is the same trick that some people who have 'expert' photographic memories use. When you want to remember something, turn that thought into an object and place it in a scene.

For example, if during a meditation, I get insight into the nature of faeries (remember, this is only an example) then I may picture a jar with a fairy inside, and use that as my cue to remember the insight when I come out of the meditation. If I have an idea for a business that is certain to take off, then I'll picture me putting a coin in my pocket, and the next time I have any spare change, I'll remember the idea.

Adam, thanks for sharing these tricks

I usually get ideas after i meditate and write them down immediately...
but if i get an idea while meditating i write it down fast and short to remember later (if it is really important) and i stay in the meditating mindset although...

[Dolazy]

I usually have a pen a paper nearby so that I can write down my ideas immediately. I just write them down and then return to the meditation. I find that the ideas mostly come during the first 5 to 10 minutes, when the mind is still quieting down.
After that, the silence becomes more dominant and pleasant :-)