How to recognize a clear mind

[scienceofempty]

I may or may not already be doing this, but I'm not sure how to recognize it.

Would recognizing that you "shut off your thoughts" automatically set you back into a state of thought by the very fact that it's a thought?

[CFTraveler]

Yes, and that is the conundrum. The only time I have realized this I suddendly felt nothing (I'm aware this is not typical for others, but since I'm always emotional it was noticeable for me) and I realized that I wasn't thinking about anything (thus no reaction). The realization brought about a response, and the state was gone.
But now I know how that feels, or rather, how it doesn't.

[scienceofempty]

I'm trying to figure out whether I experience this or not. Maybe I am reaching this state without even realizing it because I have grown accustomed to it. Does it sort of feel like when you wake up from sleep, as if you were "gone" in a haze of yellow light? I always thought that was me dozing off during meditation, but maybe it is the state I'm actually seeking.

[ButterflyWoman]

The only time I have realized this I suddendly felt nothing (I'm aware this is not typical for others, but since I'm always emotional it was noticeable for me) and I realized that I wasn't thinking about anything (thus no reaction). The realization brought about a response, and the state was gone.
Yes, this is exactly my experience, as well. First time it happened I was sitting in the car waiting for a child to be released from school and I was just... not thinking. The moment I realised it, I thought, "Hey! I'm not thinking!" and it was broken.

For me, it's not unlike how, in a lucid dream, it's very common that the moment I realise I'm dreaming ("Hey! I'm dreaming!") it breaks the spell, so to speak, and I wake up.

[IA56]

Yes CFT and BW it is exactly how it started, when noticed that I was able not to Think anything, and also when I did understand in the Dream that I was dreaming.....

Love
ia

[WhiteMonkey]

I guess it starts like that always when u get in u shock and get out similarmto the falling sensation when u fall and jump up from shock but with time u get used to it right. You learn to let go and enjoy this moment. Same in the silent state. Since u are still observing u can feel the state. For me it was in the biginning like a pressure in my head and now it just make me feel im flying some times. Sometimes it heppents also while driving motorbike and im justnin the moment like in the move limitless everything is just alive and enhanced.

Everything can be a exercise for it ��

[heliac]

I may or may not already be doing this, but I'm not sure how to recognize it.

Would recognizing that you "shut off your thoughts" automatically set you back into a state of thought by the very fact that it's a thought?

I think recognizing that you have shut off your thoughts can set you back into a state of thought but not always. There may be times when the clarity has a quality that operates almost as if it is running in the background of your mind. When this happens it is like there is some kind of space between what you are thinking and this background clarity quality that allows you to see thoughts as they arise.

When this happens you can be thinking whatever you want and the clarity will be there. In my experience this type of clarity is very apparent and will seem foreign at first. you may find yourself wondering how long it will last and then maybe a day or a week later it will start to dissipate.