For the most part we are unaware of how much of our minds are focused on processing sensory information. Our brains are filled with interconnected circuits responsible for coordinating our sensory information into a unified whole. The fact that we can catch a ball being thrown at us is a marvel when examined closely. Our eyes process a series of images that one region of the brain interprets as being a ball, other circuits determine that the ball like shape that is growing larger is actually moving towards us. Then our brain must tell our muscles (lots of them) exactly how much force needs to be applied to move our arms and open our hand to catch the ball. And we can do all this in less than a second.
So when we meditate, our consciousness isn’t tied up with this vast array of sensory networks to coordinate. This is why an activity such as running or watching tv can go by very quickly but even a few minutes sitting down in a quiet room with one’s eyes closed can be experience a taking more time. When our other senses are for the most part unoccupied, or at least not sending attention arousing signals, our entire awareness is focused on our internal thought processes. Of course, this does not happen immediately.
For me at least, there are several regular predictable stages that occur when starting to meditate. First my body spends some time shifting into a comfortable position, muscles relax and as the tension is relieved by body weight is distributed differently. As I shift into a more comfortable position, much of my attention is directed towards my vision, or lack thereof. As primates, our primary sense for orienting ourselves is vision, so naturally it is the sense our minds keep trying to use even when deprived of discernible visual input. The patterns seen when the eyes are closed are random firing of photoreceptors, the cells that detect light in our eyes. The patterns we see are the attempts our minds make to detect recognizable shapes in the chaotic weak input. After awhile the brain realizes that visual input isn’t going to occur, it shifts to the other sense, most prominent being the sense of touch. The random firing of sensory neurons across the body give rise to a whole host of sensations, from hot to cold, itching, pain and occasionally pleasant sensations as well, though they are often overlooked because the mind does not treat them with the same urgency as is provoked by sensations of pain.
If these sensations are ignored, the mind eventually stops focusing on external input and enters an interesting state, where the mind is able to experience thoughts through the senses, almost like a dream but without the lapses in memory the usually accompany dreaming. The mind is now in what some call a trance like state, able to recollect information that is usually inaccessible to the regular waking state. The mind is experienced as much more creative. It isn’t any more creative, but rather it is experienced as more because it is not occupied with having to process all the addition information that the five senses provide almost continuously during our waking lives.
This focused state is still new territory. It is well known that some people are able to accomplish incredible feats of mental calculation and others may experience near perfect recall of visual information. It seems likely that these people are more used to accessing information that is for most only available in this trance like state. It is certainly worth experiencing.
Boston's Magick 