This is most obvious in the Mindfulness of Breathing meditation (a.k.a. Anapanasati) where if I force the mind onto the breath or any other sensation of the body, there is a sort of hardening of the perception which, if ongoing, might even give rise to physical stiffness or head-ache. On the other hand, if allowing myself to just be present with all sensations of the body, including the breath, in a more receptive way, then the quality of the experience is much softer and fluid.
This is not really a surprise to me, it just that I haven't put it into words before. It seems obvious to me that forcing one's focus onto an object will somehow create a stiffer experience which more often than not is counter-productive to reaching deeper stages of absorption, whereas a more relaxed approach allows me to reach further, but I hadn't really thought to give mind itself this quality of a viscoelastic liquid. Of course, mind is not a liquid, but my mental perception of it runs parallel with the physical perception of working with such a liquid.
In the Metta Bhavana practice (the developing of Loving Kindness), the difference is most pronounced for me when, on one hand, I work with well wishing (which is "active" and requires more input into the practice, which is more like forcing the mind to focus in the Anapanasati practice), and on the other, when I work with something like patience or allowing (both are Metta-ful intentions but less active and allows for a more receptive practice).
Anyway... this just occurred to me as I was leading a meditation drop-in session at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre.
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