Meditating in the morning.
It's not every morning that I meditate but when I do I tend to spend a good chunk of time meditating about meditating ie. thinking.
This doesn't bother me because its part of the process.
Every time i meditate I spend about 15 - 20 minutes getting through the random stuff that pops up.
Tangential thoughts and rabbit holes etc.
This morning one of the cats took up her usual post of cuddling against my legs while I sat.
Naturally I got to thinking about cats and how they always show up when I'm moving into that meditative state.
In fact cats seem to naturally exist in that part of the brain. Highly focused and yet totally relaxed. Surely the emotional and contemplative states of animals deserve deeper examination.
That got me thinking about the emotional states tied to these higher realms of the mind.
For example, the 'spiritual' and ecstatic emotions that accompany intense musical activities ( hence the pictures of Hendrix and Joshua Bell) . I suppose the danger in posting pictures of these master musicians is making it seem like its only available to the best. I think these states are experienced by everyone in some form or another. In fact I've always maintained that the folk who like to 'speak in tongues' are the good example of garden variety post-rational dissolution. Its a rather epileptic way to get into the zone but presumably it works.
Speaking of faith, 'I believe' there is a correlation between contemplative meditative clarity and high performance and expressive states of mind. I believe they feed each other. That the meditative and spacious states of mind clear space for highly focused mental/physiological activity. The concept is certainly found in various cosmologies. The Tibetan Buddhists have mapped the mind better than anyone. Castaneda's Nagual and Tonal seem to speak to this binary and complimentary relationship.
I've decided to call this Virtuoso Mind because it refers to a highly refined state that involves both great mental and physical agility, creativity, training and focus.
The relationship between the meditative state and Virtuoso Mind is by definition inextricable. ( because both are either mind or states of mind )
I would say the 'Virtuoso Mind' is one of a range of mind states one can explore through meditation and other activities.
The notion is that Virtuoso Mind is something that brings about extremely heightened emotional states. Especially in music, the very advanced degree of physical and emotional virtuosity allows for emotional highs and cathartic processes that are maybe not quite as available in accounting for example, or brain surgery for that matter.
Bringing it back to my thoughts about cats this morning, I can only imagine a cat feels intense excitement and bliss while hunting with their superhero-like range of sensory and physical prowess. Maybe these bouts of intense focus and excitement are perfectly fuelled by long spans of meditative rest. Although, not so deeply asleep as to miss an opportunity to hunt.
I watched a video of Mingyur Rinpoche speaking at Google about meditation and he discussed his involvement in a study involving a series of fMRI scans at Wisconsin University.
I'd be interested to know whether there have been studies done of top tier predators and the likely virtuosic mind states they might experience. We do know that these predators spend there whole lives refining their skills. They have to be taught and they have to practice. 10 thousand hours right ?