Upāsaka

Papañca is that stream of thoughts and conceptualizations about the world that can so easily overwhelm the mind. For example, there might be an event that we recently attended and enjoyed, and we can't stop thinking about it. We recollect it and imagine how we might end up in a similarly pleasant situation in the future.

This creates difficulty in the mind if things don't turn out the way we expect them to. Even if there is no difficulty, what is the fruit in imagining the way things could be when there's a good chance it won't turn out that way? It's wasted mental power that prevents us from fully exerting ourselves in the present moment. Not only does the future not align with our expectations, but our continual thinking about it hinders our success in the present.

There's a quick method to stop this flow of mental proliferation. If we catch ourselves thinking in terms of “this is mine”, “this is what I am”, or “I wish I had one of those”, or anything that could fall under the categories of craving, conceit, and views, we become aware of the kind of thinking that hurts more than it helps, and we learn not to engage with it.

With a clear mind that is free from mental proliferation, it becomes incredibly simple to enjoy the present and to exert our energy on activities that are actually happening, as opposed to those that are fabrications of the mind.