“When you pay attention to boredom it gets unbelievably interesting.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

Boredom is abhorred by most human beings. In fact, we’d much rather be stressed than bored. Its even been proposed to be responsible for thrill seeking and even pathological gambling. While People are more prone to boredom generally do worse in a wide variety of aspects of their lives, including career, education, and autonomy. In other words, boredom has negative effects on our lives and as such is a much more important phenomenon than general acknowledged.

But, what is it? Boredom is defined as “the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest.” In fact there appears to be five different types identified by Thomas Goetz, INDIFFERENT (appear relaxed, calm, and withdrawn), APATHETIC (show little arousal and a lot of aversion), CALIBRATING (thoughts wander and something that differs is desired), REACTANT (aroused and with a lot of negative emotions), and SEARCHING (negative feelings and a creeping, disagreeable restlessness).

Thus boredom would appear to be a very noxious state that is to be avoided. But, if we make it part of our contemplative practice it can actually be hugely beneficial and we can learn a great deal about ourselves and our minds.

When you’re feeling bored, look at it deeply and honestly. It is a pointer to your suffering. As we’ve previously discussed suffering results from a desire for things to be different than they are. This is exactly true for boredom. It results from us wanting things to be different. So, looking carefully at what is wrong with the present moment can be very revealing. A great sage once asked his bored student “what’s missing from this very moment?” Ask yourself this same question.

If we look deeply we will find that this very moment is rich and lacks nothing. What we will see is that boredom emanates from our minds desire for stimulation, as it appears to believe that happiness and joy are elsewhere. But looking closely we can see that they are right her, right now. In other words boredom can lead to a recognition of the wonder and happiness that is ever present.

So, be fascinated with boredom. Use it as a gateway to understanding how your mind is preventing your happiness.

CMCS