The Core of Meditation
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” --Albert Einstein
Meditation I think of in broad terms. It can take the shape of prayer, of quiet contemplation, of sitting cross-legged on the floor watching your breath, or paying attention while you’re washing the dishes. Meditation involves being fully present and in formal practice usually means placing your focus on one thing such as your breath or a candle flame. Formal practice is useful because when your mind is not accustomed to being present, deliberate training is necessary, just like it is for budding musicians or athletes—that is why it is called practice.
Ultimately I think that meditation needs to be a lifestyle, so that it becomes as natural as breathing. It cultivates heightened awareness, a quality of aliveness, to both the world inside us and all around us. It connects us to ourselves, to the earth and to each other, fostering integration, so that we sense more deeply our being as a part of nature. This is crucial, I think, if we are to act as forces that foster life rather than snuff it out.
Meditation aids in transcending the narrow confines of intellectual rationality and makes available a holistic experience that provides knowledge via being truly awake to life inside and out, and this on a more deeply pervasive, visceral level. When you have this kind of knowledge, no convincing is necessary to do the right thing, you KNOW what you know in your bones, and it is this kind of knowledge that spawns useful, productive, life-enhancing action.
My favourite book on mediation is by Jon Kabat-Zinn called, Wherever You Go There You Are. He keeps things basic and has a warm, gentle way of communicating that I find edifying and encouraging.
In my simple life I employ simple tools and meditation is one of the most useful and effective ones I know. It isn't easy. I encounter a lot of things I would rather turn away from, but if I stay with it, when I suspend judgment and just watch and experience and breathe, something magical happens—I am transformed in small ways and large. I feel better.
It is difficult to explain, but I would encourage all to take up a regular practice and don’t be discouraged when it isn’t all roses and rainbows—that is part of the point. What often creates problems for us is our tendency to block out the more dissonant aspects of being alive. Consequently, this is what we need to pay attention to and breathe through. We need to be willing to be fully present to ALL that we experience as it is an important source of knowledge. This is how positive transformation is born.