What is Meditation?
Meditation is the practice of being in the now and being aware of what we are thinking and feeling in the present moment.
Meditation also gives us the ability to accept what we think and how we
feel and without acting on it. Meditation simply means to quite down
the mind.
One
famous de scri ption of mind is that it "is like a wild horse that
constantly goes all over and we need to bring it back over and over
again.” The nature of mind is to wonder.
Memories are one big
obstacle of being in the moment. Sights, sounds, smells- even a word-
can bring a sea of memories, good or bad to us. These memories of the
past take us to the future. We continuously travel from the past to the
future. We tend to compare what had happened in the past and how it can
happen again. Then fear and strong emotions take us from the past to
the future and back to the past like wild waves. The present is washed
away and becomes nothing but a muddy shore. Meditation is to be in now,
in the present moment. But now is fleeting. The trick is knowing that
we know. This knowing is called "awareness." That awareness could help
us to appreciate now. When we add a little appreciation to this “now,”
that is consciousness. The appreciation of the present makes what goes
on in the “now” real.
Meditation requires attention. The
ability to focus on breathing for short or long periods of time, or the
focus on sounds, internal or external is meditation. Meditation
requires practice of mindfulness.
What is Mindfullness?
Mindfulness
is to be awake and aware of what is happening as it is happening. It
means experiencing our senses, feelings, mental activities, and
thoughts. It is the capacity to be aware. Mindfulness is direct
experience rather than being on automatic pilot. It is clarity of mind.
Mindfulness is experiencing every thing in the present moment. But
present moment may not feel good, sound good or smell good. The
feelings in the present moment might be that you we are not happy,
clever, strong, or worthy, then what? How being mindful of these
negative feelings is going to help? Just by accepting what present
moment feels like rather than fighting it. Being mindful of our
thoughts and feelings, accepting them and surrendering to what is, will
release our energy. The energy that otherwise could be spending on
fighting it or resisting it or trying to run away from it. For example
when feeling sad, we can try to stay with our sadness, acknowledging
the sadness. It takes courage to feel the feelings that hurt us in the
moment. Yes it does, but feelings won’t kill us. However to fight,
resist or running away from them might end up becoming self
destructive. By accepting what the present moment offers, by not
resisting, the possibilities will widen. When we are mindful of what is
hurting us in the moment it could provides insight and clarity as to
what the real problem might be. Sometimes to acknowledge a feeling is
all we need to do to lessen the burden of that feeling. When we are
accepting of our feelings and we attend to it, we also become kind and
compassionate towards it. If we are not hostile towards what we feel,
it could be the beginning of a healing process.
The Benefits of Meditation
Practice of Meditation and Mindfulness benefit us and others in many ways:
1-The
more we understand our mind the more we understand others. Our stories
might be different but the nature of our minds, our thoughts, emotions
and pains are the same. So we begin to see the communality in our
experience, our suffering or freedom. It helps us to see how other
people might feel in the same situation. It helps us to see our
connectedness.
2- When we are more loving, more peaceful and
nonjudgmental we will treat others with those qualities too. How we are
of necessity impacts every thing around us.
3-The ability to
slow down and be able to observe the world around us more deeply, also
will help us to appreciate goodness and beauty in people and nature.
