Meditation

My musings on Meditation

We are all subject to doing meditation, most of us attempt to consciously meditate, whilst others deep in concentration on their passion fall into an unwitting meditative state. I think this is why I loved the martial arts so much. You get so involved in the doing and everything becomes engrained into your being that the mind becomes free. There are such interesting diverse thoughts on what meditation is and how you do it. If you try too hard are you are not meditating?

If you are going to try and meditate, here are a few pointers, there are no absolutes, everyone is different, so what works for me, might not work for you.
Find a quiet space with no distractions. No phone, comfortable temperature, somewhere that is comfortable. On comfortable, it’s probably best not to lie down as you are highly likely to fall asleep, if you get it right as a novice. Make sure, there are no outside noises (other than natural) and you are not likely to be disturbed by a call, an alarm or notification. Most people will struggle at that point.
Environment, I find a candle is great for focussing the mind and letting go of distractions and a comfortable chair, maybe some gentle meditative music going on. If you have earphones, so long as they are comfortable is good because it helps eliminate outside distractions to your meditation.
Feet flat on the ground, barefoot, outside on the grass is best, facing east if you want to be picky.
Now, when you lower your mind sense, you become susceptible to outside forces (for now, lets call these quantum forces) therefore, it is best to perform a prayer asking for protection from whatever you believe in and that they will keep you safe and that you will work for the good of humanity. I hear you laughing, and that is ok, I don’t mind. You are the one wanting to learn about meditation and the benefits there-in however, with everything there can be downsides to anything you take on. Since this is a spiritual undertaking, you want to be clear from the outset, that your intention is for the good of self discovery and the benefit of humanity.
Your next task is to open your mind to what comes next and there are various ways to do this, it could be in the form of shamanic journeying or opening chakras (remembering to close them at the end). The point is to take yourself through a process that prepares you to be in a relaxed open state.
Take yourself on a visual journey to a place that you find peace and tranquility, this of course is different for everyone, my personal favourite is a journey through the wilderness up to the peak of a mountain, with clouds below and beautiful scenery as far as can be seen, with a slight chill in the air, others like a walk in the woods following the path of a babbling brook, through an open meadow, into a walled English rose garden, with beautiful flowers and tended grass and a bench seat to sit and enjoy the scents and colours surrounding. You know the place that has meaning for you, a place where you can leave your worries behind.
So here is the hard bit, try to now, empty your mind. You will fight this concept at first, because you are doing everything consciously. Just try to regulate your breathing and concentrate on that and the environment, noticing any thoughts that pop into your mind, but let them go, don’t hold onto them.
At a comfortable convenient time come back to the present, gently stretching the body, closing chakras and saying another prayer of thanks for anything you learned whilst meditating.

Have no doubt this process sounds so easy, yet frustratingly difficult. The key to progress is forgive yourself for thoughts, you were born to have them in that fantastic computer of a brain, the point is learning to have them and not attach to those thoughts. As I mentioned in this blog there are different states of consciousness and the mind is the least helpful to your living a carefree life, basic survival and emotions come from the first and last levels, the middle level is what makes you human, your programming. I like to equate the understanding of this to a baby. A baby has no mind thoughts, it just experiences, when it sees new things it tries to explore them with sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. As parents we label these things and the mind starts to develop labels that interfere with the process of just experiencing things. A tree becomes a tree and no longer holds a fascination. But consider what a tree is, how its roots grow, how it soaks in the sun’s energy, the photosynthesis. The years of bending to the will of the world, the shades of colour it creates, it is not just a tree. Your meditation is about understanding you are not just a human, but part of everything, look inside yourself, ask questions in meditation, why did that thing bother me, why am I so tired, who am I? Gradually, slowly you will find it easier and easier to avoid the distractions of the mind and live mindfully in the now.

My challenge today, is to do the washing up, by hand, but do it without thoughts other than to get each piece clean, don’t think beyond the washing up, like, if I get this done, Im going on the games console, or watching the football, just get in the moment, run the water, make the suds, wash the dishes and marvel at the way the suds move over the plate, how the water changes temperature, the suds start to disappear. Take your time, do a good job.

Let me know in the comments how you get on, with meditating and washing up, Im genuinely interested in your experience.