Well, I took my own time in coming up with this blog for I know I can't write on something that I do not know. I am writing this after completing my 21-day streak of meditation. It was indeed a beautiful journey of realization and an experience that felt so not from this world. (I've never experienced such a thing)
So let me start with the book that led me into this wonderful spiritual journey before I state what meditation is. It was the Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma. The book taught me a lot of things but importantly I felt like I was missing the base, the foundation if you would call that. It was meditation, something that I've never even thought about incorporating into my routine for I did not see any use of it in my life. I was lazy too, to try it out and see for myself.
Hehe, for some fortunate reason I also came across the book Atomic Habits by James Clear which helped me on keeping the first step to a new habit which was really the hardest part!
Together with the help of both the books and the spark that kept lighting in me I managed to meditate and carry it continuously. And today I am writing to you my fellow readers relating my experience and experiences from several other individuals on how meditation can make your life simpler and better :)
So before embarking on my journey I gathered more information and knowledge from the Netflix series Headspace where it discussed the benefits and the certain techniques I was to follow.
What is Meditation
You cannot do meditation but you can become meditative. Meditation is a certain quality. It is not a certain act. If you cultivate your body, your mind, your energies, and your emotions to a certain level of maturity, meditation will naturally happen. It is just like if you keep the soil fertile if you give it the necessary manure and water and if the right kind of seed is there, it will grow and bloom into flowers and fruits.
Flowers and fruits will come out of a plant not because you want it, but simply because you created the necessary, conducive atmosphere. Similarly, if you create the necessary atmosphere within yourself, on all the four dimensions of who you are, then meditation will naturally flower within you. It is a certain fragrance that one can enjoy within himself.
Meditation and the Mind
The mind does not like meditation because if you keep the body still, the mind will also naturally become still. If you just learn how to keep your body absolutely still, then your mind will also become still. I want you to just observe yourself and see how many unnecessary movements your body makes when you stand, sit or speak. If you look at your life, you will see that more than half the time is taken up in these things that you yourself don’t care for.
If you keep the body still, the mind will slowly start collapsing and the mind knows that it will become enslaved if it allows this. The main aspect of meditation is, right now your mind is the boss and you are the slave. As you meditate and become more meditative, you will become the boss and your mind will become the slave and that is how it should always be. If you don’t know how to keep the mind as a slave, it will put you through all kinds of endless suffering. If you allow the mind to rule, it is a terrible master. But as a slave, the mind is wonderful – it is a miraculous slave.
Purpose of meditation
So what is meditation? If we have to look at the purpose, if you sit in meditation, slowly it will become like this: your body’s here, your mind is out there, what is you are somewhere else. Once these three things are happening separately, once there is a space between you and the body, between you and the mind this is the end of suffering. Once the fear of suffering is taken away, only then you will keep your instinct of self-preservation down; otherwise, you won't keep it down. As long as the fear of suffering is there, you will not keep the instinct of self-preservation down.
The only reason why you are naturally not spiritual is that you’ve empowered your instinct of self-preservation too much. All the time it is trying to make you like a bubble in the world, a separate bubble. Not willing to mix with anything. So unless you keep your instinct of self-preservation down, you will not become spiritual in any way. You will not know life as one happening. You will always be an individual, trapped.
So, meditation gives you that space between you and your body, between you and your mind. Whatever suffering human beings have known, it has either entered them through the body or through the mind. Do you know any other kind of suffering? There are only two kinds of suffering, isn’t it? Once you have a distance from these two things, this is the end of suffering. Once the fear of suffering is taken away, only then you're willing to venture into other dimensions of life; otherwise, no matter what I tell you, you're only looking for safety.
For most people, Meditation means to close your eyes, slow down your breathing, focus your goals by repeating a phrase without being distracted by anything else, but there is surely something more to it.
How is the start of meditation like?
The whole act of Meditation is about making the practitioner unaware of all the distractions and make him/her focus on one single thing.
When you first start to meditate, you’ll realize that your mind begins to baffle with your random thoughts. If you sit silently with your eyes closed and try not to think a thought, you’ll probably end up pretty frustrated, because your mind will tend to wander around those thoughts and you may find yourself uncomfortable or lost in those thoughts. But that is completely normal.
It’s better to have proper guidance and a pleasant environment if you’re a beginner. It becomes easy to practice when someone’s voice is guiding you through the steps. (Headspace does a great job in this!)
I started my meditation in the temple in our village which is about 300m from our place. So I would ride an extra mile and tire myself first before I reached the temple as that helps me stay refreshed throughout the day!
Let me share the view I see with you.
I chose the particular place as it is soothing and peaceful away from distractions(LOL but the monkeys were a real distraction on somedays!). I sit on a rock uphill legs crossed keeping my palms faced outward resting them on my knees as I found that way easier to focus on my meditation. (you can try and find the best way that suits you)
With ample practice, your mind doesn't wander as much, and it's much easier to follow along and not get lost in all the stories and the to-do lists and the thinking about the past and worrying about the future that we normally do.
Meditation changed my life in many ways and the most important for me is that it drives me to wake up and rise before or with the sun early in the morning.
Focusing on breathing
When you first sit in meditation, your mind will refuse to fall quiet. It will behave like a rampaging wild horse, jumping from one thought to another unconnected one in a fraction of a second.
It will come to hound you, bringing with it unwanted emotions and feelings you have been trying to run away from. Especially if you have kept yourself busy and engaged all your life with work, family, friends, and entertainment. If you have never detached, sitting still and thoughtless will be immensely difficult. Your unwanted and suppressed feelings will rise, bringing painful memories and emotions.
You must try to observe and follow the rise and fall of your breath. Try to be aware of each inhalation and exhalation. That is because our breath and mind are intertwined in an intimate biological connection. As soon as you become aware of your breathing, your thoughts will begin to fall away.
Breathe deeply to feel each inhale and exhale. (Headspace will guide you here too)
Your mind will begin to slow down.
The end goal of meditation is to become thoughtless, but this is probably the most difficult endeavor in the world. All emotions and thoughts you have tried to ignore will rise to confront you. You will have to deal with each emotion and thought that arises. You will have to sit with it. Cook yourself in it.
THE REAL MEANING OF MEDITATION
Meditation is a specific technique that is totally different from the normal waking state. Meditation is not a part of any religion; it is a science, which means that the process of meditation follows a particular sequence, has a definite concept, and produces results that can be verified.
In meditation, the mind is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. When you meditate, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or on the events taking place around you. Meditation requires an inner state that is still and focused so that the mind becomes silent. When the mind is silent and no longer distracts you, meditation deepens.
Turning Inward
We remain busy in knowing and exploring outer world but we do not wish to explore ourselves, we remain strangers to ourselves because we have not been taught any such thing from childhood. This lack of self-understanding is one of the main reasons our relationships don’t seem to work, and why confusion and disappointment so often prevail in our life is because we are never satisfied and contented.
This is why many successful people and great celebrities also commit suicide.
We expect the world to be there for us and to understand us when we are not ready to be with ourselves, to be still and examine what is within ourselves this is the root cause of all the problems.
We need to look for the solutions of all our problems at the right place.
Only 1% of the conscious mind is actually cultivated with what we learn, what we think, what we do.
It is actually the unconscious mind which is of huge potential the part of the mind that dreams and sleeps—the vast realm of the unconscious which is the reservoir of all our experiences—remains unruly and undisciplined; it is not subject to any control. It resists any attempts to discipline it or to guide it on a particular path. The mind has a mind of its own. The whole of the body is indeed in the mind, but the whole of the mind is not in the body. Except for the practice of meditation, there is no method to truly develop control over the totality of the mind.
By meditation, we attain the highest of all joys that can ever be experienced by a human being. All the other joys in the world are momentary, but the joy of meditation is immense and everlasting. This is not an exaggeration; it is a truth supported by the many known sages, both those who have acquired the experience, renounced the world, and attained truth, and those who continued living in the world yet remained unaffected by it.
I am not going to teach you how to meditate or the different ways you can be doing it because I believe you should find your own way. I can only relate the fountains of the knowledge I've found with you, so if you are interested you can too read what I read and gather inspiration to start your own spiritual journey.
THINGS TO LEARN FROM MEDITATION
When you meditate, you give yourself an inner vacation. Meditation is simply attending. You can begin by attending to your breath, and then if a thought comes, attend to it, notice it, be open to it—and it will pass.
Then you can come back to the breath. Meditation teaches you to attend to what is taking place within without reacting, and this makes all the difference. It brings you freedom from meandering. And in this freedom, you begin to experience who you are, away from all the hustle.
Ordinarily, you react to the experiences that come before you in much the same way that you react to your thoughts. Your anger, depression, happiness, anxiety, fear everything depends upon what you come across, basically these are the reactions. If you lose something, you become emotionally upset. Your mood depends on what comes before you, and, as a result, your life is full of challenges, but you win the challenge of life by winning your own mind. You immediately interpret what you see or hear according to your expectation, fears, prejudices, or resistances...
But if you apply the principle of meditation to experiences that come before you, you can fully attend to what is taking place: Let yourself be open to experiencing your reaction and it will move through you and allow other spontaneous responses to also come forward, so that you can select the one that is most helpful in that particular situation.
In this way meditation is very therapeutic, it is logical and scientific. It not only leads to inner balance and stability, but it also exposes your inner complexes, your immaturities, your unproductive actions, and your habits. Instead of living in these complexes and habits and acting them out, they are brought to your awareness and you can give them your full attention. Only then will they clear.
Signs of Progress
Have patience and do your practice systematically. Every action has a reaction. You can't meditate and not receive benefits. You may not notice those benefits now. If you sow a seed today, you don’t reap the fruit tomorrow, but eventually, you will. It takes time to see results; be gentle and patient
Be honest with yourself. Don’t care what others say about their experiences—keep your mind focused on your goal. It is your own mind that does not allow you to meditate. To work with your mind, you’ll have to be patient; you’ll have to work with yourself gradually.
Some of the most important benefits of meditation makes itself known gradually over time and is easily observed
“Nobody causes suffering for you. You cause suffering for yourself by generating tensions in the mind. If you know how not to do that, it becomes easy to remain peaceful and happy in every situation.”
“The first step toward emerging from suffering is to accept the reality of it, not as a philosophical concept or an article of faith, but as a fact of existence which affects each one of us in our lives.”
Mindfulness meditation encourages the practitioner to observe wandering thoughts as they drift through the mind. The intention is not to get involved with the thoughts or to judge them, but simply to be aware of them and observe them.
Over time, you can become more aware of the human tendency to quickly judge an experience as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant. With practice, an inner balance develops you learn to remain neutral and not get affected by it which is the ultimate goal.
Not to get affected by what our life throws at us and hence we will not be the victim of the circumstances, instead we will be able to deal with everything with a calm and relaxed mind.
Meditation is a process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts. It is basically relaxation, becoming thoughtless at times, the only thing required is …daily practice and once you imbibe it into your daily routine, it becomes the most soothing part of your day. Some of the benefits that mediation offers are:
Reduces Stress: Meditation is incredibly effective at reducing stress .Study revealed that meditation significantly reduces stress when practiced consistently also reduces the density of brain tissue associated with stress and worrying.
Good concentration: It helps Increase the strength and endurance of your attention. As it increases your psychological functioning and in the process improves your concentration.
Controls Anxiety: Less stress translates to less anxiety. This simple technique, if practiced for as few as 10 minutes each day, can help you decrease anxiety.
Relaxation of Mind and Body: Meditation serves as the best medicine for mind and body pushing you into a deep state of relaxation and calm mind. It helps you eliminate the unnecessary stressful thoughts that maybe crowding your mind.
Improves mental stability: Practicing Meditation can lead to a mentally healthier life since it helps you reduce stress, anxiety and depression as well.
Improves Sleep: It helps you to relax your body, releasing tension and placing you in a peaceful state leading to good sleep.
Help fight Addictions: It helps you detach from thoughts and impulses by redirecting your attention which reduces cravings and increases the understanding of the causes behind the addictive behavior.
More focus and Clarity: The study shows that it improves and increases your ability to perform tasks requiring focus. Initially, I use to think tea was the best way to get focused-now I just meditate
Generate Kindness: It increases positive feelings and action towards yourself and others creating the capacity to feel and vent out feelings in a desirable way.
On the physical front can control Blood Pressure: Lowering your stress helps keep your blood pressure normal.
Decrease tension-related pains such as migraine, tension headaches, etc.: The study reveals that perception of pain is connected to your state of the mind so it helps in diminishing the same perception in the brain.
Increases Confidence: A better understanding of your limitations and strengths by focusing on self-awareness.
Controls Anger: A new study suggests that session of meditation help reduce your body’s response to anger as it remedies the mental, emotional and physiological factors underlying anger.
Improves Memory: Improvement in attention and clarity of thinking helps fighting age-related memory loss issues.
Improves your ability to make a decision: Studies have found that it helps you make better decisions by improving the functioning of your brain decision-making centers.
Building your meditation skills
A mind is sometimes a weird place and it takes time to get comfortable with your mind. The sole mantra is “Keep Practicing”. What’s most important is to meditate consistently. It’s one of those things where the journey is more important than the destination. Experiment and you will find out what type of meditation works for you. Lastly “enjoying the moment” is the key to successful meditation.
The Bottom Line
It is something everyone can do to improve their mental and emotional health. You can do it anywhere without special equipment. Along the way, these practices will help you understand that you can feel better and be better. The ultimate goal is to experience joy and be at peace with ourselves.
Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life—perhaps the greatest, and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody. That is the beauty of it.
It has no technique and therefore no authority. When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk, how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy—if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice, that is meditation.
Meditation is to find out whether the brain, with all its activities, all its experiences can be absolutely quiet. Not forced, because the moment you force, there is duality. If you begin to enquire, observe, listen to all the movements of thought, its pursuits, its fears and pleasures, watch how the brain operates, then you will see that the brain becomes extraordinarily quiet; that quietness has not slept but is tremendously active and therefore quiet. It is not something different from daily life; do not go off into the corner of a room and meditate for ten minutes, then come out of it and be a butcher—both metaphorically and actually.
Watching all that, realizing your part in it, is meditation. And when you so meditate you will find in it an extraordinary beauty; you will act rightly at every moment; and if you do not act rightly at a given moment it does not matter, you will pick it up again—you will not waste time in regret.
It is not an escape from the world. It is not an isolating, self-enclosing activity. But rather the comprehension of the world and its ways (And I feel the world has little to offer apart from food, clothes, and shelter, and pleasure with its great sorrows.)
Simply it is the flowering of understanding. Understanding is not within the borders of time or space. Go beyond that.
I don’t know if you have ever meditated, if you have ever been alone, by yourself, far away from everything, from every person, from every thought and pursuit.
I don't know if you have ever been completely alone, not isolated, not withdrawn into some fanciful dream or vision, but far away, so that in yourself, there is nothing recognizable, nothing that you touch by thought or feeling, so far away that in this full solitude the very silence becomes the only flower, the only light, and the timeless quality that is not measurable by thought.
So I hope you begin your spiritual journey right away, well if you already have please share your experience with me under the comments below.
Happy meditation.
This is amazing..!!! Great to know that you took the time out to actually do it yourself before writing it down.. Great work..!!
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