About Meditation
Meditation and School
Meditation is like attending school, where you gain new knowledge by seeing for yourself instead of accepting words from books and teachers.
Meditation and School 2
In school, the knowledge is about nonself. In meditation, the knowledge is about both self and nonself.
Meditation and School 3
In school, we use ordinary intelligence. In meditation, we use great intelligence.
Great Intelligence
Looking at a cup and knowing that it is just a cup is ordinary intelligence. Knowing yourself and the world by looking at a cup is great intelligence.
Deep Looking
Deep looking is seeing what you do not see and knowing beyond what you know.
Deep Looking 2
Deep looking reveals not only what you see but also yourself and the world.
Deep Looking 3
Deep looking is wondrous, transformative and empowering.
Deep Looking 4
See what you do not see and know beyond what you know.
Deep Looking Into Breath
Deep looking into your breath is discovering self and nonself.
Breaking Truth
Breaking what you believe to be the truth is gaining something greater.
Meditation for Beginners
Doing the opposite of what people usually do is a meditation. Not doing instead of doing. Being aware instead of unaware. Being in charge instead of on autopilot. Watching yourself instead of something else. Sitting upright instead of slouching.
Focusing for Beginners
For beginners, a focusing practice is like starting a fire with a magnifying glass. Focus your mind on your breath like a magnifying glass focusing sunlight on one spot.
Actionless Action
Meditation is actionless action. It brings changes to your body, your mind, your life and even people around you.
Your Breath
Your breath is a gift filled with wondrous experiences and endless potential.
Rediscovering Breath 2
If you look deeply into your breath, you will not only discover your body and the world but also your past actions, inner self and mental states such as desires, perceptions, beliefs, limitations, motivations and contradictions.
The Vastness in One Breath
Your single breath contains vast knowledge and profound insight.
Rediscovering Sitting
When you are aware of your sitting, you will realize there are many things you did not know about your sitting. The more you are aware of your sitting, the more you will realize there are many things you did not know not only about your sitting, but also about yourself and your life. The same is true for standing, walking, breathing, eating, thinking and many other things that you do daily.
Rediscovering Sitting 2
From your sitting, you can gain insight about yourself, your life and the world. The insight can give you the wisdom you need to live your life well. The same is true for standing, walking, breathing and many other things that you do daily.
A Purpose of Meditation
Meditation is to grow up so that you can meet your true teacher, who is your own life.
Meditation Becomes Difficult
Meditation becomes difficult when you do it the difficult way.
Distractions in Meditation
When you call something a distraction in your meditation, it is not because it is a distraction but because you do not yet know how to benefit from it.
Useful Things Become Useless
A useful thing becomes useless when you do not know how to use it. So are adversity in life and the thoughts that come during meditation.
A Breeding Ground
Unchecked mind can become a breeding ground for unwanted thoughts, much like an abandoned house that attracts unwanted things.
Urges in Meditation
It is liberating to realize that you do not have to do anything now even though you have the urge to do something in your meditation.
Repeating the Same Practice Means
Repeating the same practice over and over a long period of time tells that your meditation practice is stuck.
A Sign of Stagnation in Meditation
Realizing nothing new, especially about yourself, in your meditation sessions for days, weeks, or even years is a sign of stagnation in meditation.
Stagnant Meditation
If you watched your breath for 10 years and learned little or nothing, it is like you went school for 10 years and learned little or nothing.
What You Are Given in Meditation
Your meditation makes progress if you get what you are given in meditation. Your meditation becomes stagnated if you do not get what you are given in meditation. Your meditation becomes difficult if you ignore what you are given and you tried to get what you are not given instead.
Distracting Thoughts
Distracting thoughts are a treasure if you learn and benefit from them, but a hindrance if you cannot.
What Disturb Your Meditation
Your current experience that you can not benefit from can disturb your meditation.
Mental Chatter
Benefit from your mental chatter instead of trying to get rid of or run away from it.
Mental Chatter 2
Mental chatter is your creation without knowing it.
Mental Chatter 3
Your mental chatter tells you so much about yourself and the world you live in.
Mental Chatter 7
Mental chatter helps you to advance your meditation and improve your life when you learn from it. It tells you who you are. It tells your past and future. It tells you the world you live in. It tells you why you have mental chatter and how to make the mental chatter retire. It tells your life problems and causes.
Eliminating Mental Chatter
Not creating mental chatter is better than creating and struggling to eliminate it.
Misuse of Meditation
An unwise use of meditation could harm practitioners. If one meditates only to eliminate symptoms of problems in one’s life without eliminating the cause, the cause will continue to create more problems in one’s life. It is like silencing a fire alarm and letting the fire continue to burn.
Shallow Breath
Shallow breath is not something to get rid of but is something you learn from. It is an indicator like meters in the dashboard of your car. It tells how your mind, body and how you are living your life. Your breath will become healthy when you learn from your shallow breath and live right.
Power of Watching
Watching your breath changes your breath. The same goes for your body, mind and life.
Discovering a Cause
When you see phenomena, you can find patterns. When you see patterns, you can discover a cause of the phenomena.
What You Need for Enlightenment
What you need for your enlightenment is right in front of you. If you’re searching elsewhere, it is because you do not know what’s in front of you.
The Highest Training
The highest training is meditation. The highest meditation is living.
source: New Direction Archive