Meditation is sitting still with your eyes closed right? Uhm… maybe. It all depends on the person. If sitting still with your eyes closed means that you think about external situations then it’s not meditation. Meditation is a state of inwardness to reach Self and I know that sounds vague but fact is that meditation is very hard to define besides I don’t teach meditation (can anyone?) but I teach methods to induce the state of meditation.
Does this mean you have to sit still with your eyes closed and shut up your mind? Not at all, shutting up your mind is not meditation and good luck with that ;). For some people this would be their worst nightmare which wouldn’t be helpful at all. You can practise several methods of meditation when you’re walking, when you’re on a bus, cleaning, eating, in the gym, gardening, sitting, you name it. Meditation allows your mind (all the layers of it) to bring up stuff and give it space to be processed and the trick for you is to try to not dwell on the stuff that your mind brings to the surface but to just let it. You are observing your mind and acknowledging whatever comes up but also letting it go and moving on the next thing that your mind brings up. You’re making yourself aware of what is happening and allowing yourself to be ‘cleaning’ your mind. Most people will dwell on things that come up, I sure did and sometimes do, and if that happends that’s ok as long as when you are aware that you are following that thread that you go back to trying to let it go and let other things come up.
There are a lot of different meditation methods and the more methods you know doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s a good thing. One of my swamis once said: Dig a few shallow holes and then dig a deep one, don’t only dig shallow ones what is the point of that? That stuck with me. Yes definitely try different methods but when you find one or two you enjoy stick with them, practise those often. The more you practise the ‘easier’ turning inward will become which means you will reach the benefits of meditation (dealing with conflicts, letting go, improves focus and awareness, reduces blood pressure, joy, calm, inner peace to name a few) and when you don’t like those methods anymore or find it hard then find another one. Work with you and your mind, remember this is your journey and no one else’s.
I’ll end this writing with something Swami Satyananda Saraswati wrote:
Consider a calm, still lake in which is reflected a big full moon. The image of the moon looks real and if the real moon was not in the sky to remind us otherwise, many would mistake the reflection for the moon itself. The reflection cannot exist by itself, yet the moon can exist without reflection. It is the same with our personality. We see only the reflected personality and mistake it for our real nature without realizing that the personality manifesting at present is dependent on something deeper. To find our real Self is higher meditation.
Each type of journey that we make requires a vehicle. If we walk in the park then our legs assume this role. If we travel to the local town then we go by bus, train, or car. If we go to a country across the sea, we travel by ship or aeroplane. The journey into inner space also requires a vehicle, that vehicle is meditation.
Blessed Be Xx
It's time... 