Note: You may want to check out the interview with me on Armen Shirvanian’s blog, Timeless Information. He posed some great questions that I enjoyed responding to.
āThe cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.ā
Joseph Campbell
As I look back, I can see that meditation saved me. Before I started meditating, I had had many years of therapy, but somehow I still wasn’t happy. It was 1995 (ages ago!). I had been reading about Buddhism for a year, but was avoiding meditation like a peeping tom avoids knocking on the door. I was curious and interested, but was too scared to actually sit in silence with myself.
I finally bit the bullet, and the true healing began.
Why Meditate
The beauty of meditation is that we intentionally stop the momentum of our patterns so we can see what we are really experiencing. When we unconsciously play out our habits and addictions day after day, year after year, nothing changes. We may try to modify our thoughts or analyze our childhoods, but the root of the problem still exists.
Meditation is the dam on the rushing river that allows us to discover what the swirls and eddies are all about. It puts an end to avoidance and rationalizing, and invites us to directly investigate our actual experiences in the moment and come to peace with them.
Sitting in quiet offers the possibility of deconstructing our habits. Over time, we begin to see that we run the same boring stories through our minds or that our bodies are wrought with tension that we never noticed before. These illuminating observations are almost impossible when we are traveling through our lives at warp speed.
How It Works
Say that you have a tendency to snack mindlessly at night. Most people would agree that this kind of eating is about dodging emotions rather than assuaging hunger. In meditation, you stop acting on the momentum of this pattern. You feel the urge to snack, but make the choice to explore your inner experiences instead.
Here is where a whole new world opens up! It might be uncomfortable, but you finally see the feeling of fear or lack that has been driving you. A behavior as seemingly mundane as snacking can lead you to a deep understanding of your most basic belief systems and world views.
And when all of this is allowed space to be in meditation ā specific emotions, contractions in the body, churning thoughts ā you are able to make a conscious choice about what you want to do. You learn that these driving forces can be a part of your experience, and you can refrain from acting on them. This is true freedom.
The Secret Treasure
As these identities and habits begin to fall away, the ultimate secret treasure of meditation is revealed. We discover that in between the stories and emotions is space. When we explore the space, we see that it is clear, alive, shining, and expansive.
And it is steady and enduring. We see that our experiences come and go, but this aliveness is always here. This is the space of the unconditioned, prior to any learning. It is obscured by our busy minds, but completely available to be discovered. Here is sanity and peace.
Have you ever had the experience of intense well-being come over you for no reason or an insight that the objects of the world are not real or your heart so filled with love that it is impossible to contain in your physical body? This is the unconditioned, pure consciousness, always present.
And if you haven’t had these experiences, no cause to be concerned. Once you commit to self-discovery, the identities that you take to be you will eventually begin to shed, and glimpses of this essence, your true nature, will be available.
Sitting quietly is a refuge, and offers an incredible opportunity that brings us back to ourselves. The next post will offer the how-to of meditation. I welcome any questions and would love to hear about your experiences with meditating.
āIf you could only keep quiet, clear of memories and expectations, you would be able to discern the beautiful pattern of events. It is your restlessness that causes chaos.ā
Nisargadatta
Steven Aitchison says
Gail, I totally understand where you coming from with meditation. I would say it is one of the practices that has changed my life for the better. I only do around 15 minutes or so a day but it makes a huge difference in my life.
Gail Brenner says
Hi Steven,
15 minutes of sitting quietly and allowing everything to be is radical!! Most people wouldn’t even consider it. And doing that on a regular basis can change everything!
We discover that we don’t have to react to every thought and emotion. The drama subsides, and we discover the simplicity of peace. I’m so glad to hear how meditating makes such a huge difference for you.
joe guitar says
hi gail, beautiful post and the title is super…
I’m writing this sentence on my notebook:
Meditation Is a Gift to Yourself. Great
Gail Brenner says
Hi Joe,
Thank you so much for your comment, and welcome to A Flourishing Life!
I’m glad you found the title inspiring. I thought a lot about it. Actually, first meditation is a gift to yourself, and once you reap the benefits, it is for everyone else as well. Practices like meditation can change how we relate to everything. When the veils begin to drop away, and we discover that we can be peaceful no matter what our light can shine brightly.
Walter says
I believe that we can intercept our human propensities by being aware. And such awareness can be attained through meditation. š
Gail Brenner says
Beautifully said, Walter. And that has been my experience as well. Meditation has allowed me to become aware of so many thoughts and feelings – and physical sensations – that were running below the surface. Once I saw them, a whole world opened up! I could be with everything that happened in a totally different way. Thanks so much for your comment.
Dan @ ASN says
Mediation is quite helpful. I learned that I was really meditating though I didn’t realize it. I will pray and ponder what is going on in search of answers, and I will also write and analyze what happened that day. Is there any form of meditation that is, say, more effective than another? Or, is it a personal choice?
Gail Brenner says
Hi Dan,
A warm welcome to you. I love to hear that meditation comes so naturally to you. Ultimately, it is a way of being and not a special activity we “do.”
There are many ways to meditate – repeating a mantra, counting breaths, labeling thoughts and emotions as they come. In my experience, the purpose of meditation is to facilitate self-knowledge so we discover freedom that is our natural birthright. Seeing everything helps us to untie our inner knots so we become a clear vessel for life to flow through, and meditation can be a good vehicle for this.
I don’t discount other forms of meditation, though. It depends on what you want. In the type of meditation I describe, being open to everything, we meet reality as it is. We come to know presence, and we drop our resistance to welcoming our own experiences. This is the ultimate. If other ways of meditating help people in any way, I’m totally supportive of practicing them.
Steven | The Emotion Machine says
Gail, this is one of the best depictions of meditation that I have read in awhile! You really bring out the poetry of it, the openness, the surrender…
Excellent!
Gail Brenner says
Thank you so much, Steven. I write from my own experience, and yes, there is openness and surrender.
I wish you well….
Marko @ CalmGrowth says
Nice article…
Many people are trying to meditate, but actually, meditation is one of the simplest things that a human being can perform.
Just to be with nothing. Does not require anything. No ego, no roles. Nothing. Silence. š
Gail Brenner says
So beautifully said, Marko. Thank you….
Jenn says
Gail, I love this post, and the leading quote:
āThe cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.ā ~Joseph Campbell
[….. I was curious and interested, but was too scared to actually sit in silence with myself. I finally bit the bullet, and the true healing began.]
I have been wondering lately how to shift into more soul nourishment for myself and to really ‘be in my body’ and get grounded, constant flow.. Today, it came unlikely as I realized to honor myself meant saying ‘no’ even after I first said ‘yes’ to an invite. It was a bit uncomfortable, but then my afternoon was freed up to hold to my first promise and more importantly this symbolized saying ‘yes’ to honoring my values and keeping my most important persons in my life first. It was so amazing what shifted after this spontaneous event. I really had this ‘sacred space’ that began to fill up with such serenity and expansiveness and I just enjoyed it so much! I think it is amazing what happens when we show up for ourselves! and I love how you say meditation is that gift of kindness for us. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing this here.. and I am glad my intuition nudged me over here today. hugs, Jenn
.-= JennĀ“s last blog ..Your ‘Leading Companion’ Lifestyle Newsletter =-.
Gail Brenner says
I’m so glad to meet you, Jenn!! And I’m giving you a big hug right now!
My heart is soaring as I hear about your experience, and I am celebrating with you! Your awareness was so precise during this whole incident – saying yes, realizing the experience of not honoring yourself, saying no, experiencing the discomfort, then the serenity and expansiveness that appeared. You are showing up for yourself!
Your recent wondering about soul nourishment was like an invitation, a prayer, for the teaching that would set you free.
We can read about meditation and inner listening forever, but eventually, if we are lucky, we will face a moment such as you describe and make the courageous choice. Thank you so much for this inspiration.