on meditation
we had a discussion on meditation on this blog about a month ago. in this time, i have meditated on the subject some more :) and arrived at the following thought process: at first, i was convinced that meditation was a very personal thing. it was something we did by ourselves and for our own sake - to become more aware, to introspect, to focus our energies, etc. as i was caught in that limited understanding, i found myself a tad in conflict. i continued to meditate, but when i wasn't meditating, i would wonder - how does such an intensely personal activity performed in isolation tie in with spiritual growth and with oneness? when i am meditating, i am by myself. even if i am amidst the world, i am by myself. i have to pull myself away from people, its things, from nature, its bounty. how does meditation bring me more in line with them when it seemingly only separates?
in the last few days, the conflict has appeared to resolve itself. the knot is now untied with the clarity that just as life cannot be about non-meditation/non-introspection alone, it cannot be about meditation alone. there must be a balance, as always. we go out into the world, interact with people - with friends, with strangers, with nature, with life. we breathe in the impurities of this world and allow our impurities to be brought out as well. but these impurities need to be cleansed, and mental formations need to be resolved. this is where meditation comes in. it helps us destroy these inner and outer impurities, recharges us, and makes us ready for the world again - in all our fundamental goodness.
i am also intrigued that just as my thoughts on this subject were nearing articulation, i decided to postpone writing this post until i was done reading wild mind. and here are the last four lines of this book:
in the last few days, the conflict has appeared to resolve itself. the knot is now untied with the clarity that just as life cannot be about non-meditation/non-introspection alone, it cannot be about meditation alone. there must be a balance, as always. we go out into the world, interact with people - with friends, with strangers, with nature, with life. we breathe in the impurities of this world and allow our impurities to be brought out as well. but these impurities need to be cleansed, and mental formations need to be resolved. this is where meditation comes in. it helps us destroy these inner and outer impurities, recharges us, and makes us ready for the world again - in all our fundamental goodness.
i am also intrigued that just as my thoughts on this subject were nearing articulation, i decided to postpone writing this post until i was done reading wild mind. and here are the last four lines of this book:
Jack Kornfield, a vipassana teacher, said last week up at Lama, "You meditate by yourself but not for yourself. You meditate for everyone."whether it really is how we should write or not is not my source of intrigue. well, not my current source of intrigue. one, i loved the quote, and two, was the unconscious anticipation of stumbling upon this quote what kept me from posting earlier? indeed, when one believes....
This is how we should write.
2 comments:
Glad you took the time to write this out -- makes a lot more sense than you were making on chat. And I completely agree with you here.
In fact, I might even go so far as to say how can we meditate WITHOUT the stimulus of the rest of the world? I really like how you expressed it: "we breathe in the impurities of this world and allow our impurities to be brought out as well. but these impurities need to be cleansed, and mental formations need to be resolved. this is where meditation comes in. it helps us destroy these inner and outer impurities, recharges us, and makes us ready for the world again - in all our fundamental goodness."
Also, is not conversation with other humans, in its highest form (my bias) a form of meditation too?
certainly it is. in fact, any object (person or thing) can be a focus of meditation, can it not?
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