Most Difficult yet Simple

Meditation is difficult for me. I like to be busy. My days are spent checking off a to-do list. With each checkmark my feeling of accomplishment grows. Even though I believe nothing I can do is more important than meditation, it is easier for me to put almost anything or activity before it. Do the dishes, then I will sit and meditate. Laundry needs folding and then I will sit and meditate. Go for a walk, do yoga, clean the floors, type notes, run an errand, talk on the phone, read a book, watch a television show, play with the dog … there are numerous reasons for busyness that are all easier to do than meditate.

Photo by Simon Rae on Unsplash

Meditation is simple, but not easy. One sits with a straight back for maybe ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty or more. In meditation one observes the breath. Take a deep breath and relax. Take another, perhaps a third or more until breathing becomes rhythmic, natural, belly breathing, and the body is relaxed. Continue to be aware of the breath – in and out.

Meditation is observing your thoughts as puffy clouds floating by on a blue background, or as small boats floating down a river, passing in and out of your mind without judgment without attachment. You can add a mantra, a meaningful word or short phrase, and focus your mind on the mantra. This is helpful when thoughts crowd calmness and unsettle the mind. The difficulty comes in just sitting and doing what seems to be nothing. Thoughts bombard the mind – monkey mind – so the sages call it. It is difficult to relax, difficult to be an observer of the thoughts, difficult to be non-reactive to the thoughts. It takes practice. It takes discipline and patience. It takes self-mastery, a goal of life.

Meditation calms the body and adds a dimension of watchfulness to the days. You are no longer just a participant, but also an observer. The observer is who you really are, the capital S, in Self. Meditation helps one get in touch with Self. Even when you are not sitting in meditation, you carry the space created throughout your day and find it easier to become the observer. It helps one not be as reactive to life dramas and interactions with others.

“Observing adds a layer, a space, between self and Self, between participating and observing, experiencing and being.” (Eckhart Tolle) Calming the mind by sitting in meditation enables one to open to and become your Self. Thoughts bombard one throughout the day. Thoughts may produce feelings. Observe thoughts without attachment and without judgment to become more aware of the spiritual Self.

Meditation is a tool to use that provides a person space from the insanity of the world. It yields a connection, touching the voice of God. It helps one make decisions from a different place, not a needy place, but an abundant, loving place. Learn to be an observer of thought. Meditation is actively training the mind to be receptive to the Eternal. One can be in a meditative mind mode while doing anything.

Life allows us is to experience, learn, grow towards God, and bring an aware consciousness into the material realm in a way animals and plants cannot. Growing awareness is life’s process, an evolution. Heart is not separate from mind just as the body is not separate from the soul while in this existence. We are one in mind, heart, body, and soul.