I have been practicing yoga and meditation for a couple of years now and I still consider myself to be a novice - both in practice and knowledge. I have some thoughts, however, on the meditation piece.
Meditation is great! I struggle with the constant chatter of my mind, but I value those times when I can turn it down, then gently push it off to the side. This works best when I try to practice some of the things I learned in Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain - I think because meditation is a right-brain activity. The more I can access the right brain, the more successful I am at turning off the chatter, and the more successful I am at truly meditating.
Sometimes I think that meditation is a lot like prayer. But then, when I pray, my verbal thoughts are primary - I'm asking, telling, thanking, appreciating, instructing, marveling... it's me in constant chatter. I rarely take a deep breath long enough to hear the "still soft voice of God." But, isn't that breath, that listening - turning off my own chatter in prayer time - the same as meditation? Isn't the goal to find that place deep inside that transcends the ego and the daily stuff of life? It is in meditation, and yes, in meditative prayer, that we find ourselves. We try looking externally, we look within the reflective eyes of the ones we love, but it's really internal - to be found in meditation, in the contemplative practices we find in many (all?) ways of being religious - more, in every aspect of transcendence. It isn't just Buddhist, it isn't just Eastern. Jesus taught it, too, and we see it in the writings of great Christian contemplative teachers like Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis.
Yes, meditation is important to me. And, no, it isn't a betrayal of my Christian roots to find peace in this practice. In fact, it may be just what I need to hear God, as I recognize God to be.
4 comments:
And what about people you have wronged? What does God say about that?
What do you mean? That when I've wronged someone, I need to ask forgiveness of that person, or "fix it" in some way. Or, that when I've wronged someone, I am out of relationship with God/Universe in some way?
Both, I guess. But more so: See, I met a lot of people who are God this and God that and they are the coldest people I have ever met. Met a guy once who wore an image of some saint around his neck but let's just say he did not behave in a very Christian manner. . . . . so what does God say about that?
And yeah, what about asking for forgiveness? What if you have done something that you might not even care about or see as a mistake in your daily life but which has hurt another person more deeply than you can imagine?
Where is the let's 'fix that' part then? Or does it simply mean that you just care about people that you know and wronging people that you do not know does not count?
Reading your stuff, dear Lee, I just thought what a hypocrit.
You thought I was a hypocrite? I feel like a hypocrite a lot, but that's because of the lack of congruence between the person I would like to be and the person I am a lot of the time. That doesn't mean I don't keep trying, though, or that perfection is actually the goal in the first place. Tolle points out that when we try (as in effort & attention) to be 'ourselves' we are most likely to miss the mark. It is in observing the ego without judgment that we let the ego go - to let the wind out of the sails, so to speak.
But, let me answer some of your questions, as I understand them. I couldn't agree with you more about the self-righteous who call out in the name of God, but live in a contrary way. The thing is, they are the ones who speak of some kind of perfection, but lack the self-reflection to see that they are anything but. I can't judge those people, because I won't cast the first stone. But...I can tell you that I think God (however one happens to recognize God) must shake God's head in sadness.
If I live in congruence with my values, I want not to hurt others because we are all one - not just because of something we call "sin." The wider ripple of pain is felt with each careless act or word of my own, so it is certainly important for me to make it right as best I know how when I hurt someone.
When we attach to certain beliefs, or dogmas, we also miss the mark. That kind of attachment is always (can I really say that?) exclusive in some way. If I'm right, it means you're wrong. We are spiritual beings, I think, but we have bastardized that spirituality over hundreds of years of politicizing the very core of our existence. We've all been hurt by this - and we could all use some "making it right."
The plants you love? The flowers? They are all part of each of us.
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