The challenge of meditation
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Category Archives: Meditation
Do you recognize yourself??
Video
This video is from a lovely blog, Ox Herding, which is about dharma practice & daily life. Watch & see if you recognize yourself in this very funny depiction of the differences between Our Expectations about meditation, & The Reality of meditation. It makes for an hilarious reiteration of my blog post Meditation, day by day.
Meditation, day to day
I love it
I get to look at what my mind is doing:)
….. I hate it
I have to see what my mind is doing:(
I LOVE IT!
It is easier, over time, to be still, & serene
I HATE IT
Damn! I’m not able to remain still & serene ……
I lOvE iT
((((I know I’m supposed to ……))))
I hAtE iT!
pataleta / temper tantrum (Photo credit: rafa2010)
((((Note: child-like tantrum ensues ………..))))
i love it
(deep, shaky breath) …… at long last, I’m letting go of some of my resistance to The Way Things Are
i hate it
Rrrrrr!! Resistance made me feel alive, & real, & strong ………….
Love to hate it
i LoVe It i HaTe It
~~~sigh~~~ But, what about ……. ~~~sigh~~~
iLoVeItIhAtEiTiLoVeItIhAtEiTiLoVeItIhAtEiTiLoVeItIhAtEiT
***sigh*** ……. just going to sit & meditate …..again. ***sigh***
Buddha LOL
English: The stone Laughing Buddha at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of the gifts of a meditation practice is the increased ability to look at what is going on right now. That is, not worrying about something, which places you in a future that does not yet exist. And, not rehashing something from the past, which is gone. Seeing things as they are, when they are, is the beginning of being able to be fully present in each moment. From that comes the ability to communicate well, to form effective solutions, to maintain your boundaries, to play with children. 
Anyway, as I learn to watch myself, my mind, my doings as they are happening, I find that I laugh more ……… sometimes because there’s nothing I CAN do about what’s going on, sometimes because there is, ha! It’s making me understand a little more about all those images of the laughing Buddha, variously known as Budai, Hotei or Bo Dai.
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Budai on move … swagging his way. Backpacker. (Photo credit: artist in doing nothing)
His story, in a shifty little koan:
Budai is said to travel giving candy to poor children, only asking a penny from Zen monks or lay practitioners he meets. One day a monk walks up to him and asks, “What is the meaning of Zen?” Budai drops his bag. “How does one realize Zen?” he continues. Budai then takes up his bag and continues on his way.
Oh, nothing ……………
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The esoteric has become mainstream
Hippie bug! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Still think that ideas about mindfulness & meditation are esoteric? or that it is only hippies & other counter culturals who delve into such mysteries?? Well, I’m sure you don’t still have these ideas, they are decades old by now ………. though certain parents of a certain blogger seem to be still living back in the seventies. They also seem to feel that meditating is bizarre, & can’t even quite wrap their minds around the concept of ‘mindfulness’ at all!! So much of my life that is pretty much unfathomable to them, haha.
Sad, really, because increasingly information on meditation & mindfulness practices can be found in the mainstream media, which means it is resonating with ever-growing numbers of people. Here, in www.huffingtonpost.com are two such articles:
Meditating in Madison Square Park, Manhattan, New York City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
7 Myths of Meditation by Deepak Chopra is actually rather informative. If you’ve been reluctant to commit to a meditation practice because you’ve been thinking it’s contrary to your philosophical beliefs, or that it takes years to see any benefit, or that you don’t have the time, you just may find enough information here to dispel your fears, worries, anxiety.
Mindfulness Linked With Emotional Well-being & Improved Sleep by Carolyn Gregoire points toward several studies that show, yet again, the range of benefits that can come to people who seek to become more mindful. Some of the benefits found through several studies: better quality of sleep, greater emotional stability, heightened control of the brain’s processing of pain stimuli.
