In yesterday’s post, I spoke about how people can wake up: either through pain or through joy. There is a third way, however: meditation.
Unlike the first two, which occur in reaction to an experience, meditation is a proactive approach to consciousness. It asks nothing more of us than to be. To be still and to be aware. I woke up to meditation during my travels in Asia, then came back and studied more formally with a Buddhist monk here in Chicago. Like exercise, meditation is something that you take slowly and build strength over time. It seems strange at first to quiet your thoughts—your monkey mind as they call it—but with surprisingly little practice, you learn. You learn to focus on the moment, to still the chatter, to bring awareness to the everyday, to live with care and consciousness. You wake up.
Once you learn to meditate, it is very easy to slip in and out of a meditative state, or for those truly aware, to live it moment by moment. But there is also something quite wonderful about a daily meditation practice. In November, I happened to get an email notice about a free online Deepak Chopra meditation course on abundance. Without wavering, I hit the sign-up button, and for 21 days in a row, I found a new guided meditation on my iPad each morning. It was lovely to refresh those muscles and make the first 15 minutes of my day so mindful. It both centers and opens your day in a different way. Another round is scheduled to start next week, so I thought I’d share the link here. This time Chopra is teaming up with Oprah—I really don’t know why, so if you are not an Oprah fan, just ignore that piece of it—and the focus is on health and wellness. Give it a try. Think of it as spring cleaning for the mind, or a way to wake up from your winter slumbers.
In the meantime, here is how some people frame the concept of meditation.
“Meditation is the life of the soul: Action the soul of meditation. And honor the reward of action.”
–Francis Quarles
“What’s encouraging about meditation is that even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we’re closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.”
–Pema Chodron
“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
–Buddha