Meditation – What’s my why?
“The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of, and familiar with, our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
With any practice, there is a beginning and then a momentum of experiences that carries us forward. Where we end up is entirely up to our desire, motivation, and earnestness. There may be one path and there may be several. The heart and soul will be our guide and each will have a benefit.
Sattva, from the 2500-year-old yogic teachings of the Vedic tradition, describes the practice of meditation as the quality of one finding balance, harmony, being-ness, purity, and virtue to describe just a few of the virtues.
In essence, it is describing a way of life and living with attention invested to the qualities that one comes to a meditation practice seeking. It would be beneficial to engage all. But if one puts earnest awareness on one the others will all come as well.
It means to seek the truth not as a means to an end, But as means to fulfill with purity and wisdom which may lead to true enlightenment.
To quiet the mind is one of the purposes of meditation. What does that mean? It does not mean there will be no movement ( thinking). It means that one becomes the witness to the movement of the mind. Letting the thoughts go and just observing. This is the developing awareness that is necessary to waking up.
This usually takes some practice. Something we practiced in last week’s Zoom meeting was taking our vision awareness wide, looking at different things around our space, and verbalizing what we saw. Then zooming our one-pointed focus onto one thing and describing that one thing in all its glory. Then we can close our eyes and gently begin our meditation practice.
This simply helps bring one into the present moment and refines our awareness. It is a simple way to get one-pointed as we prepare to meditate with our eyes closed. Or it can be used as an eyes-open meditation itself.
Join us this Monday at 7 pm for a Zoom meeting as we continue to play with meditation and chit chat about all things conscious. All are welcome no matter what level of experience.
Peace,
Shuka