We each hold the key to greater peace on earth;
it opens the door to our own inner serenity.
When we smile to the peace within ourselves,
we are sharing our peace with the world.
~ Quiet Lotus
it opens the door to our own inner serenity.
When we smile to the peace within ourselves,
we are sharing our peace with the world.
~ Quiet Lotus
About Meditation
What is meditation?
Imagine yourself in a boat on a river, a swiftly flowing river, and imagine you have been in the boat so long that all you can remember is the blur of the riverbanks moving past you. With that as your only perspective, would you think the river was in motion, or that the river was still and the banks of the river were flowing swiftly?
Now imagine that our thoughts, our emotions, all make up the water of the river and we are always moving on that current, watching the riverbanks flow by. From that place of immersion in our thoughts, our emotions, our feelings, we can lose sight of their state of constant movement and change and anchor ourselves to them as we might to something stationary, something fixed. All the while the riverbanks, the present moment, flow past us a little blurred.
Meditation is a general term that can be used to describe any practice that, by way of varying techniques, calms our thoughts by narrowing our attention to a single point of focus. The effect of this is like slowing down the river of our thoughts and feelings, slowing it down enough that we have the opportunity to paddle to shore, tie up our boats, rest our minds awhile on the riverbank – the present moment -- and watch the river flow by. Not damming it up and stopping the flow, not emptying it, but altering the flow just enough to shift our perspective so we can watch what is, as it is.
Now imagine that our thoughts, our emotions, all make up the water of the river and we are always moving on that current, watching the riverbanks flow by. From that place of immersion in our thoughts, our emotions, our feelings, we can lose sight of their state of constant movement and change and anchor ourselves to them as we might to something stationary, something fixed. All the while the riverbanks, the present moment, flow past us a little blurred.
Meditation is a general term that can be used to describe any practice that, by way of varying techniques, calms our thoughts by narrowing our attention to a single point of focus. The effect of this is like slowing down the river of our thoughts and feelings, slowing it down enough that we have the opportunity to paddle to shore, tie up our boats, rest our minds awhile on the riverbank – the present moment -- and watch the river flow by. Not damming it up and stopping the flow, not emptying it, but altering the flow just enough to shift our perspective so we can watch what is, as it is.
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I breathe in. I breathe out. I am present in my body. I am here and not anywhere else, knowing there is nowhere else to be. This is meditation. It doesn’t matter how I sit or don’t sit, or how I hold my hands. It is not how still I stay or silencing my mind. Meditation is noticing my body’s posture, whatever form it takes, and noticing how my hands rest if they are resting, their movements if they are in motion. It is following the quiet of each breath. It is stepping back and listening to the music of thoughts, one note at a time, and watching the beauty of cognition. It is opening space with curiosity for observation and observing, across the hush of that space, the dawn and dusk of joy and sorrow, seeing the winter and spring of laughter and tears, seeing and not changing anything. It is gently watching the poetry of life breathing without waking it.
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How can meditation enrich our quality of life?
The more we can observe something, the greater our awareness of it becomes. Watching our thoughts and emotions flow by from our place on the riverbank – the present moment – we gain an awareness of their nature that different angle of perspective offers. The greater our awareness of the nature of something, just as it is, the more able we are to accept it, just as it is, and accept its limitations and its freedoms - just as they are.
Most of us come to meditation looking for greater peace and greater understanding in our lives. It is in this awareness and acceptance of the life flowing through us, in the gentle observation of its nature and quiet surrender to what is beyond our control, that such peace and understanding lie.
Most of us come to meditation looking for greater peace and greater understanding in our lives. It is in this awareness and acceptance of the life flowing through us, in the gentle observation of its nature and quiet surrender to what is beyond our control, that such peace and understanding lie.
More information about practicing meditation and answers to frequently asked questions can be found here.
