Meditation, in contrast to popular belief, is not deep concentration or the tuning out of external stimulus for the sake of transcending daily life. Meditation, rather, is a return to reality. There is indeed a place within the broad definition of the term for the image of Buddha under the Bo tree, or a monk deeply analyzing the dogma of his faith. But these images can be as detrimental to a beginner as they are inspiring.
For most of us, the value in meditation comes from our lack of awareness in day to day living. In the activity of nearly all things we are constantly looking toward the next event, or musing over dead experiences and ideas. Very rarely do we see, touch, smell, hear, and contemplate our present. And it is this detachment that causes persistent separation of our identity from our experience.
We walk through life seeing life as we've constructed it, with moral values, judgments and emotionally charged language. There is nothing in this world that objectively defines a work of art as being more significant than a dead leaf or a weed, yet we will stand and examine art for hours and brush the dead leaf into the gutter. This valuation is a manifestation of ourselves, the ego acting as a center of importance, rather than an innocent experience of the now.
And as most of us have experienced, whether consciously or otherwise, acting this way, acting from a center of selfishness causes a lot of pain and discontent. It is isolating. It lacks love and beauty. It is the return to unconditioned experience and the now that deconstructs this subject object dichotomy. It is a return to the now that reconnects us with IT, with truth, love and beauty.
So if our current experiences are so stained with the past, how do we return to the present? Well it isn't with long sessions of forced breathing or rigid posturing. These are just new boxes for our minds, forcing the present moment into dead traditions and dogma. The truth is no one can teach another to meditate in the true sense of the word. Because meditation is complete freedom from the known, genuine unconditioned experience of the now. It is personal and unique.
Applying the truth of the above to our own experience needs no explicit instruction, merely the observation of its truth, and the application of those principles. What do I mean by this? I mean recognize your own ego and identity as it relates to your experience. As you eat your breakfast turn off the TV, put aside the morning paper, don't eat on the run, and watch yourself. Taste your food, Listen to the sounds of rumination. Observe your actions and thoughts without judgment, just as you are.
Notice here I didn't say anything about posture or hand position. To begin meditating one must awaken to their present. When was the last time you actually tasted your breakfast? Tasted it as if for the first time, with complete attention, not to the exclusion of sounds and thoughts, but complete awareness of the act you were taking. In this simple act, as in most acts in our daily life, lies the key to beauty and happiness, And a return to the now as an innocent, with open eyes and mind, is meditation is all its purity and simplicity. So stop reading on, and be where you are. And taste your breakfast tomorrow!
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