Meditation is observing the show called life. It’s taking a step back to sit and watch. Life ought to be treated as a passing show because it’s one step in your existence as a spiritual being. Everything is in a constant change of change.
Your thoughts, feelings, and body are dynamic by nature. Nothing bound by time is immune from change. Meditation allows one to accept change as a natural part of life. Sitting still, you can see that you aren’t who you think you are. ‘You’ aren’t your thoughts, your feelings, or your body. You are a spirit, awareness and every thing is an object of your awareness.
Noted spiritual teacher Ram Dass used this analogy in ‘Journey Of Awakening’ to describe the concept of awareness. I’ll paraphrase.
Imagine yourself in a move theater. If the movie is enthralling you are drawn into it. The story line captures your attention and keeps it until the end. If the movie is poor you tend to notice other things: the quality of the popcorn, people chattering, the seating arrangement. You pull back from the movie and note that it is a story and other things occur as the story proceeds.
Awareness can be likened to the second example. Instead of being drawn into the drama of your life you surround it with space. Note an event and move on. No deep emotional attachments to anything, just acceptance, observation, and progression. This isn’t to say that life is a ‘ho-hum’ type deal. It’s just pure acceptance of everything as it is.
Consider your thoughts, feeling, and body.
You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are things. They are not you. They are your possession, your brain child. When you decide to let a thought go, it’s gone. Who made the decision? Who’s in control here? You! Meditation is observing thoughts and allowing them to leave. You do the allowing, not the thought. This is the most liberating concept of all. The more you lose attachment to your thinking the more “I am”-ness. The more “I am”-ness, the more freedom. No need to try to be anything, other than yourself.
You are not your feelings. Happiness and sadness come and go as you decide to embrace and release. See who’s in control? It can be tough to grasp this concept because feelings literally strike a chord within your body. The human body physically moves into a higher or lower vibration depending upon the feelings you choose to experience. Like all things in the universe the body is a form of energy. Experiencing a surge in energy can feel overwhelming, especially when it’s a low energy vibration.
Meditation slows everything down. It allows you to observe how you generate and release emotions. A person in complete control of their feelings doesn’t live at the mercy of life. Whatever happens can be embraced in one moment and released the next.
You are not your body. The body is your spirit’s home for its short stay on this plane. As you pass on the body sticks around and continues to change until it too moves into another form of energy. You can call the body home base, for now.
When you no longer identify with your body you cease to judge it. Most criticize their bodies. They fight the natural flow of things; wanting to look better, younger, more desirable as Father Time moves on. As you sit in stillness you can accept your body for what it is – a vessel for your spirit is. With this realization comes less self-conscious tension and more happiness.
This isn’t an excuse to not take care of your body. This is your home! Happiness begins at home. Eat a balanced diet and exercise.
It’s evident that meditation is freeing. Losing identification with your thoughts, feelings, and body causes you to no longer be bound by them. These are common effects of deep, sustained meditation:
- Increased happiness
- Peace of mind
- Identification with the real you
- Being in the flow
- Attracting inspirational ideas
- Calmness
- Balance
- Increased health
Meditation is a liberating vehicle. Set aside at least 30 minutes a day to reveal who you really are.
Ryan Biddulph
