Recently I've been reading stuff written by Osho, who greatly advocates meditation. So I thought I'll write a lil' something on my experience with meditation. I first learned to meditate from my Reikidou Naturopathy ("gua sha" as is more commonly called) master who taught us a way to practice Qigong which is basically a meditation that focuses on taking long deep breaths to and from the solar plexus. When I first experienced it, I found it very hard to sit still for more than five minutes. After several uncomfortable attempts, I quickly gave up. It was not until I started to heal myself emotionally and spiritually that I slowly fell in love with the simple act of meditation.
Much has been written on the benefits of meditation. To me, meditation, like my pendulum, helps me reconnect with my true self or inner being. When I find myself feeling a lil' under the weather, I meditate to re-experience that eternal flame of joy within my soul that never sleeps. When I'm under stress or getting emotional or grumpy, I meditate to restore my balance such that I can move forward once again with strength and trust. I like to think of meditation as a way of turning off the mind and turning up the volume of our inner voice. When I find myself unable to make certain decisions in life, I meditate to speak with my inner being for the answer that is most true to myself, myself alone.
Finally, meditation is just great, it doesn't cost any money, it takes up very lil' space (you can sit, lie down or even stand!), it generates great value by making me happier and lighter afterwards, and it doesn't actually take up any time of all - it functions in a space of non-time. Because when we meditate, we become fully conscious of the present moment, we experience pure existence which is only possible in the Now. The present moment isn't actually a function of time, there's no continuum to it. The Now is constantly moving into the future, and moving away from the past. It is not the past or the future, it is all there is. The only way to experience it is to be in it, with it, become it. So next time, when you meditate, let your concept of time fall away, and focus on how you feel in this very precious moment which only you can grasp. And when you start to feel your heart swell with joy, you know you're home.
Looking back, I can hardly conceive that I once found meditation to be difficult. But that is only normal and I'm sure many of you must have felt this way sometime in your experience with it. It's almost like saying that sometimes, everything around us is so distracting and overwhelming (busy schedules, other peoples' needs, media's injection of fear in us, etc..) that it becomes even difficult to just be ourselves. Because meditation is sort of a way to just BE ourselves, completely, 100%, without any distractions whatsoever.
Let me share a quote with you by Osho before I part on this topic - ".. when a person meditates he starts flowering. If he is a painter, he will become a great painter. If he is a poet, then suddenly tremendous poetry will arise out of his soul. If he is a singer, for the first time he will sing a song that is close to his heart's desire. When you are silent, rooted in your being, centered, your talents automatically start functioning... You become spontaneous. You start doing your thing - and now you don't bother whether it pays or not, whether it makes you more respectable or not. It makes you happy, and that's enough. It makes you tremendously joyful, and that is more than enough"
(Painting by Sofan Chan - "Forest of Light")
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