Mindfulness, Contemplation, Self Enquiry, Visualisation (including guided), Mantra repetition, have all become synonymous with the word Meditation. I personally use all of these techniques at different times for different purposes. I’m not knocking them.
They help you to focus inwardly, they can have many healing benefits to the mental, emotional and physical bodies. They can become vehicles to experience Meditation if you know how to use them as such, but they aren’t, in themselves, Meditation.
You need to know the difference. You don’t want to get stuck in the vehicle, constantly thinking you haven’t yet reached your destination, when you are already there and all you have to do is open the door and get out.
MEDITATION:
cambridge dictionary
The act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed
If we are looking at the Cambridge Dictionary definition, we may well say that based on the description, the practices mentioned above are in fact Meditation, however context on the “only one thing” is missing. It gives the impression that if we focus our attention on just any “one thing” that we are Meditating, such as focusing on the breath, on an idea, on an image, on a mantra, on a candle flame, etc.
The difference is these practices ask us to focus on some phenomena that is manifesting (even if internally as in visualisation), when in Meditation, the “one thing” we are giving our attention to is the unmanifest, the Presence behind it all, the Silence from which all phenomena, whether audible or visual, is arising.
Osho describes that “Meditation is a Very Simple Phenomenon” in this short video. I encourage you to have a watch (click on the link). Please note: I am not an Osho devotee, I just like the way he describes Meditation in this video.
Meditation is an inward journey with no distance. What we are seeking is not outside of us. As we learn to rest in and recognise the stillness within our experience, even when a storm hits, as Osho, says, “we become the centre of the cyclone”.
Tonight we will explore resting in this Still centre. Inviting the Silence to become louder than the manifesting phenomena of the voices in our heads, growing an awareness of this steadiness within our experience.
Here’s the registration link for tonights Meditation Cafe Monday 11th March at 7.30pm if you’d like to join us. No previous experience necessary. An open mind and willingness to try is helpful:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqduCprDspGNZlUSQr6ApPODYngU-QkZHr
Meditation Cafe is free by default. If you’d like to “Buy Me A Coffee” in the Cafe to express your Gratitude, or make a donation, you can do so here.
http://paypal.me/thebendywitch
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The Bendy Witch 