I don’t know whether you’ve noticed but the mind has a habit of making things complicated, especially when it comes to your Meditation practice. It has very high expectations of you and will berate you, judge you and put you down if you haven’t reached Zen Master status, ie no awareness of thought, 100% Silent awareness on the Present moment, by the end of your first session.
We can read this now and know with a good level of conscious awareness and coherence that those expectations, are of course, unrealistic. AND as soon as we close our eyes, POOOF! It’s like all sense of rationality disappears in a puff of perfectionist smoke that pollutes our vision, clouds our judgement and sends us on a never ending quest of seeking something that never actually disappeared in the first place.
Here’s how to keep it simple:
- Accept that you’re not currently a Zen Monk and that actually you probably aren’t prepared at this time (or ever) to embark on the journey of extensive training that it takes years to become one.
- Lower the bar. Your goal is to simply and enthusiastically notice when your mind is distracted and when you do, find a way to come back to Present moment. Not to stop all thoughts. Not to be a Buddha. Not to gain Enlightenment. Not to fulfil any story of what your mind thinks Meditation should be or should look like or should feel like. Using a technique like Heart Words Meditation is a good way to do this.
- When you’re meditating, Meditate. When you’re living your daily life, live your life. You might notice that when you close your eyes, you become overly focused on your perceived problems and the worries of your life and use the time to try and work them out. The irony is that in Meditation, the solutions to our problems often appear, not through thinking or trying to work them out but through intuitive insight. Like when you’re looking for your key and as soon as you stop, the exact place they are pops into your mind.
- When you’re living your daily life, live your life. When you’re meditating, Meditate. You can of course, as I’ve mentioned previously, play with eyes open practice to bring Meditation into your daily life to help you live more in the Present moment and less in the stories of your mind. What I mean here is don’t let your desire for Freedom and Enlightenment stop you from experiencing the Joy of your life Now. Don’t put off living until you’re free. The search for Enlightenment can become an addiction that causes more separation and judgement than it does Unity. In Truth you are already free. You maybe just have unhelpful habits of overly focusing on your thoughts and they might appear so profuse that you can’t see beyond them yet to the Truth of who you really are.
- Remember you are already what you are seeking. There’s nowhere to go and nothing to find that isn’t already inside you. Silent, still awareness is inherent. It’s not like anyone can ever have more of it than you, it’s just that maybe they’ve leant how to recognise it’s Presence and you are still learning to. Give yourself time to blossom, as per last weeks blog.
The Truth is, if you keep to simple, you’ll be closer to being a Zen Monk than you can ever think.
You might like to check out poems Silent Still Space and Wonderful Day.
Tonight is our first Meditation cafe at The Healing Hub in Market Harborough. You can book here to join us in person (there is a minimum donation required) or join us via live-stream zoom as usual (donation optional).
Just a quick note, at time of typing we have just two tickets left for our Saturday night @ The OM – Dark Goddess Poetry, Music & Storytelling event, in case you were thinking you might decide at the last minute!
Dates For Your Diary
7th December 2024 Saturday Night @ The OM - Return Of The Light
8th December 2024 Angel Cosmolgy Workshop - The OM Studio, Northampton
Here’s the zoom registration link for tonights Meditation Cafe, Monday 21st October 2024, 7.30pm, to join us as we explore how Self Enquiry and Heart Words Meditation, eyes closed and eyes open practice, can help you grow your awareness of the Silence within you that is here now:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApc-qsqDsuH9RPksq7l_KIwPZX0Xk6WfBz
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No previous experience necessary to join us, an open mind and willing Heart is helpful. You can find the weekly registration links, read about any potential contraindications (especially read if you’re struggling with your mental health or experiencing any kind of trauma) and other things you need to be aware of, on the Meditation Cafe page . If you have any concerns, please contact me beforehand to discuss whether this Meditation practice is for you, or how we might adapt the practice to support you.
Meditation Cafe is part of The Silent Revolution and is free by default. If you’d like to support me in this work, you can if you feel called to, “Buy Me A Coffee” in the Cafe, pay for the tuition received (the going rate is between £5 – £8 for similar online classes) or express your Gratitude with a donation here:
http://paypal.me/thebendywitch
There’s no obligation to donate implied AND all donations are Gratefully received 🙏🏼💞
Thank you for liking, sharing blogs and poems you resonate with with friends and for sharing any thoughts provoked, contemplations and your experiences of Meditation in the comments.
book your space here
The Bendy Witch 