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 Mason's
Meditations
If
you're looking for something to chew over, some thoughtful seeds
for mental cultivation, bookmark this page for Jeff Mason's monthly
meditations. To think in or take away...
Number
Twenty-Five: Meditation
We
live such busy lives that we tend to forget the present moment as
it quietly or not so quietly slides into the past. It is impossible
to grasp the present, because the moment one tries to grasp it,
it vanishes Like a neutrino whizzing through the universe at the
speed of light, the present has no mass. Try to stop it and it disappears.
So how can we let the present be? One answer is through meditation.
Meditation stops the flow of thoughts that distract us from paying
attention to the present, not as something we are trying to capture,
but which we are trying to experience.
In
a scientific world, the notion of meditation sounds suspicious.
This is because the practice of meditation is associated with mysticism
and various occult studies, as well as religions such as Hinduism
and Buddhism. This is a misconception of what meditation is and
what it does.
Meditation
is no more or less than a technique for entering the present moment
and letting it be. It is like holding a soap bubble in your hand
but not squeezing it so hard that it pops. The secret to meditation
is to cease thinking without ceasing to be conscious of the world
within and without you. Consciousness without thinking or passing
judgement leaves one in the present moment, without distractions,
without hopes, without fears or pains, anguish or grief. The present
opens up to us in the space between thoughts, and meditative techniques
are all designed to quiet the mind, to stop its chattering, its
clinging to the past and anxiety over the future.
You
cannot prevent your thoughts from coming. They come when they will.
The practice of meditation is difficult precisely because of this.
The moment you start to congratulate yourself on having attained
openness in the present, you lose what you thought you had attained,
because you have distanced yourself from the present by thinking
about yourself. Thoughts of self and others are always coming up.
So while meditation takes you out of the stream of constant thinking,
it does not do so permanently, nor should it do so. Meditation is
a well-deserved vacation from the worrying world of life and death,
sickness and health, riches and poverty, past and future, and like
any good vacation, it refreshes us for the work and struggles ahead.
.
Mason's
Meditations will next be updated early October 2002
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