This is sort of a follow up to a post I wrote in August of 2017. I was born at the very end of the 60's, the Summer of 69 to be exact. A time of transition I'm told from the days of peace and love hippie movement to the Funk of the 70's, LOL.
This past week I have been re-reading a really great book about Jarvis Jay Masters, A Buddhist on Death Row. A lot more on that great book to come in the near future. If you haven't purchased it yet, I highly recommend it.
So in this book, one of the many lessons Mr. Masters learns is about learning to watch his mind and freeing it from the preconditioned restraints that life itself had put on him. As he is contemplating this a song that would be played often in his youth came to mind by the Funkadelic's, "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow."
Everyone you didn't meet could be your teacher.
Funkadelic's, "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow."
The lyrics to this next song are loosely based on a combination of a book called "As a Man Thinketh", a literary essay by James Allen, published in 1902,and the basis of The Law of Attraction (you reap what you sow) It starts off with a very looooooong instrumental intro, it puts you in touch with yourself. But don't stop there is more, stick around it gets even better.....let it speak to you. You won't regret it.
Funkadelic's "Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts"
Have you come across anyone or anything in your path that has opened your eyes to help you make sense of a teaching that you have been contemplating?
Have one or more of those eye-opening moments come from an expected source?
Meditation is simple, cheap, and highly effective, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
It actually is pretty easy, it’s just not what people expect it to be.
Beginners have all sorts of challenges when meditating, but most of them aren’t really problems. The complaints beginners have are simply part of the meditation process.
Meditation can work for everyone that puts in the time and effort.
Are these challenges holding you back?
1. Your mind is too active. Of course, it’s active. It takes practice before the mind quiets down, and it’s rarely silent even after years of practice. It takes about 20 minutes for experienced meditators to notice a slowing down of the mind.
● This isn’t really a problem. Part of the purpose of meditating is to learn how your mind operates.
2. Your mind wanders. It’s not uncommon to suddenly realize that you’ve been daydreaming for the last five minutes. The solution is the same as the previous issue. Just return your attention to your breath and continue.
3. A lack of consistency. Meditation needs to be done daily to see the greatest benefits. It also needs to be done daily to gain a high level of proficiency. You can’t become skilled at what you don’t practice. Get as much practice as you can.
4. You fall asleep. It’s not easy to fall asleep if you have the proper posture. It should be impossible to stay asleep if you have the proper posture, as you’re sure to lose your balance and fall over.
The best position for meditating is to sit up straight. If you lie down, you may struggle to stay awake.
5. Body pains. Holding one position can be painful, especially when you’re just starting out with meditation. Over time, your aches and pains will largely go away.
● It’s best to try to remain still. Shifting your position will only give temporary relief, and the process starts all over again. No matter how much it hurts, you’ll find the pain fades away and eventually moves to another location if you stay still.
● Itches fall into the same category. Just leave them alone and observe them.
6. Boredom. Yes, meditation can be boring, especially if you’re used to significantly more stimulation. Learn to sit still with your boredom and just observe it. Boredom can be more fascinating than you might think.
7. Rationalizing that quitting is a good idea. Common thoughts include things like, “This is a waste of time.” “Why am I doing this?” “Is this all there is?” Again, just sit with your thoughts and notice them. Every thought is as meaningless as the next.
8. Just realize that it’s your discomfort with stillness that’s bothering you. You’ll come to understand that many of the things you do in your life are to avoid this feeling. This includes things like staring at the TV and overeating.
9. Finding time. This excuse is hardly a valid excuse. Go to bed 20 minutes early and sit in the corner. Or get up 20 minutes early and do the same. The truth is, after a little practice, you can meditate at your desk or on a bus.
● If you had time to watch TV, surf the internet, or play on your phone, you had time to meditate.
10. Desiring perfection. Perfection in meditation isn’t achievable, but you don’t need to be perfect. Put in the time with your best effort. That’s all that’s required.
Meditation rarely involves earth-shattering insights. It’s a gradual process that brings understanding over time.
The problems I've listed above aren’t really problems.They’re simply misunderstandings of what normally occurs during a meditation session. Each obstacle is nothing more than an opportunity to develop your meditation practice. Just keep at it and have faith that everything is as it should be.
You deeply desire to find the meaning of your life. You have no idea what your purpose is, but you want to find it desperately.
3. YOU REALIZE THAT A LOT OF WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TAUGHT IS A LIE.
You start to see how many beliefs, ideals and values are not actually your own, but other people’s or inherited from your culture.
4. YOU FEEL COMPLETELY LOST AND ALONE.
Nothing in your life seems to make sense anymore. You feel as though you’re wandering through an endless wilderness. As a vagabond, you feel completely alone and cut off from people.
5. YOU SEE THROUGH THE ILLUSIONS OF SOCIETY.
Materialism, success and profit no longer mean anything to you. You start feeling as though you’re a cog in the machine of society.
