What is True Meditation?

[air]

All of us talk about the importance and the need of meditation in our lives. But the question is, “What is true meditation?” It can be easily understood if one compares 2 kinds of meditation. First one, where a person is in complete silence and second one where one is peaceful from within.


In the first one, a person may be in a forest. A person may be in an aasana - a physical state of calmness and peace - but in that physical stillness, in that silence of the body, the mind is wandering. The mind is dancing. The mind is jumping like a monkey from branch to branch, branch to branch. From the outside, one would view this meditating individual as in a state of complete peace, calm and bliss, but within this still human is a mind that is so disturbed. Compare this mediation to a meditation of a man who is moving in the center of the busiest city of the world. He has the whole world flashing across him, but his mind is still, his thoughts are calm, his inside is completely tranquil. Outside it looks like he is completely disturbed, he is completely agitated, but within he is peaceful and that is a true meditative state.



 

AiR

[sparklekaz]

An interesting post Air.. though my experience is that if someone has 'monkey mind' their body language and behaviour looks anything but peaceful. I'm not very good at meditating regularly, so I try to live mindfully. For me this works better.

The problem I have is that for some reason, no matter how attractive the thought of meditating regularly is, I seem unable to do it. If I'm honest, I find the process of getting to that point sitting quietly very difficult. A swarm of intrusive thoughts come in and no matter how much I try to swat them away, they persist. Whereas practicing mindfulness gives me a focus, a barrier to those intrusive thoughts. the act of whatever I'm doing becomes as a active meditation. Though I still aspire to begin a regular meditation practice in a more traditional way.

Love and light
Kaz