Sunday, November 28, 2010

Wisdom and method - Meditation


Those instructions, that the teacher gave an old swimmer Were in fact part of a larger lesson on finding the balance between the wisdom or philosophical understanding, and the method - the practical application of philosophy. Wisdom is useless if there is no practical means for its application. It was here in the case enters the method: using the mind to awareness of the mind. Incidentally, this is a good working definition of meditation.
Meditation - it does not dive into the bliss, or lack of clarity as to how many people have told me, whom I met during my travels around the world. In fact, meditation - it's quite a simple exercise to stay in their current natural state of mind, or mind the present moment in which we allow ourselves to simply and clearly present in any emerging thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Many people resist the idea of meditation, because the first image that comes into their head, involves many hours of sitting with your back straight, legs crossed and absolutely blank mind. However, in all this is not necessary.
Firstly, to ensure that sit with crossed legs and straight back to get used, especially people in the West, which usually slouch in front of a computer or TV.
Secondly, it is impossible to keep the mind from the generation of thoughts, feelings and sensations. Thinking - it is a natural function of the mind, just as the natural function of the sun - to give warmth and light, but a natural function of a thunderstorm - to produce thunder, lightning and rain.
When I started to study meditation, I was taught that attempts to suppress the natural function of the mind can be at best a temporary solution. At worst - if I intentionally try to change my mind, the only exacerbate their tendency to cling to the seeming reality of independent thoughts and feelings.
The mind is always active, constantly generating ideas, just as the ocean is constantly generates the wave. We just can not stop thinking about how we can not stop the excitement of the ocean. Staying mind in its natural state is radically different from trying to complete cessation of mental activity. Buddhist meditation in no way implies attempts to empty the mind. Unable to reach a "meditation of thoughtlessness." Even if you did manage to stop all my thoughts, you would not meditate, and simply doing nothing in a sort of coma.
On the other hand, you may find that as soon as you peer at the thought, emotion or feeling, it disappears like a fish, suddenly nyrnuvshaya depth. And that's okay too. In fact, it's great. Supporting such a state of pure attention or consciousness, you experience the natural clarity and emptiness of the true nature of his mind, even if you escape from the thoughts, feelings and stuff.
The real purpose of meditation - to remain in pure awareness, regardless of whether there is anything or not. You can be fully present in any emerging thoughts, feelings and perceptions, that would not come to you, just be for this open and present and let it go. And if nothing happens, or if the thoughts and feelings disappear before you notice them, just stay in this natural clarity.
What could be simpler than this meditation?
In addition, it should be one more thing: while we cling to the idea that some emotions better, more appropriate or productive to the other, in fact, neither good nor bad thoughts. There's just a thought. Once a chatty bunch of neurons begins to give signals that we interpret as thoughts or feelings, the other beam begins to comment on them: "Oh, it was the thought of revenge. You're a bad person "or" You are so bad, you must be really incompetent. " In reality, meditation - a process bezotsenochnogo awareness. By meditating, we apply to their subjective experience of objective scientific approach. At first, it can be difficult. Most of us are accustomed to believe that if we believe something good, then it is good, and if we think something bad, then it is really bad. But when we practice the simple observation of how our thoughts come and go, such rigid distinctions are beginning to crumble. Common sense dictates that all of the many mental events occurring and disappearing within one minute, simply can not be true without exception.
If we continue to allow ourselves to simply recognize the activities of the mind, is gradually beginning to understand and transparent nature of thoughts, emotions, feelings and sensations, which once thought of as real and actual. This is similar to the gradual removal of layers of dust and dirt from the surface of the mirror. Accustomed to look at the clear surface of your mind, we can overcome all the chatter about who and what we ourselves believe, and be aware of the radiant essence of our true nature.

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