Meditation?

Assuming that you haven’t yet ‘done a Tony’ and ‘disappeared’, you will probably still think ‘there is somebody there’ and not yet having attained the complete dissolution of the ego, self, personality or whatever (you may be aspiring to this), you might be inclined to describe yourself, e.g in your profile on social media, if you have one, as ‘a meditator’.

Now, this would suggest that this particular aspect of ‘you’ is rather important to ‘you’ and is therefore worth mentioning, alongside information about your job, place of residence, family, interests and anything else which you think defines ‘you’.

So be it. Though perhaps it should be at the head of the list. Indeed, perhaps it should be the only word in your profile: ‘Bob Heath – Meditator’.

Swami Rama, founder of The Himalayan Institute, said :

‘Meditation gives you what nothing else can give you: it introduces you to yourself.’

Meditation can transform an individual. By developing greater self-awareness and self-knowledge, we become more self-confident and comfortable with ourselves; hence we are happier and more relaxed. This starts within the individual, but eventually it colours and guides the way we relate to the external world – family, friends, community, events. We become our meditation – it permeates our ‘personality’.

So, describing yourself as a ‘a meditator’ actually says a great deal about you – your values, priorities, awareness, outlook and, in my experience, all of these aspects of one’s consciousness become imbued with positivity – pretty much without exception, all the meditators and ‘Yoga People’ I’ve ever met have been thoroughly cheerful, practical, down to earth souls.

So, what is your meditation like? Can you actually answer that question? Perhaps I’ll describe mine and you can see what you think. First up – I meditate most days, but not every, day. Sometimes circumstances just don’t allow it (I can almost see Peter Glover wagging his finger at me – ‘But you must make time!’). Second – I don’t meditate morning and evening. I never really got on with meditation first thing; too many thoughts seemed to get going too quickly at that time of day. So, evening only. Third – I meditate for about 10 minutes, sometimes 15 and occasionally 20. If I’m really pushed for time, (no excuse)  I use a ’10-breath’ version which lasts only about a minute but is surprisingly restful and effective.

This routine has been developed over time and I find it suits me. Maybe I should push myself and do the ‘recommended’ 15 minutes of dawn and dusk practice, but this striving seems to go against the spirit of meditation. I find the process of sitting in my meditation chair in my meditation room, closing my eyes and paying attention to the breath is all I need.

Usually, I will silently recite a series of prayers, but sometimes it’s enough just to sit, surrender and see where the meditation takes me. I recently purchased a Tibetan singing bowl and I find that sounding this three times at the beginning and three at the end helps to establish, define and deepen the practice. After 25 years or so of practising meditation, I’ve long ago let go of looking for results or changes, or even wondering what the goal or purpose of meditation is – it doesn’t have one – it just is, and it’s an integral part of what or who -ever is ‘me’.

By Bob Heath