Make Meditation about Meditation ……
We need to make our meditation about meditation!
Our meditation may include awareness of the body and certainly may help relax and heal the body, but it is not about the body but about the mind.
And as the mind, our meditation is not about the thoughts, memories, stories and ideas about our self.
Our meditation is not about the self’s wishes and wants, worries and woes.
Our meditation is not about being caught in the mental content of our mind, but about calming and cleansing the mental ‘context’ of the mind.
Our meditation is freeing the mind from the limiting factors of the ‘Five Hindrances’ of: Thoughts of sense distraction; Thoughts of irritation and frustration; Mental dullness and dreariness; Mental restlessness and worry; Thoughts of doubt distraction and worry.
Our meditation may benefit from the use of a ‘Mental Mantra’, a mental object or word for focusing our attention on together with the in and out flow sensation of our breath.
This is called ‘Parikamma Meditation; mentally repeating in the mind with each in and out breath a helpful word or two. This could be ‘Brea – thing’; Calm – Ease; Here – Now; Mind – Ful etc.
The practice of Parikamma Meditation, helps to ‘make our Meditation about the Meditation’.
You may also find it helpful to repeat your ‘Meditation Word’ when you are dealing with life’s stressful events or challenging situations, helping to bring the mind back to calm and focus. This can create a helpful carry over from the ‘formal mindfulness’ of meditation into the ‘ongoing mindfulness’ of daily life.
Try this simple practice, it may give your Meditation and your life the lift and focus that it needs!
Kind Regards
John B
