There are many purposes of meditation. The most important aspect of it to get familiar with the awareness It is only using awareness that we see our inner world. But this is often neglected in our daily lives. It is sometimes compared to air. It is so all pervasive that it is not noticed. Only when we begin to appreciate it do we understand that all the objects are just appearances in it. Usually you are just knowing about the contents of the awareness. You don't notice the background of awareness. So in Meditation we see this background of awareness in which everything is coming and going. It is a sort of an awareness about awareness. You begin to see what power you possess to witness all these and you are aware that you are aware.
The second purpose of meditation is to become knowledgeable about our thoughts, emotions, sensations and so on. Witnessing them from a distance helps us to see what are the most important thoughts and emotions that occupy our mind. How do we react to these?. What are my reactive thoughts?. How does emotion change my perspective?. How can you avoid reactions. By becoming conscious of them!!. The very fact that we are conscious of a reaction is to nullify it, since we clearly understand that we are not that. It is only a reaction that is happening in me and i am not that .
The third purpose that you have is to see the clinging to objects. When i say objects i don't mean objects such as chairs tables, car and so on. Objects are anything that becomes knowledgeable to us. So a thought is an object since it becomes perceptible. Now you can see that you cling on to many such objects. You might have a view about your life. It appears as a series of thoughts. You cling onto that diligently. A thought comes and says "If only that became true, i would be much better". You cling on to that since there are other thoughts which elaborate this and paints a beautiful picture .
There may be aversions and desires which you cling on to . All these clinging becomes apparent in your meditation. The remedy to clinging is "Letting go". Let go all of your clinging.
So you might ask. It is good that i can see all these in meditation. But when i come back to life i am worse. I commit the same mistakes that i did before. This is also normal. But see now there is a subject which realizes that you are committing mistakes. This is a first step . To become aware that there is something missing in ordinary life when compared to the expansivity felt in spiritual understanding.
The correction to this feeling to live in the Now as much as possible.
The now is not a moment in time. It is the sum total of everything in existence. When you are awake don't you feel a presence ?. What is this presence?. Isnt it the existence of your body mind that you are realizing?. So if your body mind exists , doesn't the entire universe exist?. So this feeling of presence is not about a body . It is the presence of the entirety. Now instead of looking at your existence as an isolated fact begin to see everything existing. So you see around and perceive everything , the room in which you are sitting the air there , the space outside the window. The sky , the stars , the sun and everything. So the feeling of presence is seen and accepted. In your presence the inner world also is forming. You watch your thoughts , reactions and everything. Don't exclude anything. Include everything in this feeling of presence. Even the anger that you feel, the hatred , the love , the contentment everything is becoming known to you. Is there any thing missing from this ?. See how powerful and pervasive the now is. This now is what you are , You are not any of the small things that exist in the now. You are the entirety of the now. So far in your life you always have taken a small part of now ( namely your body-mind) to be you. The moment you realize that the real now is what i am , you let go of all the small things .
Living in the now is the way to carry forward your meditation to your life. Open your eyes and see everything and just see them as they are . Don't impose your idea, view or concept on it. Just see it as it is. When you expect something you are imposing something on the reality. This expectation is only a concept . How can the concept which is a small thing in your mind be related to reality. Reality is what is happening now. It is already happening. It cannot be changed by your idea of it. It is like expecting a different climax to the movie that you are seeing. It would be far from reality to expect anything. Let go of everything that is not now. Appreciate the now as much as you can. Become conscious of everything without cluttering it with your own ideas or concepts or superposition.
Try to live in the now by applying it to your experiences. When you are cooking , when you are reading , become aware of everything. Become aware of the utensils, the color of food that you are cooking, the thoughts that are going through your mind, the smell of food , the heat generated everything. Feel the vibrant sensations and everything. Don't clutter it with anything. Dont get lost in thought while your arms are just moving. That is unconscious cooking not in the now. When you are in the now, you miss nothing and you also know everything as it is .
When you have an experience include the awareness to not only the external happenings , but also try to see your own inner thoughts , emotions and all. So the now is not just the happenings outside , it includes inner world also. By becoming aware of everything you are getting more awake.
When you sit in meditation and become aware of your breath or a mantra , it is enforcing the now. The breath is in the now. So by listening to it you are moving to the now. By witnessing your own thoughts and all you are moving deeply into the now. By not doing or not following the thoughts you are letting go of all objects. So sitting in meditation and living in the now is the same.
Is there anything apart from this now. A thought about the past is also happening in the now only. An expectation about the future is also happening in the now. Everything is present in the now. There is no reality apart from it. Space , time and everything is unraveled in the now. And you are this complete now without any exclusions. In fact there is nothing apart from you or the now.
The second purpose of meditation is to become knowledgeable about our thoughts, emotions, sensations and so on. Witnessing them from a distance helps us to see what are the most important thoughts and emotions that occupy our mind. How do we react to these?. What are my reactive thoughts?. How does emotion change my perspective?. How can you avoid reactions. By becoming conscious of them!!. The very fact that we are conscious of a reaction is to nullify it, since we clearly understand that we are not that. It is only a reaction that is happening in me and i am not that .
The third purpose that you have is to see the clinging to objects. When i say objects i don't mean objects such as chairs tables, car and so on. Objects are anything that becomes knowledgeable to us. So a thought is an object since it becomes perceptible. Now you can see that you cling on to many such objects. You might have a view about your life. It appears as a series of thoughts. You cling onto that diligently. A thought comes and says "If only that became true, i would be much better". You cling on to that since there are other thoughts which elaborate this and paints a beautiful picture .
There may be aversions and desires which you cling on to . All these clinging becomes apparent in your meditation. The remedy to clinging is "Letting go". Let go all of your clinging.
So you might ask. It is good that i can see all these in meditation. But when i come back to life i am worse. I commit the same mistakes that i did before. This is also normal. But see now there is a subject which realizes that you are committing mistakes. This is a first step . To become aware that there is something missing in ordinary life when compared to the expansivity felt in spiritual understanding.
The correction to this feeling to live in the Now as much as possible.
The now is not a moment in time. It is the sum total of everything in existence. When you are awake don't you feel a presence ?. What is this presence?. Isnt it the existence of your body mind that you are realizing?. So if your body mind exists , doesn't the entire universe exist?. So this feeling of presence is not about a body . It is the presence of the entirety. Now instead of looking at your existence as an isolated fact begin to see everything existing. So you see around and perceive everything , the room in which you are sitting the air there , the space outside the window. The sky , the stars , the sun and everything. So the feeling of presence is seen and accepted. In your presence the inner world also is forming. You watch your thoughts , reactions and everything. Don't exclude anything. Include everything in this feeling of presence. Even the anger that you feel, the hatred , the love , the contentment everything is becoming known to you. Is there any thing missing from this ?. See how powerful and pervasive the now is. This now is what you are , You are not any of the small things that exist in the now. You are the entirety of the now. So far in your life you always have taken a small part of now ( namely your body-mind) to be you. The moment you realize that the real now is what i am , you let go of all the small things .
Living in the now is the way to carry forward your meditation to your life. Open your eyes and see everything and just see them as they are . Don't impose your idea, view or concept on it. Just see it as it is. When you expect something you are imposing something on the reality. This expectation is only a concept . How can the concept which is a small thing in your mind be related to reality. Reality is what is happening now. It is already happening. It cannot be changed by your idea of it. It is like expecting a different climax to the movie that you are seeing. It would be far from reality to expect anything. Let go of everything that is not now. Appreciate the now as much as you can. Become conscious of everything without cluttering it with your own ideas or concepts or superposition.
Try to live in the now by applying it to your experiences. When you are cooking , when you are reading , become aware of everything. Become aware of the utensils, the color of food that you are cooking, the thoughts that are going through your mind, the smell of food , the heat generated everything. Feel the vibrant sensations and everything. Don't clutter it with anything. Dont get lost in thought while your arms are just moving. That is unconscious cooking not in the now. When you are in the now, you miss nothing and you also know everything as it is .
When you have an experience include the awareness to not only the external happenings , but also try to see your own inner thoughts , emotions and all. So the now is not just the happenings outside , it includes inner world also. By becoming aware of everything you are getting more awake.
When you sit in meditation and become aware of your breath or a mantra , it is enforcing the now. The breath is in the now. So by listening to it you are moving to the now. By witnessing your own thoughts and all you are moving deeply into the now. By not doing or not following the thoughts you are letting go of all objects. So sitting in meditation and living in the now is the same.
Is there anything apart from this now. A thought about the past is also happening in the now only. An expectation about the future is also happening in the now. Everything is present in the now. There is no reality apart from it. Space , time and everything is unraveled in the now. And you are this complete now without any exclusions. In fact there is nothing apart from you or the now.
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