I went to a secular meditation class last night, although a couple other members of my sangha also came. It was a very different experience from the meditation I'm used to. It was much more relaxed, and there was no big commitment to help all other sentient beings at the outset, although as we closed, we expanded our desire for happiness and other good things to the other members in the group. A small start, but essential.
The teacher gave basic instructions: concentrate on your breath, and whenever you notice that your attention has wandered gently bring it back to your breath. I've heard this before, and I think I unconsciously felt that at some point, when I got really good at meditation, my mind would never wander. Pema Chodron has said that your mind wanders less when you have practiced awhile. The teacher last night put a different spin on it. Namely, the more you practice returning your attention to the present moment, the better you will be at this throughout the day. If you are good at catching yourself wander while seated on the cushion, you will also improve at catching yourself in day-to-day life. This way, being truly present, you can escape from your usual habit patterns that cause so much suffering. Thus, the mind wandering is an essential part of meditation, because it needs to wander so that you can notice it wandering.
Anyway, I thought that was a fantastic way of looking at things. Most of the explanation above is my own extrapolation, by the way.
3 comments:
i haven't meditated in 2 weeks!
the cushion is not 5 feet from me?
will I do it now? or will I leave the Yankee game on, the cat in my lap and start into my torts work, thinking "I'll do it later..."
How'd it come out?
I did the latter, but actually did it later :)
when you need it the most is when it's toughest to get to
i actually did some nonlaw reading last night. refreshing, and so easy in comparison, it was like falling off a log
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