Marching toward......me

Yogis,

From the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali:

III. 1

Contemplation

is

the confining

of thought

to one point

Here are some of the questions I get about mediation practice from those just beginning the inward journey:

What exactly should I do when I meditate?  Am I doing it right?  Am I supposed to feel something?  Don’t I need some special training? 

There are as many meditation techniques as there are days in the year.  Visualization.  Meditating on an object.  Naming each sensation as it arises.  Using mantra (sacred sounds).  Counting breaths. Listening to a guide.   But they are in their truest essence all the same.  Meditation is simply the stopping of the “doing” and tuning in to the “watching”, and drawing the mind toward one point. 

Let’s go back to the image of Monkey Mind.   Our typical state has him swinging wildly from branch to branch to branch, quickly changing directions, dropping, climbing and all at dizzying speed.  Tiring just to watch him!  But when I meditate I visualize him gradually slowing his pace, lowering himself down through the branches until he reaches the ground.   He comes to sit right in front of me completely relaxed…….and with direct eye contact.  Watching each other.  Getting to know him.  Noticing for the first time how thick his hair is.   The length of his fingers.  Sensing his tremendous strength, yet seeing through the outer toughness that deep in those dark eyes there lies an inner gentleness.

The confining of thought to one point. 

 

 

 

Just then I hear a rustle in the distance and notice that other monkeys are now swinging overhead with lots of chatter. Movement.  Action.  I have a choice.  I can allow my attention to widen, move upward, pick up speed and  become distracted to see everything going on…….or I can draw my awareness back and look into the soul of the one who is here right now, at this moment.  And by seeing him, I can soften to allow him to see “me”. 

The confining of thought to one point.  

It is no different when we sit and watch our breath.  It is only that now instead of the monkey it is me sitting there making direct eye contact with myself .  Watching each other.  Getting to know each other.  Looking not upward at the distractions in the mind, but instead looking into the soul of the one who is here right now.  At this moment.  Seeing through the outer shields I have constructed to reveal my own inner, perfect light. 

It takes practice.  It takes awareness.  It takes courage.  It takes the confining of thought to one point…….. because…..

III. 2

Meditation
depends upon this
foundation for directing thoughts
into a continous flow
of awareness

 

Aware and in awe of what is right here in front of me,

SARAH