Meditation for my life, not my life for meditation

There are many techniques of meditation, black dot visualization meditation, candle gazing meditation, mantra meditation, mala mediation, zen guided meditation, Tibetan singing bowl meditation, etc. etc. There are so many techniques for meditating.

During our Escape The World retreat I guide our guests to do meditation and I use ‘contemplative meditation’ as an easy way of meditating. Practicing contemplative meditation is to observe your own mind activities, it is a matter of sitting and being aware of what is happening up there until you realize that you are the owner of your own mind and you can do whatever you want with your mind as it is yours!

Many people say that they can’t control their monkey mind while sitting and meditating, it is normal, everyone has to go through that process until the realization that we are the soul is the boss of our mind, not the other way around, therefore practicing meditation is to become aware of the soul within, one must remain kind and patient while the control process is changing from the mind controlling to the soul accepting the activity of the monkey mind and of course it takes time, as the boss remain kind with your mind.

It is perfectly natural to have clouds and storms in our lives, we all do and yes clouds and storms are challenging and can be unpleasant, yet it remains up to us to decide to accept the challenges knowing that behind the clouds there is the sun and after the storm there is quietness and peacefulness.

At times, when you sense unpleasant sensation, you may get upset even angry some even loose control in front of difficult situation to face and rather quit that going through the storm anger takes over and drains the precious energy within.

This can be compare to reaching a goal such as climbing a tall mountain, you know that once you reach the top you will feel the most pleasant sensation of achievement, you will be able to see further than you have seen before, yet on the way up you will face obstacles, get tired, upset and your mind may even think of turning around and go back down the hill without reaching the top, yet if you stop and let your inner self guide you to accept the rough parts, the hike will become easier and the obstacles will slowly become part of the journey knowing very well that beyond these difficulties there is the reward that you are aspiring to reach and that will make you happy and if you were to climb the same mountain over and over again, the obstacles would be less and less.

We are all the same; we all wish to reach happiness and peacefulness in our own lives, there is no secret to this as there is no secret to meditation.

Practicing to accept the difficulties in life is part of the journey, quitting is an option while understanding the process and keep trying is another, whether you wish to climb a mountain, become a musician or reach whatever goal you set your mind to do there will be difficulties, obstacles to go through and the only way to reach the happiness is to accept the rough time and keep on going.

Meditation is the same, it is by taking the time to sit down on a regular basis, observe what is happening with your mind, accept the difficulties of the monkey mind, respect the fact that time is irrelevant, give your soul control of your life and reach peacefulness within as the mind stops controlling you.

It will not be so long that you will reach the top and able yourself to see further, once there your soul will have taken over your monkey mind.

Never forget that if you truly wish to reach peacefulness through meditation, knowing what you wish to reach, practicing on a regular basis and accepting the difficulties that will surface is the only way that you get to where you want to be!

– Iyan –