Post by Icarus on Feb 1, 2007 9:45:51 GMT -5
Originally posted by Jinsei***
Meditation in Active Daily Life
By Remez Sasson
Meditation is not reserved only for people living in an ashram or a
cave or for people whose sole interest is spirituality. It benefits
the most practical person, and also the most visionary one.
On the physical level, it relaxes the body, replenishes it with
vitality, and restores its energy, health and balance. It prevents
exhaustion from overwork or too much activity.
On the emotional and mental levels it reduces anxiety, worry and
anger, and develops peace of mind, tolerance, patience and good will
towards the surrounding world. The mental faculties function better,
and memory, concentration and will power are improved.
On the spiritual level it awakens awareness of the real inner Self.
One gets a taste of the inner consciousness, which is beyond the
mind.
Meditation has nothing to do with impracticality, absentmindedness
and laziness, as some might believe. You do not have to live a
secluded life, own nothing, and stay away from any activity in order
to meditate and lead a spiritual life. You can live an ordinary life,
with a job and family, and yet, at the same time meditate and lead an
intensive spiritual life.
You can wear a robe or other special clothes, grow your hair, light
candles and incense or sit on the floor when you meditate, but you
can also spend your day in an office, wear a suit and sit on a chair
when you mediate. The outside cover and trimming are not really
important. It is the attitude and what goes inside you that count.
Proper and effective meditation requires some inner strength. There
has to be ambition, desire, will power, drive and perseverance. All
these qualities are in fact the same basic qualities needed for
success in the material world.
Even if you have a job, run a business or pursue a career, you will
benefit from this practice. It will not turn you into an indifferent,
ambitionless and impractical person. It will add to your commonsense,
develop intuition and energize you. The concept that meditation is
not for practical people is utterly wrong.
Here is a simple, effective and practical method that will strengthen
your concentration and add to your peace of mind, besides other
benefits. To get results you will need to practice daily for about
ten minutes each time.
Watching thoughts meditation:
1) Find a place where you can be alone.
2) Sit down and pay attention to your body. Relax your muscles and
ease any physical tension.
3) Breathe a few deep breaths.
4) Watch your thoughts as if watching an uninteresting movie. Regard
the thoughts as birds hovering round a crumb of bread. This crumb of
bread is your attention. They are all seeking your attention. They
will bring associations, images and feelings. Your job is to stay
detached and disregard all these thoughts. Just watch them with no
interest.
You are not these thoughts. They are visitors coming to visit your
mind. It is you, the real you, watching these thoughts. Just look at
them as if watching some far away, uninteresting scene. If they force
you to follow them, ask them who is the boss, you or they?
Stay relaxed and don't get tense. Do not fight your thoughts or get
angry and frustrated if you cannot stay away from them. It is a
natural habit to let every thought enter freely into the mind. It
takes time and effort to change this habit. The secret of success
with this exercise is detachment.
Go on practicing this meditation, even if you fail and forget to
watch the thoughts. Your resolve, patience and perseverance will
eventually bring you peace of mind, concentration, composure,
happiness and consciousness of you real inner self.
Meditation in Active Daily Life
By Remez Sasson
Meditation is not reserved only for people living in an ashram or a
cave or for people whose sole interest is spirituality. It benefits
the most practical person, and also the most visionary one.
On the physical level, it relaxes the body, replenishes it with
vitality, and restores its energy, health and balance. It prevents
exhaustion from overwork or too much activity.
On the emotional and mental levels it reduces anxiety, worry and
anger, and develops peace of mind, tolerance, patience and good will
towards the surrounding world. The mental faculties function better,
and memory, concentration and will power are improved.
On the spiritual level it awakens awareness of the real inner Self.
One gets a taste of the inner consciousness, which is beyond the
mind.
Meditation has nothing to do with impracticality, absentmindedness
and laziness, as some might believe. You do not have to live a
secluded life, own nothing, and stay away from any activity in order
to meditate and lead a spiritual life. You can live an ordinary life,
with a job and family, and yet, at the same time meditate and lead an
intensive spiritual life.
You can wear a robe or other special clothes, grow your hair, light
candles and incense or sit on the floor when you meditate, but you
can also spend your day in an office, wear a suit and sit on a chair
when you mediate. The outside cover and trimming are not really
important. It is the attitude and what goes inside you that count.
Proper and effective meditation requires some inner strength. There
has to be ambition, desire, will power, drive and perseverance. All
these qualities are in fact the same basic qualities needed for
success in the material world.
Even if you have a job, run a business or pursue a career, you will
benefit from this practice. It will not turn you into an indifferent,
ambitionless and impractical person. It will add to your commonsense,
develop intuition and energize you. The concept that meditation is
not for practical people is utterly wrong.
Here is a simple, effective and practical method that will strengthen
your concentration and add to your peace of mind, besides other
benefits. To get results you will need to practice daily for about
ten minutes each time.
Watching thoughts meditation:
1) Find a place where you can be alone.
2) Sit down and pay attention to your body. Relax your muscles and
ease any physical tension.
3) Breathe a few deep breaths.
4) Watch your thoughts as if watching an uninteresting movie. Regard
the thoughts as birds hovering round a crumb of bread. This crumb of
bread is your attention. They are all seeking your attention. They
will bring associations, images and feelings. Your job is to stay
detached and disregard all these thoughts. Just watch them with no
interest.
You are not these thoughts. They are visitors coming to visit your
mind. It is you, the real you, watching these thoughts. Just look at
them as if watching some far away, uninteresting scene. If they force
you to follow them, ask them who is the boss, you or they?
Stay relaxed and don't get tense. Do not fight your thoughts or get
angry and frustrated if you cannot stay away from them. It is a
natural habit to let every thought enter freely into the mind. It
takes time and effort to change this habit. The secret of success
with this exercise is detachment.
Go on practicing this meditation, even if you fail and forget to
watch the thoughts. Your resolve, patience and perseverance will
eventually bring you peace of mind, concentration, composure,
happiness and consciousness of you real inner self.