Meditation Secrets Revealed

The only way a fish can understand water is by getting onto the shore, and looking back down into the water. We are the fish and the water represents our thoughts. In order to understand, analyze, and ultimately steer our mind, we first need to watch ourselves from the outside, as a passive observer. At first, this may seem to be strange, or daunting as the self now how has to pay attention to the self. Be patient and keep with it, in only a short time it is possible to develop the ability to keep mental track of the chaotic landscape of the mind without becoming distracted from daily activities.

The watcher or observer must not participate or be in any way involved in what is going on in the mind. This means that it should not make comments or judgments on what is seen, but simply observe passively and report, similar to a surveillance camera.

Quite often, our thoughts and memories play tricks on us. When we think of a situation that has occurred, it is generally the same no matter how many times we run through it in our mind. Now, try taking a walk in a familiar place. One of the things you will notice is that it is not the same as you remember it. The world has changed, and it is constantly changing. Being present in the moment forces awareness of your surroundings and the ever-changing world. It is a well known fact from neuro-science that your eyes only capture a partial impression of the external reality. The rest of what you perceive to be reality is actually filled in by your mind. To have a fresh perspective and to see without assuming and expecting is the goal of being present in the moment.

Take notice of these changes and become aware of the liquidity of life. This new awareness can inspire you to become more flexible and pliable in all aspects of your life. Born, we are soft and supple, dead we are hard and stiff. Movement and change is the way of life, rigidity and stiffness is the way of death. To be present, truly present, is a joy that is beyond words. Once you become aware that you are living a real moment, a unique moment given specifically to you, no matter what it is, you can appreciate it and be grateful for being alive. Be grateful that you are having this breath, having this food, having this ache, because it’s the only one like it that you will ever have.

The realization that my mind and my thinking dictate how I perceive the world made me ask many questions of myself that never had occurred to me previously. I started with seemingly simple questions such as, “Why do I think the way I do? What makes me act or react in this way? Why do I keep thinking about this topic even though that event occurred long ago?” These questions and the answers that I uncovered became a major part of my self-exploration and I quickly realized that they were not so easy to answer. After many years of asking, questioning, observing, studying, and analyzing, my conclusion is that the mind is a filter. It determines whether something is good, bad, happy, or sad. Painful or pleasurable is all in the mind if one examines the thought process. There are a number of ways to illustrate what I mean here, but I will start with an analogy.

Think of the mind as a wonderful tool. It was given to us at birth, we had no choice in the matter, but how we learn to use that tool makes all the difference in our lives. Since birth, the mind has been shaped by many external factors, and with every experience new pathways and connections of thinking were forged and old ones reinforced. What is remarkable is that nobody told us how to use that tool, it just evolved, learned, and adapted – there is no manual or how to guide.

In my own quest for understanding I have developed and learned many meditation techniques. You can find them under the topics tab here.