Meditation for Thursday 1st December 2022
From time to time most of us struggle with meditation. Even the most experienced meditators come up against ‘brick walls’ and often begin to have doubts about the value of their practice. When we struggle it may be useful to do some basic concentration exercises.
Many people would call these exercises, exercises in mindfulness or awareness.
- It could be as simple as staring at a candle and emptying the mind.
- Looking at a painting, photo/a mandala.
- Listening to music.
- Chanting a mantra.
- Listening to nature sounds.
All these simple things help us appreciate the value of being in the present the core of meditation. Then there is the informal mindfulness and awareness; the changing landscape, the striking of droplets of water on our body as we wash, the feeling of the broom as we sweep the floor.
There is a cartoon I once saw. Two Zen monks, one old and one young meditating side by side.
The younger monk asks “Is that all there is?”
The older monk says, “Nothing happens next, that’s it.”
We don’t practice meditation in anticipation of receiving bliss, we practice being in the moment to be in the moment. That will bring happiness.
Aware that sometimes meditation can be a struggle, sometimes physically, sometimes mentally and sometimes both, but we know there are steps we can take to overcome these difficulties.
Now let’s meditate by bringing ourselves into the present moment, the only moment that we have.
MEDITATION
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