Day 7: What Goes Up...

 


Meditation is not spacing-out or running away. In fact, it is being totally honest with ourselves.” – Kathleen McDonald

We are one week into our practice and by now you may have had some different experiences when you sat down to meditate. Maybe nothing happened except you were sitting, and aware of the surface that supported your butt, your breath, and the sound of the refrigerator going on. Bravo for you!

It may not seem very exciting, especially if you are hoping for enlightenment, but that is exactly the experience to shoot for. Sometimes, however, you may have a sense of spacing out, losing awareness of yourself and your body. It is a common belief that meditation, if we are doing it "right", should offer us a blissful out of body experience. If it happens, you may feel like you are finally getting somewhere and "going deep" into meditation. But are we? Where is it we think we are getting?

There are those who strive to find that spaced out feeling, Some believe that the physical body is a liability and should be escaped from. It can feel great to meditate and go up and out of the body, a mini vacation from aches, pains, and reality. But it is the strong believe of many experienced meditation masters, and I agree, that the real benefit of meditation comes from being more aware, rather than less aware. As it turns out, spiritual ascension is not up and out, but down and in, while you remember who you are. If you find yourself out there, drifting in the ozone, simply note it and return to your breath. Enlightenment will come if we keep doing the everyday work of sitting. 

 All is well. Keep going.

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