Meditation

One must include himself in God's unity, which is the Imperative Existence.  A person cannot be worthy of this, however, unless he nullifies his ego, and it is impossible to accomplish this without meditation (hitbodedut).  When a person meditates and expresses his thoughts before God, he can be worthy of nullifying all desires and evil traits, so that he becomes worthy of nullifying all desires and evil traits, so that he becomes worthy of nullifying his entire physical being, thus becoming included in his Root.  -Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810), Likutey

Moharan

The last four issues have discussed the first four paramitas of Buddhism, or spiritual "perfections" that we can strive for in our spiritual life.  The fifth paramita is "meditation."  Traditionally we describe meditation in many different ways, but it's basically a practice where we sit in stillness and immerse ourselves in a type of practice, such as counting or following our breath, choiceless awareness, or meditating on a holy word.  For those people who are not able to participate in stillness practices, there are more active meditations, such as journaling, walking or dancing forms.  My personal preference lies with stillness practices.

All of these practices serve a purpose:  to quiet and focus the mind.  In doing so, many other opportunities emerge.  When we become quiet, we open up to our full experience of the present moment, one moment after another.  The barriers that we put up to protect us from the world become softer and more permeable, allowing the world in its fullness to become part of our reality.   We can use this time to allow wisdom to emerge to discern directions in our lives.  And as we become more and more quiet, slowing down and quieting our ever-present thoughts, we open ourselves up to experience the universal or divine presence.

Meditation as a paramita goes beyond the simple practice of meditation, however.  We have the opportunity to meditate not only at those times we set aside, but in every moment of our lives.  Sometimes we can just be sitting at our desk, take a deep breath and allow whatever is present to emerge.  We may experience gratitude for the many people or opportunities we have in our lives.  We may take a moment to send healing thoughts to someone who is ill, or offer a prayer of compassion for someone who is suffering.  We may just decide to simply breathe and experience the very life essence that sustains us in this world.

Meditation can be captured in any activity.  We can eat a meal, and instead of gulping it down, we can savor the texture, flavor, bouquet and colors of the food we eat.  We can pay attention to whether it's hot or cold, pleasant or unpleasant, simple or complex.  Even a task such as washing the floor can be a meditation.  Notice the texture of a plastic pail, the sound of water beating against the bottom as we fill it, the smell of soap, the heat of the water, the texture of the mop, and the sounds and steps we take to complete the task.

Ordinarily our minds are running ceaselessly, which isn't necessarily bad, but we begin to think that our thoughts are our lives.  Many times, however, our thoughts actually prevent us from fully opening to our lives.  We notice how our thinking often causes our suffering, because we form ideas and perceptions about situations, people and events that we think form an objective reality, but actually create our own exclusive, personal view of the world.  The beauty of a regular meditation practice is that as we train our minds to focus and concentrate, we begin to recognize the nature of thought and reality.  We enjoy more fully the beauty and complexity of the world around us.  We begin to realize how our thinking is not objective but is formed through our life experiences.  And we have a choice about how we want to see the world, how we want to think about it, and how we want to inhabit it.  When we learn to focus our attention on the many moments of our lives, our attentiveness allows us to transcend our limited thinking and open up to what truly is.

In addition to her spiritual practices, Susan R. Quinn of the Quinn Company has been an independent consultant and trainer since 1978.  She specializes in facilitation of problem solving for teams and groups in conflict.  She is certified to train using the DiSC Personal Profile System.  Her other best-received training programs are “Dealing with Difficult People,”  “Managing Conflict,” and “Learning to Live in the Eye of the Hurricane.”  She also offers values clarification workshops and strategic planning services in partnership with her husband, Jerry.  To subscribe to her business ezine, go to www.thequinncompany.com.  You can reach Susan at the Quinn Company, 246 Via Presa, San Clemente, CA  92672, (949) 366-5890, or email susan@thedeepestspirituallife.com.