He was born in the summer of his (57)th year
Comin’ home to a place he’d never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door
These lyrics from Rocky Mountain High by John Denver struck me hard in the aftermath of some very challenging events in a prior marriage. The events were some of the catalyst for great change in my life. The change, or changes really, are most of what you will read about in this blog.
What I didn’t understand at the time is that the change that was underway, starting with discovering yoga, would truly be a rebirth and leaving yesterday behind. I also didn’t know that at the core of my transformation I would find meditation as the pathway to go within and there find answers to many questions. Through mediation I would find my Soul Being and learn how to happily connect to my Human Being and to literally everything that is. A key for every door? Perhaps.
Why Meditate?
Meditation and mindfulness are very hot topics these days, although the concepts and practices have been around for thousands of years. Almost daily, scientific studies, articles recapping experiences and how-to information are published on prominent internet sites. Almost all of these articles are pro-meditation and mindfulness and most everyone I talk to either meditates regularly, has tried it or has at least considered it. I believe the interest level is so high because our daily lives have become so stressful, and often frenetic, that we need some relief. Of course this is also a key reason for the record levels of anti-depressant prescriptions, alcoholism and other forms of “medicating” our stress and anxiety.
The challenge that we all face, literally each and every waking moment, is to take control of our own mind. Left unmanaged, our mind is driven by the survival instinct of our Human Being. As discussed in earlier posts on this blog, this behavior is hard wired into our physical being and is a constant loop of mostly stressful and counter-productive activity. Step one is that we perceive some threat, most often in our imagination as we ruminate on the past or worry about the future. This triggers a bio-chemical reaction of our breathing and the release of stress hormones. Eventually we rationalization the threat (thought) and conclude that we don’t need to worry about it and we “calm down” which means our breath returns to normal and the stress chemicals in our body dissipate. And then we repeat the cycle. For people who are feeling particularly stressed and/or anxious, this loop happens many times per day. As the days, months and years go by with this process on constant repeat, we are eventually looking for some relief either by learning to manage our minds to short-circuit the process, or sadly more often, by numbing the process through drugs or alcohol. This is a core part of life for most adult Human Beings living in today’s world. This stress and response loop is also now viewed as a primary cause of illness and disease as our bodies cannot cope with it continuously.
Meditation is a process that disconnects the wiring of this perception-thought-stress loop. During meditation we quiet the mind and (eventually) get to a place of no-thought so the loop is shut down. During this time we are truly living in the moment as we have no thoughts of the past or future occupying our awareness. Also during this time of deep meditation, we become aware of our connection to everything. I mean literally everything in the Universe. This then begins to unlock our full potential which is in fact limitless and eternal. This is the place where we can become Superhuman or Meta Human as discussed in detail in the three terrific books you see in the links posted below.
Repeating meditation daily trains the mind so we can be mindful or aware of the loop starting up and can consciously shut it down before the stress reaction happens. When you hear the terms Mindfulness, Awareness and Consciousness you’ll now know that these are basically all the same thing. It means to become The Observer or Witness of your own thoughts and reactions. It means the ability to observe this loop starting to activate which is the first step in shutting it down before it gets going. People that are mindful or aware and conscious still have to deal with their Human Being intent on survival. The difference is they can see the loop starting to activate and sometimes, or often with practice, shut it down before they feel stressed or anxious. This is the reason they seem calm when others are not and seem more deeply happy, more of the time. This is why we meditate.
Meditation and Happiness
In an earlier post on this blog I suggested that the definition of happiness is complete satisfaction with our life circumstances in any given moment. And, our ability to live in the moment rather than our mind living in either the past or the future. I believe that all four practices that I discuss in this blog are critically important to managing our Human Being, becoming more of our Soul Being and realizing this definition of happiness on a deeper and more consistent basis. I would have to say, however, if you must choose only one of the four for some reason, meditation is the one to choose! You can actually think of it this way, yoga and a plant-based diet and minimalism all help to condition the body and the mind for meditation. This practice is the one where all questions can be answered and all doors can be opened.
Thanks so much for reading and following this blog. The next topic will be Minimalism, or learning how simplifying and decluttering your life can help you become happier.
Jim
I have read all of the books I reference on this website. On the Mediation page are some how-to suggestions. The three below all include mediation as a way to unlock your full potential, and that of the Universe. If you choose to buy a book from the links I provide I may receive a commission from Amazon.
