Author of the article Alexander Lebedev
Many people, if not almost all, at least once in their lives turned their souls to the mysterious East, to the wise arhats, the smiling Buddha, smoking sticks, prayer drums, mysterious mantras … And so I wanted to tell my friends with feigned modesty: “I took up yoga here … I meditate slowly …”, but the art of meditation is considered an art in our culture, while for a Buddhist this activity is as common as brushing your teeth in the morning.
I imagined a society that considers brushing your teeth or washing your face an art, and I felt sad.
Yes, meditation, in addition to its sacred properties, is useful for physical and mental health, it simply helps to be in a better, more balanced state of mind, it takes very little effort and time, but for a person of European upbringing, this is a simple, in general, exercise is given with with great difficulty.
I will not agitate for Buddhism, Christian prayer is also meditative in nature, but schools in which meditation can be practiced consistently and under the guidance of a teacher are often difficult to reach and accompany the training with troubles unnecessary for the common man.
They can be understood — meditation is one of the components of preparing the body and spirit for the path to Nirvana, which is the goal of a Buddhist and many religions and movements based on it, but I think that few readers of the magazine dream about it.
It’s not that I guarantee the uselessness of the teachings of any teachers, on the contrary, I know worthy people who help others to understand themselves and the world, find harmony or new opportunities, but I just would like to share some information about how this exercise is performed so that everyone , who is only interested in meditation for health, if desired, could get his share of the benefits without changing his beliefs or lifestyle.
First of all, I will reveal a terrible secret. At its simplest, meditation is just stopping thoughts.
European education is aimed at educating a worker. From childhood, we are taught what is needed for work — to read, write, count, communicate to the extent of production necessity (have you paid attention to how few words in the language describe feelings, and how many describe actions?), and mental health is rather harmful, than useful, since a nervous person is easier to manage. A modern person thinks about something almost all the time, twirling some thoughts in his head, it doesn’t matter if he wants it or not, whether he wants it or not.
Buddhist cultures are more selfish. Much attention is paid to the upbringing of the spirit, tranquility, balance, harmony. In such a situation, it is easier to accept the idea that the brain does not necessarily think best of all, and not something else.
Meditation, according to many European teachers, is necessarily associated with some kind of object, an anchor, a basis for which consciousness can cling. In one smart book, I even read the definition that meditation is «thinking intensely about something.»
How can one talk about some kind of spiritual development if the brain is constantly twitching uncontrollably with thoughts and thoughts? How can a person who constantly scratches uncontrollably, who is not able to stop this activity for a moment, become an athlete? You can only talk about mastering your body when a person can freeze and relax. A tense person cannot play sports. Even my disliked Carlos Castaneda considered it an important part of the development and called the stop of the internal dialogue.
First of all, there can be no tension during meditation. This is done easily, naturally, calmly, relaxed. Secondly, the object, of course, can take place, but this is either another exercise, or a fixation point, which may be needed only at the very beginning.
Pay attention to a distant point somewhere on the horizon. Try to consider it. Just consider as much as possible to see. You will notice that as you peer, your thoughts stop. The same thing will happen if you listen to quiet and vague sounds, sniff at faint vague smells … The brain was first adapted for perception, and only then learned to think. Therefore, with a persistent perception of the environment, he stops doing all sorts of nonsense.
When you aim, play a sport game, thread a needle, you don’t think about anything either.
If you have succeeded, even for half a second, congratulations, you have just meditated. You never know, that not for long — dashing trouble is the beginning. You can now gradually increase the duration of this state.
This is a variant of active «Yang» meditation, meditation of a warrior or a hunter, an esthete or an artist, meditation of perception, uniting oneself with the whole world.
Imagine a hunter sitting in a tree in ambush. Here he sits, sits, waits, waits … And he thought. A beast ran past him, and then the hunter started up: “Huh? What? What was it?»…
Ridiculous?
Hunters and warriors can be in a state of meditation for days and weeks, and it’s not that difficult. Very few activities in our lives require reflection. The exception is some professional occupations, but such workers need meditation even more in their free time.
Martial arts are possible only in a state of meditation, the same can be said about dancing, drawing, playing music, and other creative activities. There is a hypothesis that a European person is more prone to alcoholism, because he lacks precisely this, thoughtless state, and looks for it in an artificial miserable semblance of meditation — alcohol intoxication.
The second available option from the simple ones is pure “Yin” meditation, meditation “inside”, convenient for putting oneself, one’s soul in order.
Everyone, probably, happened to experience a state when he didn’t get enough sleep or was tired, no specific occupation happened for a close time (very often this happens in transport), while the person, almost without blinking, looks at a point that is unremarkable, no different from neighbors … And at the same time he does not think about anything. Kind of like napping with his eyes open.
This is what she is. Meditation. It is not at all difficult to learn to turn on this state at will, and, as you can easily see, in many situations you can fill some gaps with it.
A common mistake is to allocate a special time and place for meditation. Let’s say, every day at eight o’clock in the evening, half an hour for an exercise, while all the household members are strictly warned not to make noise … This, of course, helps, but binds. If you cannot meditate in almost every situation, there is little benefit from it. As a special, separate exercise, meditation is good only in very deep versions, which are not required at all to bring a socially oriented person into a decent state of mind.
It may seem unpleasant to be distracted from meditation, but it is very important to learn how to easily turn it on and off. Let you be distracted, but in a minute, half an hour, an hour, you can return to it. This is not an occupation, not a process that requires continuity, it’s just a state.
Natural state.
Look at the cat. God knows if she is thinking about anything, but when she sits at the window and just looks, she is definitely meditating, it can be seen from the still, but calm and serene posture, from the detachment and relaxation … Any cat owner will agree with me. But it is worth slamming the door of the refrigerator, as the meditation is instantly and painlessly interrupted, the cat, hysterically meowing, rushes in the hope of getting something tasty, but just as instantly returns to a peaceful state, as soon as she makes sure that the refrigerator was not opened for her.
It is very good to cook food in meditation, they say that it turns out tastier this way, and even better absorbed. In meditation, it is more pleasant to listen to music or look at pictures, in general, art.
While meditating, with some skill, it is possible to maintain a simple conversation, perform simple work, including the “conscious” part of the brain, “floating up”, only if necessary, to solve a logical problem. By the way, a rested mental system will set to work with zeal and pleasure.
Meditation is the «starting position» for many useful and interesting exercises, abilities, possibilities. It makes it easier to understand others, make intuitive decisions with a lack of information, just guess about something …
More complex classes, however, are better to practice with a teacher.
I would like to talk about how useful it is to meditate, but I will not. It is better to feel once than to smell a hundred times. Try it and see for yourself, it’s much easier than trying to take on faith the words of a person you don’t know.
To end with just one simple example: imagine two people digging the ground. One is nervous that the ground is hard, the shovel is dull, the sun is hot, it’s far from lunchtime, the fence is too, and the second one just sticks-throws, sticks-throws, sticks-throws, sticks-throws, sticks-throws, sticks-throws … Who is easier ? Who gets tired less?
You can refuse meditation, but it is better to try and make a choice consciously and based on your experience. Personally, I recommend knowing more and using more.