So meditation has guided.
Inspired.
And transform my whole life in the most profound ways.
But of course,
It can take time to really deepen into.
And feel its transformative effects on our life.
For me.
It's really important for meditation to actually be helping and supporting my daily life.
Otherwise,
What's the point really?
We sit on the meditation cushion for half an hour a day.
And then get up and get entangled in our daily life struggles.
And this word hasn't really changed anything for us.
Except for a possible half an hour.
Peace in the morning.
Most people when they begin their meditation journey.
Think that in meditation we are trying to clear all thoughts.
And have nothing going on in the mind.
A quiet mind.
Now that sounds lovely and there are some practices that are like that.
But I'm not really sure how much it benefits us.
All that much.
In my own experience over 25 years of Tibetan Buddhist practice,
I found that meditation is much more of an inward journey.
Journey of deep self-discovery.
Somatic awareness,
So embodiment.
And awareness of the inner processes of the mind.
So it's coming back into deep relationship with the body and mind.
Our true nature is actually very fluid.
We consist of the movement of energy and processes.
Constantly moving and transforming.
In our usual daily awareness,
We get very reactive to those inner processes.
When there's thoughts coming through,
We have an almost instinctual reaction to them.
When pain arises.
When emotions come up.
We have a mental and a somatic reaction to those processes.
We don't want them to be there,
So there's a kind of constriction around them.
But this only leads to the nervous system being tense.
And a kind of inner war going on as well.
In meditation on the inward journey I was talking about.
If we can get used to noticing the fluidity of all these inner processes.
And getting used to releasing that contraction around them.
And allows them to just move through.
We don't need to get stuck to them and cause upset.
The analogy that's often used is be like the riverbank.
That container that allows everything to just flow through.
And the more comfortable we get with softening around experiences.
And allowing them to just be as they are.
The more peaceful we feel.
We don't get stuck in constant reaction to what's going on in our life.
When emotions arise.
Whether that's anxiety,
Anger.
Or whatever it might be.
I can move through much more easily.
And we don't feel so controlled by them.
When pain arises.
We feel much more comfortable to carry on with our lives as well as possible.
Even though the pain might be there.
We feel much less reactive.
Much safer in the body.
And much more peaceful.
To a much healthier relationship with ourselves.
And our lives.
Of course this takes a little time,
Like most things.
But the journey there is always deeply helpful and every step along the way as well.
So keep meditating,
Keep exploring.
And try to enjoy the experience of your body and your mind.
I hope this was helpful in some way and thanks for listening.
