A popular and mostly healthy way of dealing with stressful issues is thinking in terms of two possibilities:
a) There is something I can do about it so I will and therefore I won't worry.
b) There is nothing I can do about it so I might as well not worry about it.
I try to keep these things in mind, although it's one of those things that's easy to understand intellectually without really feeling that it's true. It's easy to know that you can't do anything about your terminal illness but it's hard not to worry about it just the same. So, why do we tell ourselves that? It's been my experience that we say this to ourselves because if we think that we can't do anything about it then that will somehow change the outcome; that things will work out for the best somehow. Like a misguided hope, we can fool ourselves into justifying aloofness and irresponsibility (I speak from experience). We all know, intellectually and experientially, this is not always the case.
We say that we can do something about it, so we WILL, doggonit. However, we don't always pick up the guitar and write a hit song or study hard and win a Nobel Prize because frankly, we can't always be bothered. It almost never works out that way and there are far too many outside forces to truly take into account.
Still, reality has a way of running ahead of you, whether you are determined to move ahead or surrender yourself to happenstance. You can't do anything about and you can't not do anything about it; reality just runs at a steady pace and you are powerless to stop it or slow it down. In both cases I think there's a possibility that the thinker has separated themselves from Happening. I think that's why people should practice deep meditation.
Meditation isn't just a relaxation technique. If it were then it would just be called "sitting relaxation". I've heard a few people tell me that it's great that I've started meditation, but that it's not for them. How many people reading this think that they can't sit still for that long or that they simply just can't quiet their minds for any period of time? Anybody who knows me should be aware that I'm a fidgeting ball of thoughts that jumps from topic to topic. It's especially that type of person that should be slowing down and letting their intellectual and emotional dust settle. It's not easy at first; there's a reason I call it my "practice". The reasons behind it aren't to stop thinking about your problems, or let your muscles relax; those are happy side-effects. I'm beginning to realize that the real reason is to stop thinking in words for a little bit of the day.
I try to keep these things in mind, although it's one of those things that's easy to understand intellectually without really feeling that it's true. It's easy to know that you can't do anything about your terminal illness but it's hard not to worry about it just the same. So, why do we tell ourselves that? It's been my experience that we say this to ourselves because if we think that we can't do anything about it then that will somehow change the outcome; that things will work out for the best somehow. Like a misguided hope, we can fool ourselves into justifying aloofness and irresponsibility (I speak from experience). We all know, intellectually and experientially, this is not always the case.
We say that we can do something about it, so we WILL, doggonit. However, we don't always pick up the guitar and write a hit song or study hard and win a Nobel Prize because frankly, we can't always be bothered. It almost never works out that way and there are far too many outside forces to truly take into account.
Still, reality has a way of running ahead of you, whether you are determined to move ahead or surrender yourself to happenstance. You can't do anything about and you can't not do anything about it; reality just runs at a steady pace and you are powerless to stop it or slow it down. In both cases I think there's a possibility that the thinker has separated themselves from Happening. I think that's why people should practice deep meditation.
Meditation isn't just a relaxation technique. If it were then it would just be called "sitting relaxation". I've heard a few people tell me that it's great that I've started meditation, but that it's not for them. How many people reading this think that they can't sit still for that long or that they simply just can't quiet their minds for any period of time? Anybody who knows me should be aware that I'm a fidgeting ball of thoughts that jumps from topic to topic. It's especially that type of person that should be slowing down and letting their intellectual and emotional dust settle. It's not easy at first; there's a reason I call it my "practice". The reasons behind it aren't to stop thinking about your problems, or let your muscles relax; those are happy side-effects. I'm beginning to realize that the real reason is to stop thinking in words for a little bit of the day.
Let me be clear. I love words and language, the most beautiful of inventions.
HOWEVER
Words bring clarity but also confusion. They compartmentalize but also obfuscate.
To those that think I'm just spewing new-age piffle: well, I kind of am. I'm kind of stating the obvious, but it's been a revelation to me. To think of things not as letters on a page or as a sound from one's mouth to my ear but as real things and experiences, is to look at the same thing and see something else and it's kind of humbling in a weird way. Shit, I'm getting tangential again.
Words bring clarity but also confusion. They compartmentalize but also obfuscate.
To those that think I'm just spewing new-age piffle: well, I kind of am. I'm kind of stating the obvious, but it's been a revelation to me. To think of things not as letters on a page or as a sound from one's mouth to my ear but as real things and experiences, is to look at the same thing and see something else and it's kind of humbling in a weird way. Shit, I'm getting tangential again.
The great modern Hindu sage, Sri Ramana Maharshi, once said, "Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices." He describes meditation as, "Sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant meditation it gains strength."
What I take away from that, is to stop thinking in terms of what you can and cannot do about your daily troubles but to live as a part of Happening; as a part of Now. Dividing your issues into things you can and can't fix is a good way of looking at it as long as it's not a trick to make you feel better, but a cessation of distracting and unnecessary worries. After all, if something's going wrong it can be painful even if you have no other option. It's not as easy as just putting it out of your mind. That's why I have been meditating for nearly a year, and why I won't stop until I am not.
Everybody and I mean everybody, is at war with themselves. I believe that pain comes from distraction by the past and future and is not escaped from, but overcome by constant participation in the Now. I do mean constant participation. You will never have "made it," you will never be "done," but it's going to be ok.
What I take away from that, is to stop thinking in terms of what you can and cannot do about your daily troubles but to live as a part of Happening; as a part of Now. Dividing your issues into things you can and can't fix is a good way of looking at it as long as it's not a trick to make you feel better, but a cessation of distracting and unnecessary worries. After all, if something's going wrong it can be painful even if you have no other option. It's not as easy as just putting it out of your mind. That's why I have been meditating for nearly a year, and why I won't stop until I am not.
Everybody and I mean everybody, is at war with themselves. I believe that pain comes from distraction by the past and future and is not escaped from, but overcome by constant participation in the Now. I do mean constant participation. You will never have "made it," you will never be "done," but it's going to be ok.
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