liberation

The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.

 
—ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879–1955)

There are many ways to attain liberation from the small-self; meditation is one of them.  Regular meditation practice exposes the nonexistence of the 'ego' and shows that liberation from the self is unnecessary. 

Liberation has always been; you only believe otherwise. Silence illuminates this fact.
bob

meditation is emptying

Meditation is emptying.  When we are empty we see things as they are not as we think they ought to be.  When we see things as they are we fall helplessly into gratitude - we see what God created not what we created.  This perspective brings the greatest Peace.

So ... how to empty?  Here are some wonderful instructions from the Course in Miracles:


Simply do this; Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself.   Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed.   Hold onto nothing.   Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything.   Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hand unto your God.

Course in Miracles Lesson 189

give it a try,
bob

tyranny of becoming

"Meditation is turning "inward." Most of the time our deep-seated beliefs go unnoticed due to our focus on habitual day-to-day activities. When we sit in Silence and relax, our "thought life" becomes visible."  

One deep seated belief that leaps at us during meditation practice is: "I am not ok right now but if I do x,y, or z, I will be ok sometime in the future." For example: "If I could just lose 10 pounds I would feel so much better about myself".

Living our lives out of the belief  that doing something now will bring about future happiness can be called the "tyranny of becoming". Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to improve our lives in some way, but when the "tyranny of becoming" becomes our life motto and daily mantra, it blocks the real freedom and happiness found only in the present moment.

Ramana Maharshi, the famous Indian sage, said: "you are already free but only believe otherwise".  

This says it all; we only take up spiritual practice because we believe that we are broken in some way. In the present moment when thoughts subside - is this true? Where is the YOU to be broken?

turn inward and notice,
bob

difficulty in practice

When we find that our meditation practice becomes difficult, it means that we have expectations about what should be happening during our session.  We may find ourselves having 'noisy mind' but perhaps we want to be surrounded by golden light, and some feelings of bliss. 

Removing difficulty in practice is easy … simply make your goal for the session to be 'noisy mind' - try hard not to have feelings of bliss during the session.  

Enjoy and welcome noisy mind - take what you get during each session - you will come to realize it is not you.

peace on you,
bob