gratitude

The tastiest fruit of a regular meditation practice is a deep and ongoing sense of gratitude.

By sitting in Silence and just noticing what is presently arising we realize that everything that appears before us is not us. Then we effortlessly fall into awe, wonder, and appreciation for everything just as it is.

Gratitude and contentment are the signs of a winning meditation practice.

Quran 40:61 It is God who has given you the night in which to rest and the day in which to see. God is truly bountiful to people, but most people do not give thanks.

bob

not about 'me'

A regular meditation practice consisting of just noticing that which is currently arising leads to the obvious fact that everything belongs … even those 'pesky' thoughts that jump, hover, and crawl about the mind.

When we see that everything belongs, we lose focus on "me" and turn our awareness towards the mystery that is unfolding in front of us … we see that it is not about what "I" expect from life but rather about what life expects from "me".

The month of August this year is Ramadan. Ramadan is a time of worship where Muslims around the world give up food, water, and sex from the first light of dawn till sundown. Ramadan is an opportunity to gain by giving up and to prosper through turning away from our daily routine towards The Divine.

So it is with our meditation practice … which is giving up our attention to our thoughts, feelings, and body sensations in order to grow closer to the Divine.

I hope your practice (of release) is leading you to a profound realization of the following quote attributed to the Buddha:

"Just as a man who steps upon a serpent shutters in fear but then looks down and notices it is only a rope, so it was that one day I realized that what I was calling "I" cannot be found, and all fear and anxiety vanished with my mistake."

losing our heads

Spiritual joys come only from solitude,


So the wise choose the bottom of the well,


For the darkness down there beats
The darkness up here.


He who follows at the heels of the world
 Never saves his head.




Rumi

what is not you

Notice that while meditating anything that arises (a thought, a feeling, or a sense impression) is not you. What is arising in the present moment is absolutely impersonal; see this and you will come to know how very free you have always been.

As always, these 'spiritual insights' are not new news. Here we have the same idea in poetic form.

'Tis all a Checker board of Night and Days

Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:

Hither and tither moves, and mates, and slays,

And one by one back in the Closet lays.'

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

notice,

bob

aid to practice

What is the best aid to meditation practice?

Some say that the best aid to our practice is proper food; some say it is a good teacher; some say it is earnestness. But I say it is a forgiving heart.

After all the purpose of meditation does not have to do with the body, wisdom, or achievement … the purpose of meditation is to see a forgiven world.

what say you?

bob

Meditation is release ... empty yourself utterly and all will become clear. This is not new news by the way. It was stated in strong terms over 2000 years ago:

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple".

Luke 14:33

so simple,

bob