I loved this piece until I came to the "meditation" part. As one who began to practice "meditation" many decades ago, my concern with the word "meditation" is that it can mean so many things that are NOT what is intended.
The premise that we must cultivate self-awareness in all situations, be aware of our afflicted states and take responsibility for them is clear to me. Sitting quietly and breathing into self-awareness, or being engaged with others and staying self-aware with the help of breath, seems more useful than the abstract idea of meditation. This work of self-awareness is very humble, very simple. It is giving attention to thought and feeling and investigating and releasing those states of consciousness that are not constructive, that are judgmental and hurtful because they are born of hurt and fear. So often grief is a doorway to love and living fully with awareness is the meditation.
On Mar 22, 2011 jon madian wrote :
I loved this piece until I came to the "meditation" part. As one who began to practice "meditation" many decades ago, my concern with the word "meditation" is that it can mean so many things that are NOT what is intended.
The premise that we must cultivate self-awareness in all situations, be aware of our afflicted states and take responsibility for them is clear to me. Sitting quietly and breathing into self-awareness, or being engaged with others and staying self-aware with the help of breath, seems more useful than the abstract idea of meditation. This work of self-awareness is very humble, very simple. It is giving attention to thought and feeling and investigating and releasing those states of consciousness that are not constructive, that are judgmental and hurtful because they are born of hurt and fear. So often grief is a doorway to love and living fully with awareness is the meditation.