Like many others, I was once always curious about how to do meditation. I heard of meditation, I always thought it was some mystical mumbo-jumbo; where a bald Chinese monk sitting still in the gloomy monastery on some misty hilltop or an emaciated shirtless Indian guru with his long shabby hair and beard, only wrapped with an orange saffron robe sitting motionless all by himself on the dusty roadside in some isolated Indian village.
Then when I read more and discovered that meditation wasn’t some mystical stuff shrouded in a darkened chamber filled with a supernatural aura. And I learned that meditation could be as simple as sit comfortably still and focus on your own breathing. Or even while taking my daily subway ride, with my eyes just shut for a moment and count my breathing.
I was surprised that such a simple act of concentration could actually free me from my old negative mindset, change my thoughts and how I see myself in in the different light. I discovered my true self, so to speak.
Basically the emphasize in meditation is the power of attention. Attention is merely what we allow ourselves to notice. As it is only those things we notice shape our mind, thus our lives. In other words, the content and quality of our lives depend on our level of awareness.
I also learned that meditation allows us to deal and acknowledge the confusion and suffering in life. If you refuse to accept or pretend they do not exist, then your world is out of syn. So all those difficulty and pain stuff stuff which which you ignore, they all retreat below your conscious awareness, where they will still affect your life.
Meditation can transform our minds. According to researchers, the practice of meditation can improve our lives and overall wellness. It can help to deal with our daily stress, pain, anxiety, insomnia and depression.
Many folks turn to meditation to seek balance between one’s daily work life and home life. With meditation, it opens up our attention and accept all human experiences, both good and bad.
Meditation can lead one to a state of bliss, but definitely not every single day moment of the day. We will still have good times together with the bad and the painful ones. But with meditation, we can accept inevitable setbacks easier, and cope better with the realities of life that change all the time.
For those of you who would like to know how to meditation, I strongly recommend you to read Sharon Salzberg’s book “Real Happiness” The Power of Meditation A 28-Day Program.