Extraordinary Quietness

Meditation is to find out whether the brain, with all the activities, all its experiences, can be absolutely quiet. Not forced, because the moment you force, there is duality. 

The entity that says, 'I would like to have marvelous experiences, therefore I must force my brain to be quiet,' will never do it. 

But if you begin to inquire, observe, listen to all the movements of thought, its conditioning, its pursuits, its fears, its pleasures, watch how the brain operates, then you will see that the brain becomes extraordinarily quiet; that quietness is not sleep but is tremendously active and therefore quiet.

A big dynamo that is working perfectly hardly makes a sound; it is only when there is friction that there is noise.



Krishnamurti

I find this to be a wonderful image of a mind meditating. Often, we think of quiet as being inactive; but here Krishnamurti reminds us that the truly quiet mind is actually filled with activity. The only noise comes from friction.  

The Greatest Adventure

Meditation is adventure, the greatest adventure the
human mind can undertake. Meditation is just to be,
not doing anything – no action, no thought, no
emotion. You just are and it is a sheer delight.

From where does this delight come when you are not
doing anything? It comes from nowhere, or it comes
from everywhere. It is uncaused, because the
existence is made of the stuff called joy.

OSHO, The Orange Book Of Meditations


For me, meditation is the greatest adventure because it opens you to all that is real. It brings sheer joy and lifts the veil that separates us from each other and all beings. It's true the body goes nowhere, there is no action required, and yet, it is such vastness and beyond the understanding of the mind you find joy. Joy that comes from no-thing. No requirements or prerequisites, just be...

What I Have Learned So Far

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of - indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

~ Mary Oliver, from New and Selected Poems

I continue to be taught at the knee of this grand dame of poetry. Mary Oliver has been writing since she was 14! Born in 1935, Oliver is one of America's best-loved poets, having won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, along with many other prestigious awards.  What I love about her is the way she combines nature and deep heart-felt truths. She is able to draw into the reader's depths to find both joy and grief, suffering and jubilation.

Here is reminds us that sitting is just one part of meditation. The gospel of light is indeed "the crossroads of indolence or action."

Thoughts are like actors

Thoughts of themselves have no substance; let them arise and pass away unheeded. Thoughts will not take form of themselves, unless they are grasped by the attention; if they are ignored, there will be no appearing and no disappearing.
                                                                            – Ashvaghosha

I remember when I first heard the Shakespeare quote about being actors on the stage of life. I was in high school English class and it really struck me in a way that not many things had previously. As a small child I did have several experiences of feeling so open and spacious, so filled with light and curious about what life is and what my place in it might be.

Often as we grow up, we lose that natural curiosity and fall into our roles on the stage of life without questioning why. We become quite expert at playing our part and the emotions we experience become so real as we attach to them.

In meditation, we detach from our thoughts and emotions and become the audience. To continue the analogy of life being a play, our thoughts and emotions are the actors. Like actors and actresses everywhere, they love a responsive audience. But if no one shows up to watch the play, they give up and close the show. If we can allow the emotions and thoughts to be there without responding to them, they will soon dissolve and the mind will grow stronger and more one-pointed.  The more we practice meditation, the easier it is to see emotions and thoughts for what they really are and to know who we are.