As your meditation practice improves, you may face unexpected problems, and the ways in which these problems can be addressed may not be as obvious as you would like them to be. Here again, it is worth returning to the metaphor of climbing a mountain peak. For example, halfway to the top, you suddenly find yourself in an impassable glacier, a deep crevice, or a steep cliff... Or suddenly there is a hurricane wind and snow, and you need to find a safe haven as soon as possible. What will you do in this case? Maybe you will take out your mountaineering gear from your backpack and try to remember everything that took place during the preparation for the ascent? Or maybe you'll bring in your intuition and start improvising?
The good thing is that, as I mentioned earlier in this chapter, for thousands of years thousands of people have already climbed to this summit, and they have created tools and detailed maps of the terrain, with the help of which you will be able to overcome all these obstacles with minimal risk to yourself. If, for example, your meditation activities are hindered by strong emotions such as anger, fear, frustration, or grief, and do not allow you to calm down and concentrate, you should use methods that will weaken the effect of these emotions. Or if you are affected by any other distractions, such as drowsiness, anxiety and over-excitement, or if you are in doubt, you can use proven methods to remove such obstacles and continue your studies.
Involvement in the current situation: meditation as a lifestyle
Although I describe many different methods of meditation, the main approach in this book is what Buddhists call inclusiveness - the current situation (or just inclusiveness), i.e. the constant, ongoing attention to the events.
Based on my many years of meditation experience, I have come to the conclusion that inclusion, which combines concentration and receptive awareness, is one of the simplest methods available to beginners. In addition, it is extremely easy to adapt to the intense rhythm of modern life and the busy schedule of the working day, in which most of us have to act. After all, you, like me, probably want to live a more harmonious, loving and stress-free life without going to a monastery.
In fact, the beauty you need, your belonging to human society and your love are not somewhere in the distance - they are available to you here and now. To make sure that this is really the case, you just need to clear your brains and open your eyes wider. This is exactly what the practice of "being involved in the current situation" serves. When you pay enough attention to your every minute experience and your every minute feelings, thus you do not allow yourself to indulge in the "sleep in reality", as well as cares and anxieties generated by your consciousness, and constantly return to the clarity, accuracy and simplicity of the present moment, in which your real, not fictional life takes place.
The most important thing in being involved in the current situation is that you do not have to limit your practice to specific places and times - you can practice awakening (true, not imaginary) and attention to the details of the moment, wherever you are and at any time of the day or night.
Journeys that attempt to pass off as meditation
Now that we have made a brief overview of the upcoming journey into the world of meditation, we should look at a number of routes that at first glance look like meditation, but take you in a very different direction.
Of course, almost every action can turn into meditation if you do it with full awareness or concentration. For example, you can meditate on dishes, drive a car, and talk on the phone.
However, people who are not very good at meditation can confuse certain actions with meditation, while the purpose of these actions is completely different. Some people, for example, claim that meditation is reading a newspaper or watching a favorite TV program. I don't judge - maybe they're right.
Below are a number of examples of pseudo-meditations that are certainly popular, but not as useful as real meditation.
- Reflections. In Western countries, the term meditation is often used to refer to some kind of concentrated reflection on a particular topic (e.g., sometimes they say, "I'm going to meditate on this issue"). Although high-level thinking plays a role in some meditation methods, it is very little reminiscent of the painful and often conflictual process that is commonly referred to as meditation. By the way, heavy thinking often deprives people of the opportunity to participate in the process of meditation.