MEDITATION
MISCONCEPTIONS
“I Cannot Clear My Mind of Thoughts”
This is the big one.
The purpose of meditation is not to clear the mind, but to watch the mind without getting sucked into the storm of thoughts.
This ensarement leads to worry, regret, and physical anxiety.
During meditation we train the mind to detach from this slipstream.
Simple.
Sit.
Breathe.
Relax.
“Is Meditation Difficult?”
Meditation is the simplest, cheapest, most beneficial thing you can do to improve your life.
Increase Focus
Dispell Anxiety
Build Confidence
Unleash Happiness
Enhance Self Awareness
Lower Blood Pressure
Raise HRV Score
Speed Recovery From Workouts
Clarify Thinking
Resist Cravings
THE
BENEFITS
40,000
THOUGHTS
Excerpt From The Book: THE ZEN PROTOCOL
… humans experience 40,000+ thoughts per day.
These thoughts arise seemingly from nowhere.
Every waking hour.
An endless stream.
All day.
All night.
I liken the phenomenon to muscle spasms of our gray matter constantly churning out ideas and images. Memories of the past. Thoughts of the future. Hopes. Fears. Unresolved conflicts. Old romances. The slipstream never stops, and its transient nature shows that we are clearly not our thoughts.
This concept warrants repeating, again and again, like a mantra:
I am not my thoughts
I am not my thoughts
I am not my thoughts
In and of themselves, thoughts are harmless because they are not real. If we pay them no attention, they rise in our consciousness and quickly dissipate. They have zero effect on us—until we allow the mind to attach to a thought and its energy spills throughout the body.
THEATER
OF THE
MIND’S
EYE
Excerpt From The Book: THE INFINITE TAO
Everything we experience occurs within the Theater of the Mind’s Eye.
Every sight.
Every sound.
Every smell.
Every taste.
Every touch.
Every external encounter is mediated through the body, processed by the brain, and finally, projected into that multi-sensory auditorium.
The theater is so high-tech that it’s where we also experience every thought, memory, belief, fantasy, and fear.
Every.
Single.
One.
Forget the external world. This isn’t a platitude or meme: the world truly exists within.
As in a theater, throughout the day we experience a series of illusions strung together, and as with many movies, much of the action is narrated by an actor.
SUMMARY: For consistent peace and happiness, despite life’s circumstances, we must understand the mind and train daily to control our inner Theaters.
This is the true purpose of meditation.
ASPECTS
OF THE
MIND
In the Theater of the Mind there exist three facets:
The Screen
The Witness
The Projector Light
The Screen contains all that we experience with each of our five senses, and also our memories and fantasies.
The Witness is our attention. With meditation we learn to ‘wake up’ and realize we are watching a movie screen. We next learn to back away from the screen, one row at a time, so that we are not sucked into the emotional drama—unless we choose to immerse ourselves in the unfolding.
This is how we gain control over doubts, anxieties, cravings, grief, regret, etc.
From the last row of the theater, we finally gain the masterful ability to slip in and out of the movie, depending on whether the drama is something we wish to fully immerse ourselves in.
This is true freedom.
Freedom is happiness.
WHO DOESN’T WANT HAPPINESS?
The Projector Light illuminates the mind’s continuous film strip.
This light is our Pure Awareness.
Think of it like the silence during a conversation:
existing before a word is spoken…
after a word fades…
but also beneath all words.
The Pure Awareness is Always there… and it is Unaffected by the contents of the slipstream.
In this way, our Pure Awareness is Infinite and Invincible.
The more we meditate, the easier it is to not only distance ourselves from the inner and outer drama, but also to shift our attention from the Screen to the Projector Light, and back.
Think of your psyche like a projector lens with smudges and debris accumulated on the surface.
This shifting focuses the light onto those smudges and debris, burning them away.
This process clarifies the psyche, leaving us energized and joyful.
HOW TO
MEDITATE
THE x3-Rs
Excerpt From The Book: THE ZEN PROTOCOL
The actual practice of meditation is easy. Find a quiet room and sit in a comfortable chair. You might feel restless when first sitting in silence. This is normal, as we are so accustomed to stimulation, stress, and distraction. So I advise students to start each session by closing their eyes and gently inhaling for six seconds… and exhaling for six, gently repeating the cycle.
In
Out
In
Out
Two minutes should dissipate the buzzy energy, but if you find yourself in an even more agitated state, continue until you feel settled.
Now, slowly open your eyes. Take a few more slow breaths, then close your eyes and gently introduce the silent mantra OM. Don’t read much into it. This is a universal sound with no meaning. As our entire reality is created by vibrations in quantum fields, a theory posits that the internal repetition of this silent mantra tunes our bodies and minds to the primordial hum that resonates beneath the entire universe.
Either way, continue repeating this silent mantra at a comfortable pace. Soon, you will find yourself following a thought. Perfect. When this happens, employ what I call the x3-Rs:
Recognize the thought.
Release the thought.
Return to the mantra.
OM
OM
OM
OM
Continue repeating the mantra, and when you find yourself attaching to an image, idea, memory, or fantasy, simply:
Recognize...
Release...
Return
Continue for fifteen to thirty minutes.
When done, your nervous system will be in a much more relaxed state, so it’s important to gently rouse. Keep your eyes closed and stop repeating the mantra. Sit quiet and breathe for a few minutes, then slowly open your eyes.
Now smile.
You did it.
INSIGHTS
As you Recognize a thought, notice the two ‘objects’ in your mind: (1) the thought and (2) your awareness of the thought. This is a critical signpost on the Path of mental training:
I am not my thoughts
I am the witness
that observes my thoughts
SUMMARY: Twice A Day… 15 Minutes Each Session
THE
CROWD
Whenever a thought or emotion of desire or fear comes to your mind, just turn away from it… I am not talking of suppression. Just refuse attention… It has nothing to do with effort. Just turn away, look between the thoughts, rather than at the thoughts. When you happen to walk in a crowd, you do not fight every man you meet—you just find your way between. When you fight you invite a fight, but when you do not resist, you meet no resistance. When you refuse to play the game you are out of it.