If you’re unaware of the benefits of meditation then I encourage you to do some homework.
Once you’re in the know, if you’re anything like myself (despite the evidence) finding time to do one more thing–still seems like an impossible feat.
The brain however, is the most archaic form of a CPU, and just like those of modern day, failure to reboot from time to time, is poor maintenance. So if you haven’t gotten into the habit of scheduling some time (guilty as charged), start taking advantage of a few moments after sleep, or even during interrupted sleep. You may be thinking, but isn’t that what SLEEP is for? …rebooting? How much closer to a computer shut down can you get?
Let me differentiate: Sleep is simply a pendulum type shift in the way your body exerts energy. When you are awake, most of the energy you generate is used outside of the body, to walk…talk…eat…function. When you are asleep, most of the energy you generate is put to use INSIDE the body in the form of biochemical reactions that help repair/prepare you for a new day. Nothing has shut down by any stretch of the imagination, you are just unaware (the key to all of this) of the activity. Babies require a tremendous amount of sleep for this very reason, there is so much activity taking place inside of their tiny bodies at lightening speed; it’s the periods of sleep that most helps them to grow.
But to be still, to meditate, this type of intentional shut down is something we must learn to take advantage of if we want to grow spiritually. (Stick with me…this isn’t a topic solely for the holy.) All of us are a body and a spirt, in constant communication with a mind. Just as the body has requirements to grow and evolve, so does the spirit. Your body, is a summation of tangibles but your spirit is a summation of intangibles: awareness, consciousness, focus, self-control, love, beliefs, the list goes on… Anything that comprises who you are, that cannot be touched, is part of your spiritual self. If reaching your full potential is of interest to you, you must develop this part of self as well.. Since this type of growth will not come via some biological process, you must be awake (not asleep) to get this work done. Being still takes practice, it’s not as easy as it seems, but what is?
Clear as mud? Here is a pseudo summary: If you are thinking about a person, place, thing, and multiple combinations of the 3, you are just a deep breath away from where you need to be. If your mind has been taken over by an intangible such as the repetition of your breath, or a repetitive sound (self generated, or produced), you’re on the right path. You’ll also know you’re on the right patch when you become aware of activity in your mind that will attempt to interrupt your bask in silence. When you start thinking about what you did yesterday or what you’re planning to do tomorrow and you find that you have the wherewithal to pay no attention to those thoughts, you have most certainly found the sweet spot in stillness. In the midst of a few restless nights, I decided to give this concept a shot, and felt instantly transformed.
While I’m still a ways away from Deepak status, I’ve managed to take a life changing step in the right direction (in the still of the night) and can finally make sense of the following statement:
“The thought I’m having thoughts may be the most important thought you have ever thought, because before you had that thought, you may not have even known you were having thoughts. You probably thought you were your thoughts.” — David Simon
Own and On 