 |
| Crtsy: Sciencemag.org |
I believe in the signs of the Universe. When I keep bumping into something repeatedly,
I strongly feel a pull towards it and realise the need to pay heed. Now the
Universe sending signs does not mean it will come down to you shake hands and
say “ Hello Sir, You are expected to write a 500 word essay on the
subject I have been throwing at you the last few days .” That isn’t going to happen!! So, we need to figure out what it is that the
sign is trying to imply. Understanding or recognising and trying to work around
a sign in itself is to be aware of the moments.
So I have been stumbling upon this word since the last few
days. Since I don’t know what else to do
with it , I am sharing my experience and outlook on the subject!! MEDITATION – a
free halo and the brightest LED torch comes with it which you can fix on your spine or head. You don’t believe it ? Try
telling someone you meditate and they would instantly bless you with these free
items J Very Jokes wonly ;) Every time I mention the word mediation I feel
like an infant stepping into a large hall with a tall roof full of toys …..excited,
confused and small !! Its been about two
years since I started sitting with a stick trying to get my wicked mind to obey!
To give a quick overview of my character ..i am that kind of person who is
easily bored and easily entertained. I need to keep my restless cells active to
feel useful. If at the end of the day I realise that I have just spent the day
at home doing my routine mundane chores, I may sink into a low and dig a deeper
grave thinking and wondering what an unproductive life I lead!!! So as to avoid
this kind of thinking I used to keep myself up and running! I am also a curious
cat. So seeking and being curious about things are in the gene. Various
incidents combined with my outlook and seeking nature made me sail into the
vast ocean of meditation. It was insane!!
Every time I tried to meditate my mind unleashed a stream of frenzied thoughts
as if they had been suppressed forever! My
monkey mind kept swaying from one limb to the other . It included mental arguments,
preparing a list of provisions I needed to get, wondering why my son is not
scoring well, thinking if I am a good parent, trying to recollect if I loaded
the washing machine, huffing and puffing over the dirty dishes in the sink, and
the list goes on and on ! So this is how my meditation went on for a while. Forget getting close to God, it didn’t seem
like I was even getting close to reducing the number of issues my mind was
fretting over!!! They just seemed to
increase everyday and to add to the misery,
there were these songs that kept playing in my head. Ok I know what you
are thinking !! Sorry peeps, its not
those soothing ones that can actually lull one into the swaying motion of the
waves making one float and slip into a
higher level of consciousness . Nop, its not one of those….its the likes of ‘Mukkala
Mukkabala’ or ‘Tu cheez badi hain mast mast’ that kept grinning at me !! Not
happening! I told myself, this is NOT Meditation. And the kind of transformation I had expected
in my character and outlook was also not happening. When I told people I meditate, I got raised
eyebrows ! I never claimed to be Sadhguru or Shri Shri Ravishankar, but the
moment I mentioned meditation ,that was the expectation! If not Sadhguru or Shri
Shri, atleast Dalai Lama or Buddha !!!!!
Ok, so now coming back to my sorry state with regards to meditation, I had lost
hope on quietening my mind because it was getting rebellious than ever!
I lost hope, true, but I did not give up !! I still made it
a point to sit down everyday in the same place and talk to myself. It later
became my time of conversation with myself. I started realizing that it is
actually the time when I know and account for all that is going on inside my head and heart.
Atleast I was talking to myself if not to the creator. Gradually, very very
gradually, I realized the voices inside my head have softened or rather I needed
to strain to hear what they were. They were still there but not as vivid as
they once used to be ! And what an achievement, the songs have also switched to
the soft ones, ones which can actually translocate me. Now, this
for me personally is a step , however small it is, it is a step forward
. This is meditation in the sense of sitting down with closed eyes and journeying inward.
If I am to take mediation to the next level of diluting it
into the 24 hours of a day, I experience another level of consciousness and
understanding. I have learned to pause,
observe, breathe and absorb. I am able to notice the butterflies, I am able to
experience the breeze in its full glory, I notice the expression in peoples
eyes, I focus and enjoy the food I eat. I see more, I notice more, I appreciate
more, I value more! I have a lot of respect for people who write on the
smallest aspects of life, the photographers who pause to capture an ant, dew
resting on the leaves, the floating clouds, the smile on a child’s face or even
a pleasant candid moment between friends. It means they have paused, they have
absorbed, they have been in that moment. This for me is the highest form of meditation.
Appreciating the Now! It is about not worrying about the spilt milk and also
not being anxious about the loss in the sale of milk from the cow you never had!
But as humans, we tend to fall into the trap of negative thinking. That’s ok, as long as we make an effort to
rise with chin up. Try not to be here and there. Either be here or there! But I
know that we are all taught to multi task to survive in this rat race . That’s also
ok !! Try , if you are finding it difficult, try harder J
So my very little nuggets of wisdom my dear ones would be
that, please appreciate the beauty of what is around you. Don’t miss out on the
magic of little things while seeking greater pleasure. Enjoy everything that
you do. Even if it is a problem resolving, be in it and give your cent percent to it. Meditation is not just silencing your mind, it
is also learning to live in the moment and being happy where you are , creating an awareness which eventually guides you
into a consciousness shift! Live in the moment and Happy Mediating J
