When you practice making the shift from doing and thinking to being (living in the moment) you discover how to align yourself with a deeper current of meaning and belonging. You may get in touch with personal feelings and aspirations that have long remained hidden from your conscious awareness. Or you may connect with a more universal source of purpose and direction; what some people call the higher self or inner guidance.
As your meditation gradually opens you to the subtlety and richness of each fleeting but irreplaceable moment, you may naturally begin to see through the veil of appearances to the sacred reality at the heart of things, and you eventually may come to realize that the very same sacred reality is actually who you are in your own heart of hearts. This deep insight - what the sages and masters call "waking up from the illusion of separation" - cuts through and ultimately eliminates loneliness and alienation and opens you to the beauty of the human condition.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
5 Benefits of Meditation
Here are 5 benefits that meditation can bring to your life:
1. Increased focus and concentration. As you become adept at staying on task as you follow your breaths or recite your mantra, you can easily transfer this skill to working at your computer or playing ball with friends.
2. Greater endurance and longer attention span. As you gradually increase the length of your meditations from 10 to 15 to 20 minutes or more, you gradually build your power to pay attention longer. As a result, you may find that you don't get so easily burned out or discouraged when you turn your attention to an extended work project or other demanding activity.
2. Being in the moment, free from expectations. Even though you may have a particular goal in mind - for example, winning the race, completing the project, landing the ball in a tiny cup 300 yards away, etc, - the paradox is that you're more likely to succeed if you set aside your expectations and keep your attention focused on the precise movements or tasks you need to execute right now.
3. Enhanced mental and perceptual clarity. One of the fortuitous side effects of keeping your mind on the moment is that your senses become sharper and your mind quicker and more attuned to subtle details which comes in quite handy when you're trying to do something well.
4. Minimal distractions. The more regularly you meditate, the more quickly distractions fade into the background as your mind settles down and becomes one-pointed. Needless to say, you work or play more effectively without a million irrelevant thoughts chattering away inside your head.
5. Being in the moment, free from expectations. Even though you may have a particular goal in mind - for example, winning the race, completing the project, landing the ball in a tiny cup 300 yards away, etc, - the paradox is that you're more likely to succeed if you set aside your expectations and keep your attention focused on the precise movements or tasks you need to execute right now.
1. Increased focus and concentration. As you become adept at staying on task as you follow your breaths or recite your mantra, you can easily transfer this skill to working at your computer or playing ball with friends.
2. Greater endurance and longer attention span. As you gradually increase the length of your meditations from 10 to 15 to 20 minutes or more, you gradually build your power to pay attention longer. As a result, you may find that you don't get so easily burned out or discouraged when you turn your attention to an extended work project or other demanding activity.
2. Being in the moment, free from expectations. Even though you may have a particular goal in mind - for example, winning the race, completing the project, landing the ball in a tiny cup 300 yards away, etc, - the paradox is that you're more likely to succeed if you set aside your expectations and keep your attention focused on the precise movements or tasks you need to execute right now.
3. Enhanced mental and perceptual clarity. One of the fortuitous side effects of keeping your mind on the moment is that your senses become sharper and your mind quicker and more attuned to subtle details which comes in quite handy when you're trying to do something well.
4. Minimal distractions. The more regularly you meditate, the more quickly distractions fade into the background as your mind settles down and becomes one-pointed. Needless to say, you work or play more effectively without a million irrelevant thoughts chattering away inside your head.
5. Being in the moment, free from expectations. Even though you may have a particular goal in mind - for example, winning the race, completing the project, landing the ball in a tiny cup 300 yards away, etc, - the paradox is that you're more likely to succeed if you set aside your expectations and keep your attention focused on the precise movements or tasks you need to execute right now.
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