religion won’t allow me to meditate, and
my favorite – I’m not like those people, I may need it but I’m not like that.
I am here to tell you that these meditation myths are just not true. Not only are the myths about meditation not true, these myths about meditation are completely impractical. Today’s busy times and diverse cultures create great need for meditation.
Again, the word meditation brings up quite a few strange images that are accompanied by odd beliefs and feelings. Some of those feelings include confusion, but most include fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of the weird. For most people (of all religions and spiritual backgrounds) the unknown is definitely something that is feared. Many of my students, as well as myself, have shared similar feelings of confusion and fear before practicing meditation regularly. For me, one of meditation practices I had seen in the media projected the image of Buddhists who practice the form of Zen meditation. Zen meditation is the form of meditation that tries to get you to empty your mind and attain mindfulness. This practice may be beneficial for some and yet for the beginner it can be daunting. Zen instructs you to sit in front of an empty white wall and stay there until your mind has emptiness. This is nearly impossible for most people. In today’s world we have so many responsibilities that limit our time and our ability to have a completely quiet mind.
Students who thought they couldn’t or wouldn’t meditate and learned our techniques, share:
1 A student new to meditation shared that she thought of meditation as just sitting there, which to her meant meditation was a passive and sedentary activity. She expressed that with her busy schedule and overwhelming responsibilities she did not have time to “just sit there.” Although meditation had been recommended to her to improve her health and overall well-being, she did not see the point and continued to believe meditation to be a waste of time rather than a practice (or part of her life) that allows one to have greater awareness, and act more wisely and skillfully in the world. After learning to meditate and using our techniques she has found more happiness and peace in all areas of her life.
2 Another novice student believed that the objective of meditation was to have a quiet mind with no thoughts of what today, tomorrow and the next days to-do-list demanded. She thought she needed to give up everything to dedicate herself to meditation in order for it to help her. I shared with this student as I share with you, that there is no such thing as a completely quiet mind. With meditation, the mind begins to shift its awareness from mundane tasks to a greater awareness, which brings less stress and more peace to your life. This does take some time and practice more than just a few times.
Students who had already done some form of meditation share their early ideas and images of meditation:
1 One student, an engineer, shared that in the beginning, his image of meditation was that of an Indian yogi (one who practices meditation for spiritual insight). Although he related the image to peace somehow, he had no desire, wish, push or internal drive to research the reality of meditation. His image remained as that of a yogi sitting lotus style using strange hand gestures or mudras. Once we shared some simple techniques that gelled with his logical brain and how it related to peace, he became one of the most avid and dedicated students to meditation.
2 Another, more advanced student, who gave up complicated meditation techniques because she just didn’t feel at peace, said that at first she thought meditation was something for only priests or people of religion; and yet another shared that meditation for her invoked the image of the Hare Krishna (a group that engages in devotional chants to the Hindu god Krishna). She imagined the Hare Krishna in their brightly orange-colored robes at the airport chanting something she couldn’t understand until much later: Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, which to the Hare Krishna invokes Krishna consciousness.
3 One student, a corporate big wig, shared that meditation was something intangible and ethereal. Although meditation practice was something he contemplated, he maintained the idea that if things were not concrete or earthly, he didn’t think those things had any value for him. Since meditation was something that was unfamiliar to him, he did not believe in it. He now meditates two times a day.
4 At the opposite extreme, another student shared that meditation was an adventure where you had to travel to far away and remote places and it was for those that had a lot of money. She believed meditation was a luxury of the rich.
5 Another student shared that she witnessed people paying $200 for a mantra (a spiritual thought form), which really turned her off to meditation for 20 years, until she started our meditation class.
6 And yet another student, a mom of 5 kids, shared that it was something she could never be a part of—meditation was something cultish or countercultural, and not prominent in the United States. Now she has her children meditating with her and her household is much more peaceful.
Despite these myths and misconceptions of meditation, meditation can change every facet of your life. As a teacher of meditation for 15 years, I have witnessed the life enhancing effects of meditation in thousands of students. I, too, have seen and continue to see the benefits of meditation in all aspects of my life.
I give you permission right here right now to allow yourself to delve into this strange and different, yet also extremely valuable world that involves meditation.
Now that we’ve dispelled and de-mystified the image and idea of meditation, let’s step back and look at the definition of the word meditation. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines meditation as “prolonged awareness.” Prolonged awareness seems more easy to understand because we have all had experiences of prolonged awareness. Yes, each and every one of you has experienced instances of prolonged awareness.
If you have ever driven home from work and didn’t remember all of the details of how you got there, that is prolonged awareness, who knows what you were aware of but likely it wasn’t the road. If you have ever read a page in a book, then turned to the next page, and continued on to the next pages, suddenly then realizing you had to go back several pages because you didn’t recall what you had read, that too, is considered prolonged awareness. When you lose track of time because you’re so involved in your work and you suddenly notice that hours have gone by, thats meditating. If you have ever been so engaged in your project, performance, presentation, conversation that you have been unaware of anyone trying to get your attention, know that those are all forms of prolonged awareness.
Some people may laugh at these examples of prolonged awareness claiming it is just spacing out or zoning out, but actually zoning out is a form of meditation. It may be meditation lite, but never less a form. These examples are a form of meditation because while driving or reading the brain is aware and functioning, yet it is also taking a rest from the task in which it is performing. In other words, taking a rest from the mundane routines of driving or reading, the brain is engaging in a form of prolonged awareness.
The fact is, our brains need a break from the mundane routines, from the constant hum of daily activities, and from the constant onslaught of input. These breaks or prolonged awareness comes to people in many different forms, not just driving and reading; however, these bouts of prolonged awareness do come to each and every one of us daily. It is estimated, because in today’s world our attention span is so short, that we are having an episode of some type of prolonged awareness every 15 minutes. Meditation, which is prolonged awareness, becomes a question of subject matter—how and what are you being aware of in order to meditate?
So now that my students and I have dispelled the common myths of meditation, let me share some of their success stories. Because many students in my meditation classes felt confused and fearful of meditation
