Inspiration
Been a long time since I've answered an ecoTrain QOTW, but all of that has changed today. As I was reading the post-stream on the @hiveph Discord server, I chanced upon this post by @jonalyn2020, which got my attention because in the blog post she talked about something close to my heart - meditation. I was inspired by Jonalyn's reasoning to answer the question of the week. In the post, she listed three factors that hinder us from doing meditation. I was hooked. I was also inspired to write something on the subject matter as a reply to the QOTW, but more so, because I wanted to find answers for my personal satisfaction.
You can read Jonalyn's full post here ---> ECOTRAIN QOTW 9.6 || WHY IS IT SO HARD TO MEDITATE?
Distractions
As a long time practitioner, I have been remiss in doing regular meditation for a while now. Call it life, or laziness, or both. Then there are the many distractions offered by the internet, social media, and other real-world responsibilities in life.
Those distractions, especially the internet and social media, have made it into the very fabric of everyday living itself. One can literally get lost in the trappings of the world wide web at the touch of a button on your mobile device. And this is where it gets iffy for me.
I use my mobile device to get work done, to communicate with people, do research, act as my wallet, and plan my day. On the other hand, I also use it for entertainment, to watch movies, play games, and trade banters with family and friends. It is an awesome multi-function device.
Because of this, the lines get blurred easily for me. One moment, I am researching about the effects of communication between coaches and athletes during the pandemic, then I find myself watching cute cat and dog videos the next minute. Whew. It's so easy to get sucked into that rabbit hole that you can't easily get out of.
Blame it on the ___ (insert excuse here.)!
The thing is, I'm not really blaming the device and it's dual nature functionality. So, who is to blame? Me, of course. We don't blame the car for going 150 kilometers an hour in a 100 kilometer an hour highway; in the same light, Samsung isn't to be blamed for the cute video recommendations via YouTube's invasive algorithm and my finger clicking on it.
The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that I don't have any "external" reason to not meditate. Time is relative. This is true in meditation practice as it is in the physical sciences. Hence, I cannot really use it as an excuse, because, well, meditation can be practiced relative to the amount of time that I have available. So, if I have time to watch a 30 second video clip of a funny dog video, then I also have the time to meditate.
There was a time when I meditated as soon as I woke up in the morning. I even set the alarm earlier than usual to be able to complete my morning rituals when I have an early morning appointment.
The real reason
To continue with my self-talk on why I don't regularly practice meditation? It's easy enough for me to incorporate it into my everyday life. Is it no longer important or useful for me? To the latter question, my answer would be: yes, it is useful and important for me.
The answer to the first one involves delving into my personal goal related to meditation. Why do I meditate in the first place? And there are a couple of reasons.
I meditate to calm the mind. Because of the stress and pressures of everyday living, the mind easily gets bored, tired, or exhausted. This causes the mind to wander and slow down. Meditation helps rejuvenate the weary mind.
The next reason: I meditate to bring out the love from within; to be able to prepare myself to share this with others, and to be ready, when the time comes, to spring into action when needed by the situation to help others.
Lastly: to connect with the divine. Meditation helps point the way for us to find the divine within, the god inside of us; to seek and find the light of love and compassion - to imitate the past masters and saints.
Conclusion
That said, I've come to realize that it is not necessary nor a prerequisite to calm the mind, bring out the love from within, and connect with the divine. Meditation helps, it is a tool, but it isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all of spiritual practice. Just as a car helps you to get from point A to point B, it is not the only thing that can bring you from one point to the next. In the same manner, meditation helps us to reach our goals, but there are other ways available. And, just as a mobile device helps us with so many things, we can still live a normal, peaceful life without it.
Finally, I am not against the practice of meditation. On the contrary, I am an advocate of meditative practice. Anyways, please read my other posts about meditation if you are interested in the subject matter and to know more about why I do what I do.
| Discovering a Successful Meditation Practice in Everyday Life | Starting a Revolution from My Bed |
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That's it for now. I sincerely hope that I've contributed to the conversation. Please feel free to comment on this post for clarification, suggestions, or just to say "hi". Love and peace!
*proper attribution of the photos can be found in the blog posts.