Meditate to Let Go
Sunet image by Margaret Gervais
I read this article on Sunday and feel compelled to share highlights. The article is “The Bearable Lightness of Being” by Pema Chödrön, in Shambhala Sun, March 2014.
“Meditation teaches us how to let go. It’s actually a very important aspect of friendliness, which is that you train again and again in not making things such a big deal. When you have pain in your body, when all sorts of thoughts are going through your mind, you train again and again in acknowledging them openheartedly and open-mindedly, but not making them such a big deal. ...Generally speaking, the human species does make things a very big deal. Our problems are a big deal for us. So we need to make space for an attitude of honoring things completely and at the same time not making them a big deal. It’s a paradoxical idea, but holding these two attitudes simultaneously is the source of enormous joy: we hold a sense of respect toward all things, along with the ability to let go. So it’s about not belittling things, but on the other hand not fanning the fire until you have your own private World War III. ...When you begin to see life from the point of view that everything is spontaneously arising and that things aren’t “coming at you” or “trying to attack you,” in any given moment you will likely experience more space and more room to relax into. Your stomach, which is in a knot, can just relax. The back of your neck, which is all tensed up, can just relax. Your mind, which is spinning and spinning like one of those little bears that you wind up so it walks across the floor, can just relax. So shunyata refers to the fact that we actually have a seed of spaciousness, of freshness, openness, relaxation, in us. ...Enlightenment – full enlightenment – is perceiving reality with an open, un-fixated mind, even in the most difficult circumstances. It’s nothing more than that, actually. You and I have had experiences of this open, un-fixated mind. Think of a time when you have felt shock or surprise; at a time of awe or wonder we experience it. It’s usually in small moments, and we might even not notice it, but everyone experiences this open, so-called enlightened mind. If we were completely awake, this would be our constant perception of reality. It’s helpful to realize that this open, unfettered mind has many names, but let’s use the term “buddhanature.” ...Enlightenment isn’t about going someplace else or attaining something we don’t have right now. Enlightenment is when the blinders start to come off. We are uncovering the true state, or uncovering buddhanature. This is important because each day when you sit down, you can recognize that it’s a process of gradually uncovering something that’s already here. That’s why relaxation and letting go are so important. You can't uncover something by harshness or uptightness because those things cover our buddhanature. Stabilizing the mind, bringing out the sharp clarity of mind, needs to be accompanied by relaxation and openness. ...But change happens, even in our practice. This is a fundamental truth. Everything is always changing because it’s alive and dynamic. All of us reach a very interesting point in our practice when we hit the brick wall. It’s inevitable. Change is inevitable with relationships, careers, with anything. I love to talk to people on the meditation path when they’re at the point of the brick wall: they think they’re ready to quit, but I feel they are just beginning. If they could work with the unpleasantness, the insult to ego, the lack of certainty, then they’re getting closer to the fluid, changing, real nature of life.” From How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind, by Pema Chödrön. Copyright by Pema Chödrön.
She also has a CD set, under the same name, for teaching meditation. Pema Chödrön is a great teacher, and I highly recommend her book and CDs as tools to learn more about meditation, or to provide insight and inspiration to keep your mediation practice on track.If you are interested in learning more about meditation and/or taking Individual or groups classes at The Insight Center, please contact me at http://theinsightcenter.net/contact/.