Meditation can be used for relaxation or as a means of focusing to

induce a greater mental sharpness.

 

We are learning to let go and sink into the essence of who we really are. We are making things simpler and clearer. We calm the chatter and busyness of our minds to see that underneath that busyness is a great peace and connection to all life and the divine. It is not about being “good” or believing what you are told. The teachings and meditation are pointers for us to learn through our own experience. Meditation is about living the truths we find and looking within for change.

 

We construct our identity through our family background, nationality, religion, possessions, gender, age, memories, likes and dislikes and our physical attributes. But, our memories are selective, our assets and health change and our likes and dislikes are used to strengthen the ego where we smugly think of ourselves as superior or right which makes the other wrong or inferior. In other words, what we identify with most, is the least of who we are.

 

One woman in the house who came to my class couldn’t shake depression and had a history of drug abuse. If I discussed meditating on joy and beauty, she would always bring up a painful memory. Her life was tied to suffering. She so identified with the past that she could feel no joy or connect with life which is always in present time. She gave away her power to the past and her interpretation of it but it was the identity that her ego knew. Another woman had had a very difficult childhood in foster homes.

 

We learn to build a space around situations so that we no longer act reactively which can escalate to the worst part of ourselves reacting with the worst part of the person we’re interacting with. We learn to clear those patterns. That leads us to a greater truth and ease with life.

 

On the deepest level, it can lead to complete transformation because our self awareness is strengthened through developing a strong witness so we can observe patterns and coping mechanisms we developed as children that may now no longer serve us but keep us in separation.

 

Her coping method was to write people off by becoming cold, curt and aloof which only further alienated the people who could have given her support. These examples are very common and it’s been very educational for me to see my own bad programming and habits mirrored back. In meditation, we are not learning anything new.

                                                                                                                                                          -Caroline Kim-