According to Michael if you want to get closer to others, or to enjoy your work more, or recognize talents that you never knew you had...allow the energy that is blocked within you to pass through.
Here is what he has to say about relationships:
"Imagine if you used relationships to get to know other people, rather than to satisfy what is blocked inside of you.... If you're not so busy judging and resiting people based upon what is blocked inside of you, you will find that they are much easier to get along with - and so are you. Letting go of yourself is the simplest way to get closer with others." (T.U.S., p. 154)
Once we allow the blocked energy to pass through, we are free to focus on what is right in front of us and "the world becomes a different place." (T.U.S., p. 154)
All that you have to do to achieve this is to relax and release. Whenever you are resisting, take a deep breath, relax your heart and let the energy go. I find it helpful to move my awareness to the neutral observer ...from there whatever I am feeling or experiencing seems less intense and I am able to let it go.
Today practise relaxing and releasing and dealing with what is right in front of you.
Recently I read something from physicsforum.com that seems to agree that Michael Singer's idea that the mind (the "roommate") isn't the one to turn to in meditation:
ReplyDelete"In athletics they say it is good to practice. I play racquetball, and it is interesting to see someone reserve a court to do drills, and then watch them spend an hour actually practicing how to hit the ball incorrectly! I know and used to play with people who play several times per week, and who haven't budged an inch in years in terms of their skill level. Me, I got bored never getting better, so I took lessons and moved on. The moral of the story is, if you practice bad habits, then you will just make things worse, so it is important to learn how to practice in ways that lead to constant improvement.
When you say you "find it impossible to clear my mind of all thought and I have yet to attain the blissful, spiritual feeling that is said to come with a quieted mind," and that you want to achieve the "no thought" experience, I believe I know exactly what the problem is. People who teach themselves to meditate, or who are taught by someone who thinks meditation is merely a calming of the mind, often believe something about how their own consciousness works which is inaccurate. This belief determines how they practice, and consequently why they get stuck.
The inaccurate belief is that consciousness is primarily mind. By “mind” I mean, the collage of images, feelings, desires, aversions, beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, biases, etc. that dominate most people’s awake moments. When someone decides they’d like to quiet that, they rely on what they are most familiar with. And guess what that is. Yep, it’s the mind itself. How is an unremittingly moving mind going to quiet itself? It isn’t, which is why so many people give up on meditation. Whatever slight benefit they get from sitting quietly in a room and doing nothing (and that does have a calming effect), along with the fact that one’s practice never goes much deeper, eventually bores one and usually convinces one the benefits of meditation have been exaggerated.
So what’s the solution? There is a huge secret in all this. In my opinion, if you find it, you will progress, and if you don’t then you will never get anywhere. The secret is, mind is not the primary aspect of consciousness. There is a bright, ever-so-subtly pulsating place inside at the foundation of consciousness, which is already perfectly still. Fortunately for us, there are inward-turning techniques that can help consciousness merge with that brilliant tranquility. When we join it, the power of it automatically stills the mind. That’s how inner peace is achieved in meditation practice, and not by trying to stop one’s mind with the mind.
Thanks so much for posting this. What a great insight about meditation. Lately when I meditate I have not been able to find that "bright, ever-so-subtly pulsating place inside." I have just started reading "you are here" by Thich Nhat Hanh which talks about using the mantra "Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out" as a way to meditate and to stay focused on the present moment (as opposed to focusing on the mind which takes us out of the present moment).
ReplyDeleteHopefully this technique will help me to return to that "foundation of consciousness."