It sounds so wonderful and self nurturing to do, and it is an easy to learn practice - Sitting still with eyes closed and quieting down all the senses turn inwardly pointing to our own self.
Why it is so difficult to take action to just sit and be?
Have you ever suspected that 'stillness' is not one of the natural qualities of the mind? The mind is like a thoughts factory which pumping out thoughts in great and high speed - in all sizes, colour, textures, feels or even emotions - angry thoughts, happy thoughts, joyful thoughts, doing thoughts, upsetting thoughts, abstract thoughts, thoughts in all forms... - popping up continuously, which creates stresses and inner conflicts.
To take a pause and to observe this thoughts producing machine is difficult to do. It is like to change direction of a couple kilometres long ocean tanker which has been sailing in one direction for a long time and to make the turn around, it takes a respectful length of time and takes a huge amount of energies in forms of commitment, discipline, courage, motivation and willingness. To generate all these positive forces to slow down the thoughts factory's production will take huge amount of energies to break the inertia and them simply sit and be.
Meditation is a practice to slow down the speed of the thoughts production. At the same time, a so called 'manager' is assigned to observe the coming and going movement of the thoughts. This manager is merely a form of awareness, it is not the mind, it is not the thoughts, not the feelings, not the emotions, not the bodily sensations. It is an observer of its kind in observing how the thoughts, feelings, sensations, the mind and the Dharma (the universal truth) are mutually affecting each other.
To create this observing awareness is very uncomfortable process. In your first sitting in meditation, there are many thoughts swimming like fishes in the pond to pull you off focus, and then, many forms of emotions and feelings, you have been buried for a long time, they will start to come up to the surface for you to experience them again, too. There are no ordinary doubt moment in mediation. Every moment is new, every thought, every feeling and every emotion come to meet you, greet you, or scare you unexpectedly. And you have to observe them, be with them, love them without flinging them away, judging or reacting to them.
As Buddha said: 'You yourself must make the effort.
Buddhas only point the way.
Those who have entered the Path and
who meditate will be free from the fetter of illusion.'
- Dhammapada 276
What the Buddha taught - Buddha Dharma ( the truth of the universe) cannot be merely absorbed by intellectual understanding, the path of awakening is a path of practices - it needs to be realised thought direct experiences in your lives. Through direct practices, you learn what uniquely works for you an individual. In order to realise Dharma in your daily life, you cannot just do it intellectually and experientially, you have to step into the realm of non-ego and learn how to rest of mind in MEDITATION and honour your spirit with your own inner light.
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