Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Where the Mind’s Bird Flies
We watch a short program on public television about the benefits of meditation. The meditation leader sits cross-legged and reads from a book that he holds in one hand. The participants sit on cushions, their hands on their knees. It looks calm enough.
Why don’t I meditate? I should meditate.
One woman talks about how meditation allows the mind to flutter about and then settle on what’s important. In her case, her mind’s bird landed on her emotional pain. This sounded very important and very deep.
When I am still, my mind lands on why I used too many juicy apples in my last pie. Why am I so shallow?
Do people only seek meditation if they have a secret sore that won’t heal? Or does the pain become unearthed with the silence and the sitting? What brings people to the sitting?
There’s so much to know but what is worth knowing? That seems like an important question.
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Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
I wouldn’t be able to get to the floor and back up again. It would look ugly and my mind would be meditating on the getting up process.
My mind wanders when left to its own devices. It’s one reason I listen to audible stories at bedtime. That did not come easy initially, trying to get my mind to focus on the story. I was able to eventually achieve that. Maybe the same can be said with meditation, practice making better.
I’m with you – listening to a book makes me want to also start writing emails or washing the dishes. Just sitting and listening – something to work on.
Meditation is important to me, for simply staying acquainted with available spaciousness. It seems too easily lost touch with unless one actually practices remembering.
I’m not very good at it, as my mind tends to wander, and I know the idea of it is to not let your mind wander. I’ll need a lot of practice. I do mediate in my own way I suppose, when walking in nature, when creating something..
Sitting and breathing and opening your mind isn’t easy work, plus my arthritic knees couldn’t hold that position for more than 15 seconds. I have too many questions to sit and ponder. I like to speak, ask, and hear others thoughts rather than wandering around in my own head.