Can Meditation Help Give the Answer to the Meaning of Life?
"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive." As we grow up, our experience of the world changes. When we are a toddler, everything seems interesting. When we are teenagers, well, a lot of things stop being so interesting, as young adults, again our priorities change. And so on. We cannot say to a child who is only interested in riding their bicycle that there is more to life. We cannot say to a woman who has lost her beloved husband that there are other men out there for her. We cannot say to someone who passed a difficult exam that there will also be failures. See what I am getting at? All these things we may want to tell our friends and loved ones may very well be true, however, wisdom teaches us not to say these things there and then… Why???? Because… Nope, I won’t tell you yet. Let’s see. What tends to happen when we deny someone else (or ourselves for that matter) their ‘here and now’ experience? Those of you who have tried telling someone everything is going to be ok when it isn’t ok now will know that the response you get is often anger, misunderstanding and various other disharmonious reactions. So what are we supposed to do? Nothing… Just be with it and accept it. Easier said than done! This is what we learn in meditation, to ‘sit with it’, whatever it may be. This does not mean we become passive and unresponsive. It means that while something is going on, we are present to it, recognise it for what it is and acknowledge it. Let’s say for instance we get angry. Acknowledging this as it is occurring is the first step to diffusing it. If we are aware of how we feel we then have more options as to how to act it out. Projecting the anger onto someone else only makes matters worse. However, this is another subject altogether. Let’s get back to how meditation can help answer the riddle of the meaning of life. So here we are, feeling a feeling, thinking a thought, involved in this or that situation. Now what? Well, that’s it! Just that. That which is happening is it. There is nothing else. The meaning of life is not so much about meaning since this changes as we grow and is different for everyone, it is about experiencing what is going on. In other words, it is about being Here and Now. How many times have we heard this? Many many times… Yet until we come to this acceptance (not accepting it is part of the game too) we will always be seeking something better, bigger, faster, more this or less that. Whatever it is you do, whoever it is you are, do it fully, be that with all your heart and full intent and in awareness. Be alive. Just be alive…
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