Meditation is the last thing one should ask someone to do. It almost always backfires and fails. One can either be strongly inclined towards it or not. It can never be forced upon.
Mainly there are three categories of people that I have come across when it comes to Meditation.
1. People who will out-rightly reject the idea of it. This is completely fine. You can’t be bothered about something that you have no interest in. You can’t be troubled by something that doesn’t capture your attention.
2. People who are curious about it but never gotten around doing it, or skeptical about it.
3. People who will naturally be drawn towards it.
If you fall under 2 or 3 and would like to dabble in, I suggest you try this app Waking Up. The App is subscription based however, its fully unlocked and the content is completely free until 31st of December,2019. If you are intrigued by the idea of Meditation, this can be a great starting point.
If you are someone who likes to go by evidence, there is no shortage of peer reviewed scientific research done on Meditation in the last decade. If you really want to dig the science, you can check out Altered Traits. I have not read it as I am personally not interested in the science aspect of the Meditation but it supposedly covers all the recent findings.
Even if you are not interested in the practice at all, I still suggest you check out “Lessons” and “Conversations” section of the Waking Up app while its free. By no means I am suggesting anyone to take up on Meditation. This App is something I have used personally and found it profoundly useful. Also, end of the year is around the corner and people are usually open to try new things. Thus, this post seems very timely.
The greatest realisation (and possibly the only one that is needed) Meditation can bring is that –
You are always thinking. Always lost in thoughts. And majority of them are unnecessary, repetitive, irrelevant and possibly negative.
Subsequently, you realise that you can actually be aware of the thoughts you are thinking! This breaks the complete identification with your thoughts in your waking life. Humans can not only think but they can also be aware of the fact that they are thinking. As far as I know, no other species can do this. This opens up the door to clear “Understanding”.
Ultimately, Meditation is not really a doing. It is non-doing. It doesn’t make you serious. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It removes the heaviness and seriousness from your life. You start laughing at yourself when you clearly and closely see the insanity of your own mind. It is not just for serious, elderly or depressed.
It is simply discovering the true nature of your own mind.
It is waking up from the dream.
