Ask a monk (who knows that they are doing) what they do when they meditate the essence of their answer will be “nothing. I just sit and don’t do anything”. True, very true - meditation ultimately is about doing absolutely nothing.
But doing nothing isn’t so simple in practice. How on earth do you do nothing?
If you’re like me before I entered into this meditation business then you are very good at getting busy.
You’re probably more busy in the head than you actually are in real life.
Plans and schemes and dreams and to do lists, all jostling for attention.
When you close your eyes, that’s all you see, that’s what you get sucked into - leaping from one thought to another, one plan to another, one past moment to another.
And that’s the thing - stopping on demand (when you want to) is the tricky part.
It takes practice to do nothing, to let go.
The more you practice, the better you get, for sure.
Meditating like a monk involves not stopping the thoughts, but letting them go. Not being attached to them.
It’s a completely new and different skill - and you have to see it like a skill.
You don’t have to shave your head and wear robes, promise. It isn’t some hoodoo mystical path that involves complex wisdom.
It’s actually quite straight forward (to explain at least).
It is simply the skill of being able to watch and be aware.
So practice - don’t worry about getting caught up, it’s just a habit. Come back now, come back now, come back now.
Practice makes perfect.
The more you watch, the stronger that skill gets.
You'll want to develop that skill if you want to be able to:
- appreciate the wider, more subtler picture of what is there beyond your mind - find presence, aliveness and focus in this moment - stop getting caught up in the past and the future, the thoughts and emotions - be at peace and be happy, for no reason whatsoever - get anchored in a sense of stability and permanence. You won’t get lost, no matter the changes in life.
It is the one thing that makes all of life shine brighter, it makes you more effective in whatever you do, and it means you can enjoy each and every single moment.
OK? So practice.
Cool - if you want to dive into this “doing nothing” business, there’s an Ascension meditation course coming up - 15-17 April, £200 with all the follow up and support you need, and you get to resit for free.
Email me for more details and if you want to reserve a seat.
You won’t regret it. And I’ll give you your money back if you do. But I doubt that very muchly.
Have a great day, enjoy it all. - Arjuna
FREE ebook and email coaching on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:
www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset