January 10th 2009

There are probably thousands of books and lectures on meditation. How do you do it? Can you meditate faster so you can get out in half an hour instead of an hour? A very common instruction is to imagine a creek or river. When intransigent thoughts stray to mind, think of a leaf floating downstream. Let it go. Let the thought go.
Can we think without words? If we stop forming words in our minds will we be in a true meditative state? Well, try it. If I can clear words from the top layer of my mind, words from my subconscious percolate up to consciousness and replace them.

I worked a night shift for thirty years. When I first started that shift, I would come home exhausted in the morning and fall into bed. One of my daughters would come and sit on my feet and read to me. Her soft little voice would fade slowly until I heard the faint sound but not the meaning of the words. She was offended when I fell asleep while she was reading. I think that in meditation, the best thing to do is to slow and quiet the mind until it approaches stillness (but not sleep!). A lovely thing to try. Some people say that sleep is a form of meditation.

Later.