(A half fiction situation with fiction names)
“I have a feeling that everything I do needs to be meaningful. When I am engaged in an activity I feel like it should serve some sort of purpose. Having spent the time in a useful manner”
I spoke these words with a group of friends, asking if anyone thinks there is a problem with that.
Looking deeper into what I just said, I realized that what I considered as meaningful is if the next day I would not have feelings of regret or guilt towards the time spent doing whatever it might be I was doing.
“I just went through a period in which I would wake up at 11:00am every day, do Yoga, and watch hours of TV. I felt that it was very meaningful as through that I managed to deal with the heartbreaking separation of the love of my life” said Heather.
Do we need to save the whales in order to be doing something meaningful?
“ I love to take long showers and just stare at the wall, that doesn’t seem meaningless to me, as I feel that it helps me with what ever bigger task I may have later.” “I love staring at the wall too” said another.
“I do meaningless things all the time. Just let me built a dirt bike and then drive it through the mountain paths” this gives me so much joy, what can be more meaningful than that?
Is it considered meaningful according to the outcome of the action or is the action itself what makes it meaningful?
If it is according to the outcome, Is it important that others benefit from it, or can it be meaningful even if the outcome is of benefit to me alone?
Doing something that brings me Joy, can be meaningful to me, as well as bring benefit to others by me being a source of joy to others. As long as I do not do anything that might hurt or harm anyone or anything else.
Doing something that leads me to become a better person, either physically, mentally, emotionally or intellectually is meaningful to me, as again it will lead me to be joyful and of service to others.
Meaningful is very individual. Indeed there are some social codes of what is meaningful (like saving the whales or getting another degree) yet on an every day life, the meaning of time spent in a certain way is dependent on how one feels during, after and long after the time spent. (One might enjoy drinking with friends tonight but have a hang over the next day. If done very often, may even lead to great liver issues years later). Is the outcome of the time spent meaningful in a sustainable way? Benefit for now, tomorrow and further…
It can be an action or a non-doing.
After struggling with this questions for six months now, I realize that I participate in many activities, including sitting still and doing nothing. Yet even this is done with an intention to just be, not hang out as to pass time, but be here and now, with out relation to time and space.
Joy, gaining knowledge, practicing self-realization and maintaining a healthy body and mind are all of substance to me. I can reflect back and feel that my day was worth living. Not another day, or time that passed by. A meaningful day, a day that when `lying in bed before sleep, makes me smile and feel content.
What is a meaningful way for you to pass time?
Showing posts with label doing nothing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doing nothing. Show all posts
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Experiencing God
After talking about God, and how we connect from an existential place, I felt the need to share a bit of what my meditation world looks like.
I was first introduced to some active meditations at Osho’s Ashram in 1992.
The idea was that westerners have a hard time sitting still, and so as a first step of the meditation, we can learn how to be present with the movement we are doing, and then sitting and lying down in stillness becomes easier.
Other systems offer concentration techniques to train the mind into finding centeredness. A candle flame, a vision, a word or sound that repeats within the mind (mantra), or the breath are some points of attention to keep the mind from wandering.
After practicing in different ways, I found that the breath worked best for me. I have it with me always, and do not need the use of the mind or senses in order to be with it. At first my Zen teacher told me to count inhales and exhales up to ten. Start by inhaling – one, exhaling – two, inhaling – three, till I reach ten. If I loose my count, I just return to one.
After some time and practice, when this became comfortable, I was told to count each inhale and exhale as one, inhale and exhale two…This still uses the mind but helps it stay in one place.
Eventually letting go of the counting all together, and just dropping the awareness to the belly. Eyes opened, looking down towards the floor with a soft gaze. Sitting with a straight and relaxed spine, not doing anything.
Sitting still, and just observing, the mind, the eyes, the ears, all drop on their own, the separation of me and things I see and hear disappears, I, as I know it disappears, and a new state of consciousness is there.
Since sitting was never easy for me, doing nothing, a great task for me, I have learned to practice preparations for this in the functioning life.
My first practice was when I used to sit on my balcony in Tel Aviv while being an art student. A very big tree lived right in front of it, and I found myself many times sitting and watching it. Just looking at it. The feeling of no boundaries would arise, the tree would appear more dimensional than before, and time lost its meaning.
This first step in this kind of being is the art of non-labeling. Once I would recognize what I was doing, it was lost. The moment I thought,” the leaves are big”, or “this is awesome” it was gone. I’ve created a separation between the tree and me. It is only through the state of complete surrender, of Just Being, that this happens.
There used to be posters that looked like some unknown messy drawing. When one could stare at it, without focusing, without the mind and without trying to see anything, an amazing 3 dimensional image would appear. I find this to be somewhat similar in the way of letting go.
There is an intention involved, but there is no trying. The harder I try the further away I get, the more separation I create.
Who is trying? Who is there when no effort is involved?
Sitting still doing nothing the river flows on its own, the waves come and go and the earth spins.
Can we let go of controlling, of being in charge; can we just be an awareness, acceptance, leaving no footprint behind? Then we achieve it all. We have all that we could ever need.
I was first introduced to some active meditations at Osho’s Ashram in 1992.
The idea was that westerners have a hard time sitting still, and so as a first step of the meditation, we can learn how to be present with the movement we are doing, and then sitting and lying down in stillness becomes easier.
Other systems offer concentration techniques to train the mind into finding centeredness. A candle flame, a vision, a word or sound that repeats within the mind (mantra), or the breath are some points of attention to keep the mind from wandering.
After practicing in different ways, I found that the breath worked best for me. I have it with me always, and do not need the use of the mind or senses in order to be with it. At first my Zen teacher told me to count inhales and exhales up to ten. Start by inhaling – one, exhaling – two, inhaling – three, till I reach ten. If I loose my count, I just return to one.
After some time and practice, when this became comfortable, I was told to count each inhale and exhale as one, inhale and exhale two…This still uses the mind but helps it stay in one place.
Eventually letting go of the counting all together, and just dropping the awareness to the belly. Eyes opened, looking down towards the floor with a soft gaze. Sitting with a straight and relaxed spine, not doing anything.
Sitting still, and just observing, the mind, the eyes, the ears, all drop on their own, the separation of me and things I see and hear disappears, I, as I know it disappears, and a new state of consciousness is there.
Since sitting was never easy for me, doing nothing, a great task for me, I have learned to practice preparations for this in the functioning life.
My first practice was when I used to sit on my balcony in Tel Aviv while being an art student. A very big tree lived right in front of it, and I found myself many times sitting and watching it. Just looking at it. The feeling of no boundaries would arise, the tree would appear more dimensional than before, and time lost its meaning.
This first step in this kind of being is the art of non-labeling. Once I would recognize what I was doing, it was lost. The moment I thought,” the leaves are big”, or “this is awesome” it was gone. I’ve created a separation between the tree and me. It is only through the state of complete surrender, of Just Being, that this happens.
There used to be posters that looked like some unknown messy drawing. When one could stare at it, without focusing, without the mind and without trying to see anything, an amazing 3 dimensional image would appear. I find this to be somewhat similar in the way of letting go.
There is an intention involved, but there is no trying. The harder I try the further away I get, the more separation I create.
Who is trying? Who is there when no effort is involved?
Sitting still doing nothing the river flows on its own, the waves come and go and the earth spins.
Can we let go of controlling, of being in charge; can we just be an awareness, acceptance, leaving no footprint behind? Then we achieve it all. We have all that we could ever need.
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