"In order that the mind should see light instead of darkness, so the entire soul must be turned away from this changing world, until its eye can learn to contemplate reality and that supreme splendor which we have called the good. Hence there may well be an art whose aim would be to effect this very thing."
~ Socrates
If you have accomplished meditation "the art of doing nothing" in this goal orientated, high stress, fast paced world, you have really accomplished an important goal. Many people today are driven by the belief that if I do enough of the right things, read the right books, have enough money, I will be alright. It is a rare person in this age that can become still enough to stop this pursuit. So if you are one of them who knows how to achieve the "art of doing nothing." and are alright in the moment you probably don't need to read this article but for the rest of us read on.
The fast paced seeking life, future orientated, when I have this I will be at peace or be happy takes away the very peace and happiness we seek. The spiritual teachings of the world recommend some form of mediation. It is for the purpose of stilling the mind and being alright in this moment.
Allowing oneself to quiet the mind is important. Stilling the mind is not just another mental exercise. It is a change of attention. Meditation is focusing on the inner world and away from the physical and mental world.
One does not have to fight the inner chatter, for as soon as you focus on being still the inner chatter begins. Just bless each thought and let it pass through. Unconditionally love your thoughts. They will become quieter as you just accept them and let them pass away.
In this quiet state, one is aware of the self being one with all. In our outer world we are always defining self by outer events, our sex, our age, predefined society's definitions. Such an identity is, however, forever at the mercy of events, forever vulnerable, and forever in need of protection and support. If anything that defines us depends on change we are immediately threatened. In this state we are "I" centered. If we are experiencing then "I" am the experiencer. How many times a day do we use the I in either thinking or speaking. When we are the I or individual, we are alone and vulnerable and must constantly defend. But what we find in the silence is we are part of the whole.
Although the self may never be known as an object of experience, it can be known in another more intimate and immediate way. When the mind is silent, when all the thoughts, feelings, perceptions and memories with which we habitually identify have fallen away, then what remains is the essence of self, the pure subject without an object. What we then find is not a sense of "I am this" or "I am that;" but just "I am".
Most of us need a daily dose of meditation because we are heavily conditioned. This is our place to slow down and relax. A place of unconditional acceptance and love. A place where we do not have to do to be.
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