Motivations and Meanings
Moods and Meditations: Lesson 1
Introduction
When it comes to meditation, there is only one right way: your way. There is so much information on any subject out on the internet as to be dizzying. I recommend that you decide your reasons and goals for learning more about a topic prior to starting your own research. This will make sorting through the information you will come across all the more powerful. Instead of focusing on the how in this first lesson, I want to focus on the reasons and the goals. These, too, have to be chosen by you.
Reasons
There are many reasons behind meditation. Some of them are general consequences that come from meditation: increased ability to concentrate, better able to access and retain good feelings, lower blood pressure, more focus in your activities associated with the topic of meditation, ... Some reasons can arise from generalities discovered during meditation: peace, serenity, greater compassion, better connection with the infinite, ... While these are immense blessings, see these incredible blessings as the platter that you use to carry specific blessing into your own life. You have the ability to step out of yourself, metaphorically, to commune with the infinite. On your way back, there will be blessings that you will bring back with you. Again, let the platter be the more general blessings that carry the specific blessings you are seeking.
Starting a meditation with a specific purpose is what brings strength into my meditation. Sometimes, the purpose is nothing so grandiose as spending some quality time with my thoughts. I try to rely on this purpose when anger is the emotion most expressed. I do not look for the source of the anger; I seek the shelter away from the anger found by meditating on something, anything. Other times, I am pondering my way through one of life's conundrums. Recently, I was offered a job. There was a stiff price to pay. I am not adverse to paying the price for success. I am also excited by the prospect of new challenges. But a price had to be paid in either accepting or declining the job offer. The reason for my meditation was to determine a course of action that I would feel good about and know that it was good for my family. After meditating, I felt good about how I would approach the situation and still felt good about it after the situation was passed.
And therein lies a primary reason for meditating, how you feel about yourself and the situation. It helps to be able to put purpose into meditation and receive initial rewards from them. I suggest picking a reason for meditating as the focal point of your meditation, studying it out a little before meditating, and then exploring your own motivations for the reason behind the motivation. Part of that exploration comes from the Five Why's. While this technique may appear to have something to do with my toddler's obsession with this word, it allows me to explore reasons even deeper. I understand the first level of the reason for meditation when I ask, "Why am I meditating on this topic?" I then ask myself why on that answer until I have asked why a total of five times. I don't always need to ask that many time, but every time, I find some deeper purpose behind the motivation to meditate. And this lends more power to my meditations, especially when the meditation provides an additional, deeper level of why.
Goals
I admit that my general goal for meditating is always to have an answer. Not in the sense of 1 + 1 = 2, or the reason the sky is blue, or the source of the current US dependence on foreign oil, or the outcome of the current Israeli / Arab conflict. I want an answer to my meditation that leads to the retrieval of the platter I described before. The goal may be a specific blessing on that platter in the form of a specific answer, but I seek to have reached out to the infinite and achieve that connection. That is an answer in and of itself. And that is my primary goal.
But like the general and specific reasons for meditation, I have general and specific goals for meditation. The reasons explain why I want to meditate, the goal is seeking the consequences of topic of meditation. The goal is the destination; the reason is why I am walking the path. Borrowing again from the job I was offered recently, I chose to meditate. After meditating through what they were offering and what I would be paying, I chose to open negotiations with the company. Not necessarily the best option after being forwarded a job offer, but I was unwilling to abruptly sever one ongoing relationship for a temporary relationship with no possibility of long-term hire. This would not be a foot-in-the-door situation. When I had mentioned that as a motivation for obtaining this position, the resulting silence from the one interviewer in the first interview and the three in the second interview was deafening. Silence itself may not be indicative, but since the only silent response followed my expression of my hopes for advancement, and it happened twice, I was fairly sure that this was truly a temporary arrangement. Meditating and pondering the possibilities not only provided an action, it provided a clarity of thought for dealing with the negotiations. In the end, the company had a zero tolerance for changes in the offer. I declined their offer. And I found that the outcome was acceptable. I had already merged with the infinite in discussing this topic with myself during meditation. I was already well rewarded.
Conclusion
As you ponder on your own reasons and goals, I hope you will provide some insight to others and to me of what you have learned. While I have my right way for meditating, my techniques and processes have changed and adapted with time as I have learned from others. Education is a personal process. If I am to learn, I need to be open to learning. When I am open to learn, I will learn. I can learn for the active source within, I can learn from the external sources inanimate, and I can learn from the living sources without. I firmly believe everyone has something to teach. What will you teach me today?
Lesson 2 - The Environment of Timing
When it comes to meditation, there is only one right way: your way. There is so much information on any subject out on the internet as to be dizzying. I recommend that you decide your reasons and goals for learning more about a topic prior to starting your own research. This will make sorting through the information you will come across all the more powerful. Instead of focusing on the how in this first lesson, I want to focus on the reasons and the goals. These, too, have to be chosen by you.
Reasons
There are many reasons behind meditation. Some of them are general consequences that come from meditation: increased ability to concentrate, better able to access and retain good feelings, lower blood pressure, more focus in your activities associated with the topic of meditation, ... Some reasons can arise from generalities discovered during meditation: peace, serenity, greater compassion, better connection with the infinite, ... While these are immense blessings, see these incredible blessings as the platter that you use to carry specific blessing into your own life. You have the ability to step out of yourself, metaphorically, to commune with the infinite. On your way back, there will be blessings that you will bring back with you. Again, let the platter be the more general blessings that carry the specific blessings you are seeking.
Starting a meditation with a specific purpose is what brings strength into my meditation. Sometimes, the purpose is nothing so grandiose as spending some quality time with my thoughts. I try to rely on this purpose when anger is the emotion most expressed. I do not look for the source of the anger; I seek the shelter away from the anger found by meditating on something, anything. Other times, I am pondering my way through one of life's conundrums. Recently, I was offered a job. There was a stiff price to pay. I am not adverse to paying the price for success. I am also excited by the prospect of new challenges. But a price had to be paid in either accepting or declining the job offer. The reason for my meditation was to determine a course of action that I would feel good about and know that it was good for my family. After meditating, I felt good about how I would approach the situation and still felt good about it after the situation was passed.
And therein lies a primary reason for meditating, how you feel about yourself and the situation. It helps to be able to put purpose into meditation and receive initial rewards from them. I suggest picking a reason for meditating as the focal point of your meditation, studying it out a little before meditating, and then exploring your own motivations for the reason behind the motivation. Part of that exploration comes from the Five Why's. While this technique may appear to have something to do with my toddler's obsession with this word, it allows me to explore reasons even deeper. I understand the first level of the reason for meditation when I ask, "Why am I meditating on this topic?" I then ask myself why on that answer until I have asked why a total of five times. I don't always need to ask that many time, but every time, I find some deeper purpose behind the motivation to meditate. And this lends more power to my meditations, especially when the meditation provides an additional, deeper level of why.
Goals
I admit that my general goal for meditating is always to have an answer. Not in the sense of 1 + 1 = 2, or the reason the sky is blue, or the source of the current US dependence on foreign oil, or the outcome of the current Israeli / Arab conflict. I want an answer to my meditation that leads to the retrieval of the platter I described before. The goal may be a specific blessing on that platter in the form of a specific answer, but I seek to have reached out to the infinite and achieve that connection. That is an answer in and of itself. And that is my primary goal.
But like the general and specific reasons for meditation, I have general and specific goals for meditation. The reasons explain why I want to meditate, the goal is seeking the consequences of topic of meditation. The goal is the destination; the reason is why I am walking the path. Borrowing again from the job I was offered recently, I chose to meditate. After meditating through what they were offering and what I would be paying, I chose to open negotiations with the company. Not necessarily the best option after being forwarded a job offer, but I was unwilling to abruptly sever one ongoing relationship for a temporary relationship with no possibility of long-term hire. This would not be a foot-in-the-door situation. When I had mentioned that as a motivation for obtaining this position, the resulting silence from the one interviewer in the first interview and the three in the second interview was deafening. Silence itself may not be indicative, but since the only silent response followed my expression of my hopes for advancement, and it happened twice, I was fairly sure that this was truly a temporary arrangement. Meditating and pondering the possibilities not only provided an action, it provided a clarity of thought for dealing with the negotiations. In the end, the company had a zero tolerance for changes in the offer. I declined their offer. And I found that the outcome was acceptable. I had already merged with the infinite in discussing this topic with myself during meditation. I was already well rewarded.
Conclusion
As you ponder on your own reasons and goals, I hope you will provide some insight to others and to me of what you have learned. While I have my right way for meditating, my techniques and processes have changed and adapted with time as I have learned from others. Education is a personal process. If I am to learn, I need to be open to learning. When I am open to learn, I will learn. I can learn for the active source within, I can learn from the external sources inanimate, and I can learn from the living sources without. I firmly believe everyone has something to teach. What will you teach me today?
Lesson 2 - The Environment of Timing
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