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The only way out is through.... |
| October, 2006 |
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When I was first learning how to meditate I tried to use my rational mind to figure out how to do it. Logical thinking was very helpful in other parts of my life, but it simply didn’t work for meditation.
And then I learned to use the relaxed – alert but not forced – attention sometimes called bare awareness. Rather than following a particular idea about how to meditate or trying to make myself into a meditator, I simply began to observe, listen, and receive. The object of this relaxed attention was the moment as experienced at the sense gates.
To meditate using relaxed attention, you might try to listen for the sound of quiet. Don’t attempt to find the sound, and if you can’t hear it, don’t make that a problem. Simply focus on the experience of sound at the ears – whatever it is. And then reflect on what you hear, trusting in the wisdom that arises. This reflection has nothing to do with accuracy or with judgment. Instead, it’s an accepting, noticing, cherishing of awareness itself.
You can also use relaxed attention to explore personal issues such as
the habit of eating too much – or the effort to control the desire
to eat too much. Try not to be afraid of desire, instead get interested
in it – the clinging, the avoiding, and the experience of being
taken over by it. Relaxed attention doesn’t get upset, it is simply
aware.
