Meditation Is Not What You Think
Saturday, January 28, 2017 18:22
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Those words – meditation is not what you think – were written on a bookmark I once received when I purchased a book from a metaphysical bookshop.
For some time – I must be slow or dim-witted – I pondered what those words meant. They seemed to be saying to me that meditation was something different from what I thought it was. Well, that was certainly true, for I was to learn that meditation was indeed something very different from what for many years was my limited understanding of the practice.
Then, one day, it dawned on me what was the real ‘meaning’ of the phrase. Meditation is not what you think. Meditation is not about thinking. Meditation is not thinking at all. Meditation is something other than thinking.
What, then, is meditation? Well, meditation is many things such as waiting, listening, sitting in silence, observing, being attentive, being aware – that is, choicelessly aware – of the content of the action of our mind as well as the action of our surrounds.
Now, when we think about the activity of our mind – in particular, our conscious mind – we come to be aware of, and observe, what J. Krishnamurti (pictured) referred to as ‘the activity of the self’. Actually, there is more than one self in our mind. There is, for example, the ‘self that is judgmental’, the ‘self that hates immigrants and refugees’, the ‘self that loves pleasure’, and so on. Each of our innumerable likes, dislikes, views, opinions, beliefs, attachments and aversions is a ‘self’ of sorts. They are all our little ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ – and there are literally hundreds, even thousands, of them.
The combined activity of these ‘selves’, none of which is the true person each of us is, is known as the ‘activity of the self’. This activity causes us no end of trouble. What sort of trouble? Self-obsession, self-centredness, self-absorption as well as addictions, obsessions and compulsions of various kinds. The activity of the self results in all manner of thoughts, words and deeds that are selfish
This is what Krishnamurti has to say about the activity of the self and meditation (This Light in Oneself, Seventh Public Talk in Saanen, July 1973):
Where there is the activity of the self, meditation is not possible. This is very important to understand, not verbally but actually. Meditation is a process of emptying the mind of all the activity of the self, of all the activity of the ‘me.’ If you do not understand the activity of the self, then your meditation only leads to illusion, your meditation then only leads to self-deception, your meditation then will only lead to further distortion. So to understand what mediation is, you must understand the activity of the self. …
Meditation can assist a person to become free from the bondage to self – free from the activity of the self. The ‘secret’ is to sit quietly and watch, non-judgmentally, the activity of the self. In the words of Krishnamurti (The First and Last Freedom, Chapter 19 (‘Self-Centred Activity’)):
If you watch yourself and are aware of this centre of activity, you will see that it is only the process of time, of memory, of experiencing and translating every experience according to memory; you also see that self-activity is recognition, which is the process of the mind. … Is it possible for the mind ever to be free from self-centred activity?
That is a very important question first to put to ourselves, because in the very putting of it, you will find the answer. That is, if you are aware of the total process of this self-centred activity, fully cognizant of its activities at different levels of your consciousness, then surely you have to ask yourselves if it is possible for that activity to come to an end – that is, not to think in terms of time, not to think in terms of what I will be, what I have been, what I am.
From such thought, the whole process of self centred activity begins; there also begin the determination to become, the determination to choose and to avoid, which are all a process of time.
We see, in that process, infinite mischief, misery, confusion, distortion, deterioration taking place. Be aware of it as I am talking, in your relationship, in your mind.
In his many talks and writings Krishnamurti would often talk about the futility of self-forgetfulness, pointing out that there is no means of forgetting the self. In his Commentaries on Living, Series I, Chapter 41 (‘Awareness’)), we read:
Problems will always exist where the activities of the self are dominant. To be aware which are and which are not the activities of the self needs constant vigilance. This vigilance is not disciplined attention, but an extensive awareness which is choiceless. Disciplined attention gives strength to the self; it becomes a substitute and a dependence. Awareness, on the other hand, is not self-induced, nor is it the outcome of practice; it is understanding the whole content of the problem, the hidden as well as the superficial.
‘Problems will always exist when the activities of the self are dominant.’ How true that is! It is especially true of the addict – and we are all addicts of one kind or another. Not all of us are addicted to alcohol or other drugs but each one of us is addicted to certain ways of thinking, feeling and acting. We are addicted to our own views, opinions and beliefs, our own likes and dislikes.
Meditation, practised as choiceless awareness, helps us to disengage, to dis-identify, from the objects of our addictions. When we observe – non-judgmentally – the activity of the self diminishes and reduces in intensity. In the words of Krishnamurti, we come to understand ‘the whole content of the problem, the hidden as well as the superficial’.
Meditation is not what you think. Meditation is not thought or words. Learn to empty your mind of the activity of the self. Refuse to identify with it. You are not those false selves that cause you so much grief and angst. You are a personamong persons. A person caught up in the activity of the self is never free. He or she is in perpetual bondage to self. However, it need not be so. Meditate. Practise emptying your mind of the activity of the self. Let it go. Don’t hold onto it. Then, and only then, will you be free.
Source: http://ianellis-jones.blogspot.com/2017/01/meditation-is-not-what-you-think.html
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you still have not understood meditation, allow me to enlighten you to the reality of it. The real purpose of meditation is to allow one to become one with their true state of being and that is a being of consciousness apart from the fictitious human identity, seeing not from the human being but from consciousness itself. I dont use chakras in my thinking or activity as they are symbolic of something greater but i will use them to explain that some may have reached the level of the third eye, but that isnt the objective. The road map ends there, and no one can take you to the crown chakra which is the objective, the crown chakra represents the return to ones true state of being as a being of consciousness. No human identity can experience reality, truth, nor the moment of life as a human being, it basically take a quantum leap to shift from being a human being to a being of the true self which is consciousness, functioning as that one is basically disconnected from the physical identity. It is in this state that reality can be seen, and the moment experienced, reality, truth, and the moment can only be experienced before programing, false belief systems, and warped perceptions, most wont experience this in this lifetime. Self realization cannot be achieved with a belief system and programing, dropping the belief system is one of the first test of growth.
That’s what he just said. You just did it in a more complicated yet unnecessary and egotistical way, ironically. And its impossible to not have a belief system because you still have opinions about reality even if you don’t follow any religion, assuming you were referring to religion.
Self, Awareness, One’s True state of Being Knows no lesser sense of self, this is a Fact. Trying to account for a human sense is like wishing the dream one had last night is true, is real. Truth is a paradox looking from an insane, human sense, as human sense is in-sane, that is not Sanity. Only Truth, Being, Self is Sanity.
There Truly is no other to account for or that can be counted, there is Only One Self, Pure Love, Conscious Only of One Self, ItSellf.
True Prayer.
When we pray in the correct way, we are not asking God to do something, God is inspiring us to act in His place to enact His Will on Earth. We are intended to be the emissaries of the Divine on this planet. True prayer is the method, the visualization, that God expects us to use in discerning His Will and implementing it in the physical dimension twenty-four hours every day. His Kingdom come, His Will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Amen.
http://jahtruth.net/spirit.htm
How to Unite Muslims, Jews and Christians
/religion/2017/01/how-to-unite-muslims-jews-and-christians-2522342.html
your god never was, you have been brain washed and now have a false belief system to which you are a prisoner, and you are too ignorant to even understand it.
charlie2dogs your belief that everything is a result of mindless chaos is false and delusional because logic and consistency in nature prove that a mind was involved at minimum. God is Fully-Aware, the All-Knowing, Most Wise, and you should stop lying about Him and calling others ignorant because its ironic and hypocritical.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
16:11 He brings forth with it the vegetation and the olives and the palm trees and the grapes, and of all the fruits; in that are signs for a people who think.
17:111 And say: “Praise be to God who has not taken a son, nor does He have a partner in sovereignty, nor does He have an ally out of weakness.” And magnify Him greatly.
22:77 O you who believe, kneel and prostrate and serve your Lord and do good that you may succeed.
35:7 Those who reject will have a painful retribution, and those who believe and do good works they will have a forgiveness and a great reward.
I’d like to let you off with that one, Elekwense, because your argument is meritorious irrespective of your source.
But just so you know; you just provided the passage that denies Jesus is the Son of the Most High.
“God who has not taken a son”
As-Salaam-Alaikum.
you are a fool to quote what i believe when i am not a believer of anything
You mean when you choose to be ignorant, charlie, because it’s either creation, aliens or billions of years.
Atheism is an ideology too you know.
Mayhem
still sticking with your deliberately chosen ignorance huh?
Atheism is the REJECTION of religious ideology, due to the complete and utter lack of evidence substantiating it
you may not like this truth, but it is the truth, regardless of whether or not you choose to accept it
so, you’re muslim? you believe a different fairy-tale about the imaginary abrahamic god?
No i’m not Muslim, Andy, and gfy given you run away when the going gets too tough for you.
The God of the bible is a sadistic psychopath. God is not an invisible man in the sky.
Is that compared to, oh i don’t know, Stalin or just based on your feels?
It’s his feels.
compared to mohammad, who slaughtered entire towns, took sex slaves, killed his enemy commander then raped his wife the same day, took a 6 yr old wife (quite normal back then) but then consummated the marriage at age 9 which by definition makes him pedophile
oh, your fairy-tale character god leaves mohammad in the dust for sadism
Prove it.
prove what? that a man-made fairy-tale character was nasty in the OT and not much better in the NT?
you prove your god exists first
No, Andy, prove that God was worse than Mohammed like what you said.
Beliefs bring about two things regardless of the subject. The first is division, the second is conflict. Whether it is about religion, nationality, or racists beliefs there will always be someone who interprets according to his own thinking. Beliefs are created by the reality of what we think life is all about. The mistake is in thinking that we are the creators of this existence that was already determined unknown to us who knows when. That Creator set everything in motion with universal laws that govern everything and everyone. To give your interpretation about what meditation or enlightenment is, is like saying that the Creator did not complete his vision of what truly fulfills the heart of man.
Tell me is it more important to argue about your interpretations, or to be at peace because you understand that we were not put on this earth to live by beliefs systems which only divide and cause conflict. Let me give an example of two fellows who lived next to each other. One was black, the other was white. For years they were involved in cursing each other, fighting with each other, destroying each others property. After all this time they both started to question their beliefs as to why they were racist as they both grew tired of the conflict, which led both of them to understand through insight that their beliefs were false having nothing to do with whether one race is greater or lesser than the other. It just happened that they both gave up their racists beliefs at the same time, and it happened that when they met outside they both apologized for what they both thought about what race was greater or
lesser. Now my question to you is now that they both gave up their beliefs what are they going to fight about? The answer is nothing. So now they are at peace. Now apply this example to all beliefs systems which are false because you just made them up. This is why meditation is not what we think, or what we think about. Truth has nothing to do with Christians, Muslims, Jews, Satanists, New Age Thinkers, or atheists.
Nice try but you’ve got it back to front.
“Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.” – Lester B Pearson – from his Nobel Lecture.