For the past year or so (maybe more) I have wanted to get into meditation, but never have. I have read about the health benefits of meditating regularly and of course the spiritual benefits as well. Some of these include, but not limited to: getting a better night sleep, appreciating life more, reducing stress, increasing happiness, reducing stress, increasing attention span and many more other things. One of the problems I have is falling asleep at night; I can never shut off my brain and can never stop thinking; sometimes it takes me close to an hour to fall asleep. It’s as if my mind is a pressure cooker exploding each night I lay down. On top of that, since reading the Alchemist, I have wanted to become more spiritual inclined.
By chance, on Tuesday I decided to use stumbleupon, something I rarely do anymore. One of the first things I stumbled on was 10 youtube channels to check out while high. Well I wasn’t high, but I decided to look through them because I thought I might find something interesting. I had nothing to lose. One of the channels I came across is called, Tragedy & Hope. A channel dedicated to creating inspiring and thought provoking videos. On this channel I came across a video titled “The Mind – Alan Watts.” I didn’t know who Alan Watts was, but it’s as if his words were meant for me (I’m sure others feel the same way). They reverberated throughout me. This video, made me finally stop putting off attempting to mediate and to finally pursue it. After all, there is literally nothing you need and no excuses to not try. These are some of his words that inspired me:
“An enormous number of people devote their lives to keeping their minds busy and feel extremely uncomfortable with silence”
“We are addicted to thoughts, it’s like a drug”
“In order to have something to think about, there are times you must stop thinking”
“Don’t try to, if you do, you will be like someone trying to make rough water smooth with a flat iron, it will just stir it up”
“You have to know how to leave your mind alone, it will quite itself”
Out of context some of them may appear to not make the most sense, but in the video they do. It’s true, the reason why I have put off meditating for so long is because I was scared; I didn’t think I could sit and not think. How could I? I then spent the next hour or more listening to more of his ideas and his words. I researched him and found out more about his life. I saw that he had written some books, so I bought and downloaded one. It’s called Become What You are and has inspired many people to pick up meditation. I have started reading and so far I have found it very helpful and inspiring. Meditation is not easy, and it’s especially hard to concentrate or to not concentrate. Some words I have found helpful are, “Concentrate for one second. If, at the end of this time your mind has wondered off, concentrate for another second, then another. Nobody ever has to concentrate for more than one second- this one. This is why it is quite literally off the point to time yourself, to compete with yourself and bother about your progress.”
I have now successfully attempted to mediate for three days and will make an attempt to stay with it. I would like for it to become a part of my life because of the wealth of positive rewards. I’m not exactly sure what I’m hoping to gain or to find, but I know it can only be positive.