This is a very deep and advanced topic that can only be understood through the experience of doing, not merely by reading this article.
There are two types of spiritual people:
1. People who meditate to escape life, "control" their emotions, thoughts, feelings. Believing there is something inherently wrong with them that needs to be "fixed" with meditation
2. People who meditate for enjoyment, alternate experience
Majority of people fall into category 1 - escapism, even if they think they are part of category 2 - experience.
Ask yourself a question. Do you feel you need to meditate or should meditate daily? If the answer is yes, you're in category 1. If the answer is no, you're in category 2.
Those in category 1 - escapism, should stop meditating for a while and learn to accept themselves AS THEY ARE and learn that every moment and action of life is a meditation, and that they are actually perfectly OK and nothing needs to be fixed at all!!! This will be a HUGE relief and release.
Those in category 2 - experience, should START meditating and will find a great joy, alternate experience in meditation. Experience of the inner world enriches one's life.
The majority of regular meditators forget to remember that meditation ITSELF easily becomes a RITUAL and an ATTACHMENT that we use to escape life and ourselves and use to fix ourselves. So by dropping meditation for a little while reinforces the idea that we were born perfectly OK without needing any tools to fix ourselves - that our true nature is perfect AS IT IS.
Sat Naam.
Sat Nam Ji,
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, I'm not at all sure why your blog entry was sent in the Sikhnet News update. Several of your ideas are not really in line with Sikh teachings
People have all kinds of relationships to meditation. What is your intention with your recommending that people take a break from their disciple?
The only "real" command/recommendation in the Granth is that we as Sikhs meditate. Jap!!
We have commitments to a daily practice Sadhana.
In regard to our "perfection" - We wouldn't be incarnated at all if we didn't have karma to fix.
Meditation is perhaps the best way of burning Karma.
Man Jeetai jag jeet!
Good Luck to You
Hukum Singh Khalsa
Sat Nam!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts! In my opinion, the idea of a fixed Sadhana is wrong. Since all things are in constant change, and so to should our Sadhana continue to evolve.
The fixed point within a human being is their soul, not their practice. Often when a spiritual practice loses its emotion and becomes bland, it is time to replace this practice with a new one.
The ultimate stage of being, is that one needs no spiritual practice to "fix" oneself, because the Jap is every moment one is alive. Everything is automatically in Jap. Jap is every fibre of one's being.
Human being naturally goes through cycles of activity and non-activity, this flux should be respected. Just like there is day and night, so there are times for rest and activity.