Meditation Brings a Quiet Mind
Meditation brings a quiet mind:
A quite mind is more likely to
perceive interesting and relevant information from the environment than
a distracted mind.
When I first started meditating on a regular basis...I was utterly amazed at everything thing that I noticed in the world.
At the time, I was car-pooling to work, so I didn't drive everyday. Most of the time, my partner and I talked...but in the gaps, I would look about in wonder at all the amazing "stuff" in the world.
Now, you are probably thinking, what was so amazing?
And here you might be a little underwhelmed...but if you are in the right frame of mind...a quiet mind that is open and accepting to the present moment...every little piece of nuance in the world is amazingly beautiful.
This mundane commute was a simple car-pool lane journey in greater LA. My house is very close to the I-110 freeway, so we get on the freeway right away...but on some days...I noticed very interesting junk in the road...with a quiet mind, seeing the interesting junk was amazing...how did THAT get there(!?)....
...then the story that I made up about how that piece of junk got on the freeway amused me for a little while.
...many days, I would just try to focus on seeing certain things...for example...birds. Birds are great. Even in a giant city that is greater LA, you see all kind of birds...I saw birds on the on-ramp perched high above the fray...chilling and laughing at our frantic running about...I wanted to be a bird, so I didn't have to go to work...:-).
There are billions of little details going on in the world right now that you are not paying attention to. I am not suggested that you should pay attention to all of them, but if your attention is constantly distracted...you might miss important and/or amazing bits of your life.
People that don't mediate fear peace and silence...that's why they always are filling the silence with more noise to match the noise in their heads. TV, Radio, cell phones, IPODS...all really cool, but like anyone distraction from the now...are a less desirable after you quiet your mind.
A quite mind seeks peace and stillness.
Meditation brings a quiet mind:
Where
is your attention throughout the day?
Are you listening during that meeting, or you thinking about YOUR problems and trying "to get some work done".
I sit through meetings at work...and I do my best to listen...I do zone out during some of the boring stuff, mostly because the talk is technically above my head...I literally don't understand the words being used (I work with some rocket scientist...so they are pretty smart).
But I do my best to be engaged, because, that's my job...the more I know about what people are doing in my organization the better I can do my job to help them out.
Some of the people that I sit in the meeting with are throughly distracted for almost the entire meeting...they sorta of listen when the boss talks...
One person brings stuff to work on during the meeting...this makes complete sense...he has a job...and this meeting is cutting in to his day...even if it is his boss is doing the cutting. He listens when the boss talks (mostly to him...not to anyone else...he listens JUST enough get his actions).
With a quiet mind, you can more readily accept boring and uninteresting input...you can learn to zone in...make it a challenge.
When I meditate, I like to focus on something to notice in my body. That helps remove my focus from my thoughts and into my body.
For instance, the next time you are in a boring meeting, instead of day dreaming...take a few deep breaths, and try to move your attention to one of your hands. Just ask yourself, "without looking or touching my hand...how do I know it is still part of my body?"
This question will help you to quiet your mind, because it moves your attention to your hand.
Another idea is to start to just try to notice your heart beating, and then notice your heart beating in your hand.
Once your mind is focused on something other than the conversation going on in your head ("thinking")...then you will be working on your quiet mind...and you will do better at listening during that meeting.
Meditation brings a quiet mind:
When
you quiet your
mind, it is easier to listen and pay attention to the people in your
life.
I zone out when people are talking to me quiet a bit. It is usually because they came in while I was working...and I have to PULL by attention out of the computer before I can attend to to them...
...if the computer is more interesting than the person...or if I want to get something done more than I want to chat...that person might get the "I'm working..." blow off...
...we all do this...and the person that wanted to b.s. understands and leaves...because you "needed to work".
But at home and outside of work, you should really pay attention to people that want to talk to you...if you want them to like you anyway.
If you want to help someone...the best thing you can do is shut up and listen...eventually they will stop talking and perhaps you can talk...but if you hang in there and listen to them for a while....and accept them as they are in that moment...
...you will be much more helpful than the person that half listens and thinks of something to say and stops listening because he is waiting for a place to jump in and talk.
A quiet mind can more readily accept input and allow a person to talk...you can learn to be a great listener.
Meditation brings a quiet mind:
A
quiet mind makes
more connections that are fun and amazing.
One of the cool connections that I made during my life is related to a childhood friend by the name of "Mr. Anderson".
One day, we were discussing life, the universe and everything (the actual universe...not the book by the same name)...and some how we got to the topic of suicide...
Mr. Anderson said something like..."I can't kill myself, because what if I'm the only one?"
At the time, it was a neat idea, that I had not really thought about. He didn't want to kill himself, because he thought that with his death...the entire universe...and all the "people" in it would die as well. "Huh...very interesting idea"...thought the young me...and then of course...life proceeded as it tends to do.
Now flash forward to me in the Air Force stationed in Japan and I am watching the the movie the Matrix.
Mr. Anderson is NEO. NEO is also known as "the one"...his nemesis...is Agent Smith (hey my name is Smith!)...
I really thought that was a freaking awesome connection to notice...almost something that Stephen King would come up with in one of his books or one of the writers on the TV show Lost might have come up with...but it is so much cooler because of the fact that the connection has elements in the "real" world.
You see, I have come to realize that space/time is an illusion. Everything is really connected across space and time...
...and everything happens NOW...
It's like the 3-D world we live in day to day, is what we decided to learn today. We are not ready yet to experience the universe as it really is...so that's what space and time are for...for us to use time to learn in space what we want to learn.
This means that something that happened in the past is still happening and will continue to happen...the event doesn't change...but whether you observe the event and how you perceive it changes.
When you learn to quiet your mind, you will notice more connections across space and time and let your attention fall where it might...you might notice something now that means nothing to you...
Then several years later you notice something new that has meaning to you that refers to that old something that meant nothing to you...but now you know why you noticed it in the past.
Meditation brings a quiet mind:
You
are more intelligent when you are not thinking...the next time you are
"freaking out" trying to solve a problem...try to quiet your mind...and
let the solution flow to you.
Wayne Dyer says something like...when you are overwhelmed in a situation...and you can't figure out what to do next and you are very stressed and worried and frantic to fix a problem...the way to make that problem go away is to quiet your mind (what he said was "think of god"...so if that works for you...great...I prefer "quiet my mind"....when I think about god...I quiet my mind).
This works! You are far more resourceful if you take a couple of deep breaths...calm down....maybe go hide out in the restroom stall or better yet take a walk outside or in a quiet hallway...and find a little peace....
The sooner you calm down and stopping fretting and thrashing about...the sooner you will solve your "problem".
You see, God is always trying to help you....that voice in your head...that is stressing out and frantically trying to fix the problem...is really just in the way of god trying to help you let go go of the problem. The problem isn't really what you think it is anyway...the problem is your current frantic state.
Why do you think the #1 rule is an emergency is to "remain calm" and almost no one follows the rule? It's because...although it is the #1 rule...everyone is expected to violate the rule and panic. If there are few calm people around...sometimes they are in charge...sometimes not...
...the calm people see through the "problem" right away and know how to fix it...then they have to deal with calming everyone else down which is probably more work...and a bigger problem.
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