(Distinctions are subtleties of language that, when gotten, cause a shift in a belief, behavior, value or attitude.)
We medicate in order to not feel. We use TV, food, sex, drugs, low-calorie literature, and alcohol. We even use so- called positive addictions like exercise and work. It doesn’t matter what we use, the point of medication is to avoid feeling something we are fearful of feeling, afraid that if we feel it fully we may be overwhelmed by our emotions. Rarely does medication help us progress.
Meditation is almost the other extreme. It allows — no, it demands — that we feel everything, fully, and in so doing discover there is nothing to fear! Meditation is the process of going beyond time and space thinking to the full-on experience of nothingness (no-thing-ness), of all-that-is, of Unity, of God, of whatever label you choose to use for the un-labelable Is, the nameless Now. It is where you discover that Nothing is Everything.
Being in your mind is the source of your fears, which can call for medication.
Being out of your mind, and beyond your fears, is the result of meditation.
Coaching Point: Whether you meditate through a classic form of meditation, or through prayer, journaling, tai chi, yoga, biking, painting, dance, or some other process, have you developed the daily habit of being out of your mind through meditation?
Copyright 2010 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.
