meditation

Practicing Presence: Internal Models

January 18, 2023

Meditation helps us access and internalize the good in the universe, letting it expand within us and become a resource we carry around all the time. The way we first learn to do this internalizing of any kind of presence is through our relationships with others. The people around us when we are growing up help us form some initial internal framework of what people and reality are like. We learn others are harsh and scary or that there is great good in the world – maybe both. We then carry around these internal representations and they “help” us interpret all the other things we experience. They also help us form “rules” or “models” we unknowingly consult while interacting with the world. This all happens most of the time underneath our conscious awareness, so these internal models are having an effect all the time without us knowing it. Read More

What You Will Find in Meditation

December 13, 2022

You can meditate if you believe in God or if you don’t. Either way, meditation/contemplation is a hopeful practice. We meditate because we believe there is something “out there,” or “in here” (inside us), or “way down at the bottom of everything.” You are attempting to connect with that thing. If you practice meditation on a regular basis, you will find something. For some of us, it helps to imagine that the universe has consciousness and personality. We might call that God. You might also call it good Goodness, Meaning, Existence. Or you might not call it anything. Read More

Meditation – A State of Resonance

November 21, 2022

We spend our lives trying to get into a state of resonance. You might say that everything we do is aimed at getting ourselves into rhythm with the universe. We eat and drink and sleep and do drugs to feel right. We endeavor to control our environment, establish routines, indulge our habits, seek stimulation and connection. That is all meant to regulate and feel in step with existence itself. Read More

Getting Started With Contemplation – Taking Stock Of What Is There

November 13, 2022

The first thing to do if you are wanting to start practicing meditation/contemplation is to start by paying attention to and “tracking” everything going on inside yourself. Your inner experience is complex. It is made up of your thoughts and feelings, but there are other things, too – physical sensations, imaginings, intentions, a million little impulses. Before practicing meditation/contemplation, your inner experience can feel out of control. The goal is not to completely control your inner life or eliminate all the “noise.” It is just to start with what is there and organize it a little to achieve a more centered experience. Read More

The Purposes of Meditation/Contemplation

November 6, 2022

From time to time, I get out of the habit of practicing meditation/contemplation. And it becomes important to re-engage with these practices that help me sink deeper into myself and reconnect with contemplative thought. These meditative practices are what I need to live a serious, creative life, which I was born to do. From time to time, people also ask me to help support them in their own meditative practices. Basically, the questions center around how to start, what to do, and what is supposed to happen when you do it. Most of us understand contemplation/meditation will be helpful, but we are unclear about what we are supposed to be achieving through it. I would like to outline here some purposes, or we might say outcomes, of meditation/contemplation. In subsequent posts, we will then outline practical steps to achieve these ends. Some purposes of meditation/contemplation (the two terms are used interchangeably): Read More