The purpose of meditation is to enjoy an emotional, mental and spiritual landscape free from human conditioning. A world inside of you free of preconceived ideas and notions derived from society. A pure uncluttered channel to receive information from sources beyond the five senses. A new view of yourself unlike the old tired view of yourself. Even though the methods of meditation are numerous, the outcome is always a fresh vision of reality. Reality is a funny word. The assumption is something that is real. What is real? that is an endless discussion we will avoid for now. Let us assume the reality we hope to alter while meditating, is the world shaped by the five senses. The five senses are like telephones that will ring to get our attention. Ring, ring, I smell something. Ring, ring, look at that pretty bird. Ring, ring I hear a fire truck. The sense telephone rings, we answer with the nervous response appropriate to that sense organ; we hear something. That vibration then creates an echo effect in our thoughts. “I hear the fire truck, I wonder where the fire is, the last time I heard a fire truck my neighbors cat was in a tree…on and on the internal dialog goes. Our five senses prompt our mind to remember similar events associated with the current sensory event. This thought triggers another similar one which inspires yet another. On and on the kaleidoscope of thought spins endlessly. Thoughts trigger emotions, which excite glandular function. Our glands secrete hormones, which bring a vivid “real” feeling to the thoughts, and before you know it you are no longer aware of your surroundings. You are now in your head thinking about your surroundings. This habit of constantly thinking and emoting about external stimulation, IS the “unreal” human condition meditation proposes to remedy.
You may ask, “what is wrong with thinking about events in my life?” Nothing is wrong thinking about what is happening around you. It is the constant need to question, analyze and complicate everything with our internal dialog, is the problem. I call this the monkey mind. It cannot just let things be as they are. Until it monkeys around with it first, it does not exist to the monkey mind. Self centered observations and questions, over and over about everything in sight, smell, sound, taste and touch, is the apparent job of this monkey. In many ways the monkey mind is the point man for the ego. Continually convincing us, that reality is only real when it is filtered through it, (the ego) first. The need for meditation becomes apparent when we become sick and tired of hearing this endless rant. When the world becomes tainted with our own interpretation of events. It is time to dip into the cool water of meditation. Water of internal vision clear of our own ideas of what is. Meditation is the peaceful passage of time without the need to think about what it is. Meditation is not thinking. Allowing yourself to float down the stream of life, uncaring about where, why, what ,when and who. Those five W words, are the “spy’s” for the five senses. The senses must be engaged to answer them.
Freedom from the five senses is the primary purpose of meditation. On the empty canvas of peace and quiet, uncluttered by sense experience. We can paint endless new realities, with a rainbow of new colors that never occurred to us before. New colors are not allowed in a world ruled by these five thieves of the sense. Stealing our opportunity to create a more beautiful world. Forcing the limitations of the body on the mind and heart. Convincing us that you can only behold the”real” world with these limited senses. All else is just imaginary, it is just in your head, quit dreaming and start to produce something we all can see, hear, feel, taste or touch. Your life can be so much more than the limitations of the body. Learn to meditate my friends, endless horizons of infinite possibilities lie within you. Learn to turn off those sense telephones. Tune into a more beautiful channel, a space filled with the many colored rays of light, your real life is made of.
