I’m 10 days into the Waking Up introduction to meditation course. For a decade I’ve had a peripheral awareness of meditation and its supposed benefits and had a few false starts at making a habit of it. I think this time it might stick.
The course is split into two section: ‘theory’ and ‘practice’. The ‘theory’ section contains nonlinear philosophical articles concerning meditation and life. The ‘practice’ section is a linear introduction on meditation. The theory nicely complements the practice because it sets up a framework for thinking about the practice and motivations for doing the practice.
For example, the very first suggested theory article discusses the value of controlling your responses to events. If a person never examined and strove to control his responses to events it is likely that he will suffer needlessly. This is because our nature, and our environments, are naturally condusive to suffering. External forces, such as marketing, will drive one to desire things which do not make us happier; and internal forces, such as envy, do the same. What’s more, the striving for these things can cause suffering (long hours working, ignoring loved ones). The cycle of desire, striving, and suffering is just one example of how external and internal forces can conspire to create suffering. Meditation is the antidote to this suffering. By becoming aware of these events, and of our natural responses to these events, one can control his responses and direct his attention to more happy pursuits. In short, it is often good enough, and easier, to change oneself than it is to change the world.
Other theory articles concern trite but true observations such as ‘you never know which time is the last time’, ‘you will always have problems, enjoy them’, ‘somebody else would love to be you’. By being aware of these facts one can reframe experiences to make them more positive. Stuck in traffic? At least I don’t have lung cancer! Partner being unpleasant? Suck it up, they could die tomorrow! The thing is, as eye roll-inducing as these observations are, they are also 100% true. Unless you want to be sucked into some drama or mired in self-pity, it’s good to keep things in perspective.
I once had a girlfriend who complained that we didn’t fight enough. I think that she enjoyed the passion that conflict can create (or indicate). One could call this ‘intelligent destructiveness’. As long as you’ve got an eye on the peak on the other side of a valley, then yeah, go for it, plunge into that dark place. That’s a willful act of self destruction with a purpose. It’s different from unwittingly falling into each pit of dispair that comes along. So even in this sense these trite observations are valuable & I like them.
The narration of the guided practice pleasant and helpful. It is very straightforward about its aims: build your ability to attend to one thing, and improve your awareness of your experiences. After 10 lessons I can say that the lessons are effective.
First, I am finding it easier to maintain focus both during & outside of practice. One of the most helpful tools that I’ve gained is the ability to let a thought go. In the past, I’ve found passing thoughts extremely alluring and difficult to let go. Each thought holds the promise of a fun discovery or powerful insight. I struggle to pursue them or at least remember them to pursue after practice. Now I am able to attend to the thought itself, without following it. This causes the thought to fade away. I don’t mind letting thoughts go anymore. Maybe my thoughts are less interesting to me than they use to be, or perhaps I’ve got enough on my plate and I don’t want to entertain more ideas.
Second, I am more aware of my thought patterns. For example, when an annoyingly loud motorbike drives down my street I might have a negative thought about how self-centered the biker is. I would have this reaction again and again, with only a superficial awareness of it. Now, I can examine this thought a bit more deeply and change my reaction to it. Perhaps with enough time I can remove my initial reaction (the biker might not even be aware that others do not like the noise). What good is feeling annoyed repeatedly? Unless it is driving me to take some sort of action to remove the annoyance, it is of no use. I’m not going to spend time trying to solve this ‘problem’. This also applies to emotions. I am more aware of feeling a certain way, and where before I might have followed a thought path that would exacerbate the feeling, now I can simply be aware of the emotion, which causes the emotion to fade. It doesn’t last long though.
Finally, there’s an intangible feeling I get during practice. It is interesting and makes me want to explore meditation more.
All in all, I highly recommend this app!
tags: meditation