Meditation
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
I just finished reading a book called Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being by Neil Theise. Sounds pretty heavy but it’s actually a quick and easy read. It’s right up my alley.
The subtitle is what drew me in instantly. That seems to be occupying my thought processes more than ever lately. And after I read the first few pages I was hooked.
Is it coincidence that I got the book Friday, attended my first meditation and mantra class on Saturday, watched Rick Rubin(1) Sunday night on 60 minutes (He started the interview with a quick meditation). And I finished the book Tuesday. I don’t think it is. It’s like the universe is trying to tell me something.
So the mantra / meditation class was my first serious attempt at seated meditation. I’ve tried meditating at home but I was not successful. Whatever my version of success means, and that is part of the my problem. Am I expecting too much. I have attended chanting sessions before but I think it was too early in my journey to be adequately absorbed.
I have an expectation that something wonderful is going to happen. Something that’s better than I have experienced before. I have had one experience of sitting after practice when something happened that was beyond anything that has happened before. I posted about it in Yoga Journey #5 in the Yoga category.
In the mantra / meditation class, there was about 15 of us, we did a mantra that the teacher chose. We repeated it 108 times, as you do, and half way through it became more intense by design. It was a little too intense for me as I started to vibrate in my chest and I’d said so many words that I decided to stop and just listen. And as the chant started to calm down, also by design, I joined back in until it finished.
The mantra / chant was hard work. I’m not much of a talker and I probably said more words in that approximately 15 minute chant than I do in a week.
But as I said it was hard work. We chanted in Sanskrit and it is difficult because it’s relatively new to me and a difficult language. The chant was also fast and it did get intense. It’s like everything else when you are learning something new it’s difficult when you start.
When I stoped chanting I just sat and listened to everyone else and I was getting a little absorbed by what was happening to my body and the sound that was being generated. I felt kind of a calmness but it was different from when I practice asana. At the moment I prefer asana. But maybe this is a gateway to another level. I’m open.
What is successful meditation.
That is something I have struggled to understand. During my asana practice I feel calm and peaceful and to me that is meditation. But Meditation can mean different things to different people. Some meditate for a deeper understanding of life, themselves, or the Devine. Some people meditate to calm the mind. A wise teacher(2) once told me that “you don’t meditate to calm the mind you meditate when the mind is calm”.
But there was / is stuff I’m discovering that is not science based or that hard evidence exists. And that is what Complexity Theory is about. You know something to be true but you can’t prove it outside of what you’re in. I can tell you that I experienced something during my meditation class but I can’t prove it. I know it’s true but how do I scientifically prove it.
But I believe we are all connected, we share concscinous and that my being is from the past and extends to the future before and after I pass. I also believe when I die I die. I don’t believe in something after (kinda sad eh). But my life will impact the future as will yours. I / we will build on and add to the greater consciousness of all.
But I can’t prove it.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
How you like them apples.
Be safe
(1) Rick Rubin, from Wikipedia:
Rubin helped popularize hip hop by producing records for acts such as the Beastie Boys, Geto Boys, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and LL Cool J. He has also produced hit records for acts from a variety of other genres, predominantly heavy metal (Danzig, Metallica and Slayer), alternative rock (the Cult, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Strokes and Weezer), hard rock (Audioslave and Aerosmith), nu-metal (Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down), and country (Johnny Cash and the Chicks).
(2) Tim Miller: Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher.
This makes me happy…