Meditation is a practice to rest the thinking-mind. It is a state of non-doing being when you simply witness all that arises and choose not to react, respond or engage in any way with whatever arises in the awareness. We could continue doing something physically while the mind is at rest, but the first step is to quieten the mind and enable it to rest.
Let us first see what is mental activity and then we shall see how it is possible to be without doing any of these mental activities. We live in a world which has led us into the habit of being in the thinking mind all the time. Throughout our waking time and also during sleeping time our mind is engaged and busy with activities in it. These include the monologues in our mind with ourselves, the dialogues we carry out mentally with an imaginary person, the voices of others in our mind telling us what not to do, memories of past events, worries about the future, planning, working, calculating, computing, watching something, reading, studying, focusing, concentrating, paying attention, fantasising, imagining, dreaming, etc. We are habituated to this and so it seems to be happening effortlessly and automatically although we are doing it.
Whether you walk or do any other thing or sit still, the mind would still be stuck in doing any one or more of the above activities. Focusing on nothingness is not going to help because to focus is also a mental activity. Fixed Gazing and Conscious Breathing (FGCB) along with Energy Movements (EM) will help you quieten the thinking mind and then it would be easier to be in awareness holding a stance of acceptance and allowing to all the arising phenomena so that engagement doesn’t happen. The mind goes through a shift when you sit with FGCB and EM, from a restless state to a still, quiet state. This shift is called grounding because it corresponds with the energy body connecting with the earth’s electromagnetic energy frequency. Once you experience the shift, you can begin doing some easy physical activity such as nature walk or dish washing while being aware of the state of your mind. Please read some of my other posts and answers to understand what meditation is and how to recognise if you are in meditation.
FGCB IS EXPLAINED HERE:
What are some breathing exercises for beginners who struggle with focusing on their breath while meditating?
You can find the Energy Movements videos on my YouTube channel: (Do the Deep crossing first)
Selvan Srinivasan
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