meditation....
i dropped by lana's apt last night to welcome her mother and stepfather into town. lana had tempted me to visit by offering her mother's delicious vegetarian home-cookin'. no argument there. gladly!
this is the second time i've met her mother. the first time was years ago at the airport when she came to pick up lana (i forget where we were coming back from.... la, maybe??) anyway, her mom was in the car and we just waved hi to each other as the traffic controllers quickly waved at her to keep moving the car along.
this time our meeting was much more meaningful. we got on the subject of meditation so she grabbed a few pillows, sat down, pulled her legs into a crossover position, and began schooling me and lana on the how to meditate. where to place your eyes, what i should be staring/looking/gazing at, how to relax my mind, how to embrace the silence, the spirit, the soul, detach from the material and competition and desires of this world and to realize what we truly have in the end. even how to breathe correctly! her own struggle with the meaning of life and how she came to the realization that it was just a struggle within herself and not with the rest of the world. it was a very deep teaching and she was excellent at explaining and getting the ideas and thoughts across to me. quite eloquent and articulate. it was fascinating to me. so much so that i was getting so engrossed in hearing what she had to say that i stopped eating the dinner she had prepared and lana had to snap me out of it and say, 'eat!'.
while she was speaking to me, i couldn't help but be reminded of my own mother. first, they're both buddhists so the teachings and words of wisdom that had to impart were very similar. it was as if i hearing an echo from my past. very surreal. second, they are both excellent at explaining using vernacular examples and not getting caught up and confusing me. third, lana's mom was so patient while talking to me, a trait that i've witnessed in my mother when she was discoursing the principles of buddhism to friends such as hosanna and charlie. they come away with the utmost respect for her and know she's not just trying to recruit people to her faith. not at all, she just wants people to realize their inner self, their own mental and spiritual strength and how to channel that energy into greater and better actions for this and future lives.
i was actually moved after having the conversation with lana's mom. i was inspired to begin meditating.... to begin a daily exercise towards enlightening my state of mind, removing the burden (mental and emotional) i've placed on my own shoulders, calming and connecting with my spirit 'qi', and understanding my purpose in this crazy, perplexing, mind-bending, stressful, roller-coaster ride we call life. and to think... this life is only one tiny episode, only a blip on the radar of my cycle of lives.
i will begin meditating sessions... in baby steps.... maybe aim for 10 minutes. hopefully in due time, i can work up to 2-3 hours of pure, undistracted, undisturbed, peaceful meditation sessions.
religion. so controversial. i don't have currently have a particular faith, but i do lean towards buddhism. partly due to my mother being a buddhist, learning the tenets and philosophy from her, and partly due to the fact that i am a pessimist and while buddhism is not pessimistic in its teaching, it is a bit dark in that it looks at suffering and says its a result of desires. wordly, emotionally, any type of desire will lead to a life of suffering. which i agree with. you want what you cannot have, thus you suffer.
this is the second time i've met her mother. the first time was years ago at the airport when she came to pick up lana (i forget where we were coming back from.... la, maybe??) anyway, her mom was in the car and we just waved hi to each other as the traffic controllers quickly waved at her to keep moving the car along.
this time our meeting was much more meaningful. we got on the subject of meditation so she grabbed a few pillows, sat down, pulled her legs into a crossover position, and began schooling me and lana on the how to meditate. where to place your eyes, what i should be staring/looking/gazing at, how to relax my mind, how to embrace the silence, the spirit, the soul, detach from the material and competition and desires of this world and to realize what we truly have in the end. even how to breathe correctly! her own struggle with the meaning of life and how she came to the realization that it was just a struggle within herself and not with the rest of the world. it was a very deep teaching and she was excellent at explaining and getting the ideas and thoughts across to me. quite eloquent and articulate. it was fascinating to me. so much so that i was getting so engrossed in hearing what she had to say that i stopped eating the dinner she had prepared and lana had to snap me out of it and say, 'eat!'.
while she was speaking to me, i couldn't help but be reminded of my own mother. first, they're both buddhists so the teachings and words of wisdom that had to impart were very similar. it was as if i hearing an echo from my past. very surreal. second, they are both excellent at explaining using vernacular examples and not getting caught up and confusing me. third, lana's mom was so patient while talking to me, a trait that i've witnessed in my mother when she was discoursing the principles of buddhism to friends such as hosanna and charlie. they come away with the utmost respect for her and know she's not just trying to recruit people to her faith. not at all, she just wants people to realize their inner self, their own mental and spiritual strength and how to channel that energy into greater and better actions for this and future lives.
i was actually moved after having the conversation with lana's mom. i was inspired to begin meditating.... to begin a daily exercise towards enlightening my state of mind, removing the burden (mental and emotional) i've placed on my own shoulders, calming and connecting with my spirit 'qi', and understanding my purpose in this crazy, perplexing, mind-bending, stressful, roller-coaster ride we call life. and to think... this life is only one tiny episode, only a blip on the radar of my cycle of lives.
i will begin meditating sessions... in baby steps.... maybe aim for 10 minutes. hopefully in due time, i can work up to 2-3 hours of pure, undistracted, undisturbed, peaceful meditation sessions.
religion. so controversial. i don't have currently have a particular faith, but i do lean towards buddhism. partly due to my mother being a buddhist, learning the tenets and philosophy from her, and partly due to the fact that i am a pessimist and while buddhism is not pessimistic in its teaching, it is a bit dark in that it looks at suffering and says its a result of desires. wordly, emotionally, any type of desire will lead to a life of suffering. which i agree with. you want what you cannot have, thus you suffer.
posted by joaners @ 7:04 AM
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