Mindfulness vs. mindlessness.

Because so many people seem to associate my guided meditations with Mindfulness, many of whom both use our CDs and listen to our podcast, I often find myself wondering exactly what Mindfulness is. I've often thought that my meditations have more to do with "mindlessness" than "mindfulness", and have thought of writing a post about that. It took a really interesting blog post in the New York Times today to get me to begin to tackle that subject. Check it out -- peoples' comments are really interesting to read: Being and Mindfulness - Judith Warner Blog - NYTimes.com.

Well, I said "begin to tackle that subject" and I am literally only beginning to try to formulate by thoughts about it and don't know if I'll ever get past the beginning on this one. For one thing, having practiced meditation for a long time before ever hearing of Mindfulness Meditation, I've never really be able to relate to mindfulness instructions when I come across them, so how can I compare it with what I do?

Also, it seems like Mindfulness isn't just a technique of meditation, but is often (if not always) associated with an intention to be a certain kind of person or to behave in a certain way -- a way that is better than ones current way of being or behaving. My involvement with meditation has had to do with self-awareness and with inner peace, but I've never been involved in order to be a better person. If anything, my hope has been to learn to accept myself the way I am. I'm not saying that I don't want to be a "better" person. Who doesn't (depending on how each person defines that)? I just never saw meditation as a means to that unless it came as a welcome by-product to greater ease with myself and with life.

As I write, I am beginning to understand some possible distinctions between Mindfulness Meditation and what I do. I say "possible" because  as I said I don't really know Mindfulness Meditation. I also suspect that all Mindfulness Meditation is not alike. Certainly not every Mindfulness teacher understands and teaches it in the same way. Certainly not everyone who practices it understands it in the same way. Also, Mindfulness seems to involve more than a technique of meditation. It seems to involve a way of being in the world -- something you apply outside of a period of meditation practice. While I do think meditation "my way" creates changes outside of meditation, there is no specific recommendation to try to consciously make something happen in daily life.

So why do I feel my meditations have to do with Mindlessness rather than Mindfulness? My sense is that in Mindfulness Meditation there is a kind of noting of things. There is the idea that here I am being mindful. So in Mindfulness there is a awareness of "me" sitting here "being mindful". The difference I'd see is that in my meditations (the ones like "Simply Being" that don't have a specific focus), there is a letting go of what is noticed. Noticing is not noting. It's not a taking note of what you experience, or a labeling of it. It's more of a letting go of what is noticed. We aren't looking for anything. Noticing happens spontaneously. We are spontaneously aware of what is going on. We don't need to try to notice something. It just comes into our awareness. Or it doesn't. Doesn't matter. It's just a matter of letting go when we become aware that the mind has gotten involved, or tangled up with, what is being experienced.

As I write, I see the impossibility of conceptualizing what happens in meditation. And perhaps this is my difficulty with understanding Mindfulness Meditation. Perhaps it is the problem that is inherent when we try to put the meditative experience into words. It sounds like we mean something we don't really mean. I can certainly see that what I was just writing in the paragraph above could sound like something other than what I mean.

So I'll just stop. I began to try to write about Mindlessness vs Mindfulness, and I found that I can't really. But I think you might enjoy the New York Times piece I mentioned, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with this subject. So for that reason, I'll go ahead and publish this post about what I can't really put in writing. I think this has liberated me from any compulsion to explore how what I do is different than Mindfulness (if it is). It doesn't really matter in the end. I'm happy with what I'm doing!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and welcome your comments.

Do you have to be spiritual to meditate?

In a very interesting, enjoyable blog post, "K" describes her experience with our meditation podcast. Her post is fun to read, and it raises a lot of interesting questions. First of all, she begins by saying "I am not what you would call a spiritual person". In view of this, she was surprised to find herself listening to the meditations. That raises the question as to whether only spiritual people meditate, or whether meditation is necessarily associated with spirituality. And then, of course, there's the bigger question of what spirituality, or being spiritual, means. At one point K asks "Was I actually meditating?" (when listening to the podcast). This brings up yet another question -- "what is meditation?" These are all interesting questions to explore. My feeling is that asking these kinds of questions can lead to worthwhile self-discovery. One thing I loved about K's post is that her bottom line was that whether or not meditation is spiritual and whether or not she is actually meditating -- "there's no way I'm giving it up". For whatever reason, regardless of whether what she's doing is spiritual (as a supposedly "non-spiritual" person) and regardless of whether what happens as she listens to the podcast is meditation, she likes it. And isn't that what really matters? There are so many ideas about meditation and what it is to be spiritual. Often these ideas can become stumbling blocks that keep us from what we are really looking for. They can become "shoulds" that get in the way.

I'd love to hear from you -- how do you define spirituality and meditation? Do you consider yourself to be a spiritual person, and if so, why? What makes you spiritual? Do you feel spirituality and religion are one and the same, or are they two different things? Do you feel you have to be spiritual to meditate? Do you feel that meditating makes you spiritual?

Meditation Myth -- Is there is a "real" meditation?

I came across a list of meditation myths on the web. Funny thing is some myths on that list are not myths to me, they are truths. It all depends on how you define "meditation". There are hundreds of kinds of meditations. The question is, can you say that one meditation is "real" or "true" meditation? The person who created the list I read apparently thought so, because the term "real meditation" was used. I'm quite sure I've use that type of language myself -- in fact I remember saying something about "true meditation" on a podcast. And yet, I feel it can be really misleading to say one meditation style is real or true.

Anytime anyone makes a generalization about meditation, they are referring to a particular style of meditation. It's not like there's a real meditation and the rest are somehow false. The person who wrote that list comes from a particular tradition. Within the understanding of that tradition, it makes sense to speak of real meditation. If you want to learn meditation within a tradition, then knowing what that tradition defines as right or real meditation will be important to you. That particular list of myths will have value for you. But if you are not so concerned about tradition, but more concerned about what works for you regardless of its origins, then you would approach a list of myths in a whole different way. You would look at it so see what made sense and what is useful for you.

It's only through some reference to tradition that you could say a meditation style was real. Either you are saying the tradition is somehow an authority or that you yourself are the authority on what is real meditation. Sometimes people feel that a meditation that comes from a long tradition is more real and true than a contemporary form of meditation. It makes sense that something that has been tested through time may be trustworthy. But no matter how long a tradition has been along, you are ultimately relying on someone else's interpretation of that tradition. Who is to say that the person teaching you now understands what was meant when the tradition was started centuries ago?

Everything a teacher says is coming from his or her understanding. The bottom line is that there are really no absolutes in meditation. To me, the bottom line is that what's real and true is what you find to be real and true in your own experience. What a book or a teacher says can only be a catalyst for your own self-discovery.

Meditating in the London tubes

Today Mike MudIsland Mike let me know that he'd blogged about our podcast. The post was so much fun to read that I thought I'd link to it for you to read (read the post). He writes colorfully and with a great sense of humor about listening to the podcasts on his daily London commute. Everyday I hear from people about their experiences with the podcast. It's so fulfilling to be connected through meditation with so many people all over the world. I love hearing about the many ways and places people enjoy the meditations. Chances are most people are simply sitting or lying down with eyes closed while listening, but I've heard from people listening while exercising, walking, traveling, watching a pond and more ways than I can remember.

I can't tell you how fulfilling it is for Richard and I to hear from all of you. Sometimes your stories are so heart-warming. Often what you share is so full of wisdom and the enthusiasm of your own inner discoveries. What an adventure this podcast has been! Thank you everyone who is taking this journey with me. And thanks to the techies who have created this incredible thing called the internet and all the software that allows us to meet in this way across the world.

You don't have to sit yoga style to meditate!

I just spent at least an hour on the web searching for the right picture for our Online Meditation Course. Currently we have an image of someone sitting in lotus. That picture made someone wonder if she had to sit in yoga posture to meditate. The answer is absolutely not! You can have deep, relaxing meditations and even very profound experiences sitting comfortably in a chair (or on the floor or a bed or sometimes even lying down...). Seemed like it would help to find an image that sends that message. Searching the web, I hoped to find a picture with someone just sitting comfortably meditating. I went to all my favorite photo sites and it seemed like every single image of a person meditating was always in lotus, or at least cross-legged, and often with the hands held in some sort of special way. While different postures and hand positions do have different effects, they are not really important for most aspiring meditators. Many people can't even sit cross-legged comfortably for any length of time, and even fewer can sit in lotus.

As for what we recommend about posture -- usually meditation is best sitting up with the spine fairly erect. I say "fairly" because the most important thing is to be comfortable. When you are comfortable, you can relax completely. Sitting up fairly straight helps the mind to be alert. If you lie down (which you can do for some kinds of meditations) your mind will not be as alert and you may tend to fall asleep. Most meditation styles are not suited to the lying down position, although many guided meditations will be. But if you can't sit up for some reason, better to meditate lying down than not at all.

We hear from people who are using our podcast meditations in all sorts of ways -- sitting, lying down, walking, exercising, gazing at a lake -- and people are getting benefits and having profound experiences in all these ways. Ultimately posture is up to you and will depend on what you are using the meditations for and how you are using them. So often when I hear from someone about their experiences, I remember that these meditations are your meditations. It's your journey and your process and your truth that counts.

We do recommend sitting up to meditate for our Online Course. The course is a more structured, systematic process aimed at helping people learn to meditate on their own. The sitting posture helps facilitate mastering the fundamentals of meditation. But it is not necessary to be able to assume a pretzel like position to do it. Like our podcast meditations, ease and naturalness are essential. After all, meditation is all about being natural and being at ease!