October 31, 2021
Greetings,
Some people would not agree that taking a 30-minute break from our active lives is a way of “Chilling.” Some have tried meditation and found that they spent the whole time trying to tame their wild mind with little to no success. Understandable. The mind is like a bee’s nest at times and we try, unsuccessfully, to take on the role of queen bee. We just have a really hard time accepting that we aren’t in charge, that there isn’t really a self there to be in charge. If we were in charge, would we stay awake nights planning and reviewing, worrying and feeling blue, when we really need to get some sleep? Can we keep our bodies from aging or developing physical reactions or illness? So why do we think we can stop or should stop ourselves from thinking? Our reactions, thoughts, feelings are conditioned, based on our past. We aren’t in control of how we first think or view ourselves, others, and the world. We can learn to accept this. This allows us to let go of trying to change the mind. When we can slow down from resisting what is happening, we can slow down our reactivity.
We meditate in order to make peace with the mind, the heart, our perceptions and reactions. We learn to let go of resistance, of trying so very hard to fix everything. To let things be. To take action when it is the right time, coming from a place of “no harm.” To love ourselves as is. To forgive others as they are also conditioned, have reflexive behaviors, are scarred by life’s challenges, are imperfect.
So come chill with us. That may mean just offering a kind of friendliness to our present state of mind/body/heart. We can quit trying to meditate and just sit.
We will meet on Monday at 4:30.