What am I passionate about?

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Over on his blog "Slow down fast", David Bohl talks about authenticity and telling people what you're passionate about.

While I think the post is great in and of itself, and that being authentic around our friends about the things we're passionate about *is* a critical part of having an authentic friendship, that's not actually what I want to post about.

Instead, it's the gut-level response I had to reading David's opening question paragraph:

"Let’s assume you had five minutes to give a speech. You would receive a very large sum of money if you gave a speech that the judges considered “passionate.” You choose the topic, you write the speech. You give a passionate speech, you get the money.What would you talk about?"

As I read it, my answer just jumped out, fully formed and far too intense within my mind's ear to ignore. For me? What fascinates me more than almost anything is the human mind and how it works. I'm interested in the workings of my own mind, and that of other people's. I'm wildly curious about how our different minds work together; how we think, how we communicate, what motivates us, and what gets in our way (or makes us get in the way of ourselves). And I'm enthralled by the potential for healing that understanding the mind can create.

I'm also fascinated by the way our minds perceive the different realms of experience: the physical, the spiritual, the emotional and the imaginary. What's more, I'm thoroughly fascinated by the very real possibility that these 'different' realms might not be nearly as different as common wisdom tells us they are (or at the very least, that the boundaries between each realm might be a little... fuzzier than common wisdom assumes they are). And because I'm fascinated, I'm passionate about constantly, as often as possible, as much as possible, learning more.

That fascination and passion is why I originally chose a psychology degree back when I was fresh out of highschool. It's why I'm studying for a degree in Communications now a decade later. It's why I learned to meditate, and part (if not all) of why I trained as a priestess. And yeah; it's why I keep this blog.

You see, whatever else they may be doing for me spiritually (and I wouldn't want to discount that aspect of practice), one of the biggest attractors about regular mindfulness and meditation for me is that they help me notice and understand how my mind works. They feed my passion to learn and to understand the workings of my own mind; and through that, of human minds in general. They support (or refute) the theory I learn in books and from discussions with other people. They are , in a very real sense, part of my learning process. And through their association with that learning, I've become passionate about meditation and mindfulness in and of themselves.

So when David asks me to imagine that I have to write a passionate speech about something, I don't need to wonder whether I'd be able to talk with real passion about a given topic, or even what I'd end up writing about. I just remember the posts I've made recently on this blog when I've discovered something new about meditation or mindfulness, or about myself and the way my mind works, or the similarities or differences I've noticed between my mind and someone else's. Oh yeah, this is what I'm passionate about.

Thank you, David, for reminding me of that :-)

Fascinated (and passionate) blessings



Starfire

Is constant mindfulness necessary (or even a good thing?)

Over on his fascinating blog, Daily Life as a Spiritual Exercise, Rick Hurst asserts a couple of things I found interesting in his latest post, "The Fine Line between Meditation and Hypnosis".

The first thing is that the difference between meditation and hypnosis is that meditation "leads us to full awareness of the present moment where Reality lives where hypnosis does the opposite. It puts us asleep to the present moment".

The second is that it is dangerous to be asleep to the present moment, and that the dangers are best illustrated with the example of a mother, in charge of watching a small child, who prefers to distract herself watching TV rather than actually watching the child, and therefore doesn't see him ingesting pills, thinking they were candy.

I'll look at each of these in turn below, because they each prompt very definite responses in me (and hey, what's a blog for if not for writing about responses you've had to things?)


The Difference Between Meditation and Hypnosis

I've actually asked myself this question before on my personal blog back in 2006 when I was first playing with hypnosis audios.

The answer I came up with (for those who find the mind-dump I wrote there a little too rambly) was a little fuzzy, but basically seemed to boil down to the concept that I used a given hypnosis session for a particular purpose. That purpose could vary: it might be to change a behaviour, to change an attitude, or to change a belief; but there was always an "in order to" about it, and it was always about changing something specific. Meditation, on the other hand, for me, was an end in itself. I might occasionally meditate upon a specific state with the aim of experiencing that state more often (which I grant you, is a kind of change). I might also start a journeying with the aim of finding the answer to a question I'd been struggling with too. But for the most part I meditate to meditate.

Rick's answer: that meditation is always about connecting with the present moment, doesn't work for me - probably because my definition of what meditation is seems far broader than his. I include under the umbrella term 'meditation' practices like breath counting, journeying, mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, guided meditation, and visualisation. I'm not certain, but I think it's likely that Rick has a far more specific definition of meditation.

Under the definition I work with, of course, breath counting and mantra meditations are still meditations, and are all about narrowing your focus to a single object or concept. I suspect that, as such, Rick would say that you're cutting off awareness of all the other things around you; and therefore, opening yourself up to all the dangers he mentions in his example. As for guided meditations, journeying and visualisations? They're absolutely about letting go of where you are physically at a given time and letting your imagination take flight. Clearly then, these would be practices to avoid if you want to stay grounded in the present moment.

The truth about language is that it is subjective. The symbol is not the thing, the map is not the territory, and any given word is simply a symbol for the meaning we intend to encode within it. The dictionary definition of Term X is a description of the most common shared meaning for a given collection of syllables: it's not an absolute prescription of that meaning. Acknowledging this is what makes it OK for me to say "you and I have a different understanding of 'Term X' - but as long as we can both describe what we mean when we say 'Term X', and agree on a meaning for the duration of this conversation (or if I can accept that by 'Term X', you mean something I'd encode using 'Term Y', and then silently substitute Term Y for Term X in my brain) we can still communicate constructively".

So in this case, I'll accept that, for the purposes of communicating using shared terminology, under Rick's definition of meditation, many of the things I would class as meditation are, in fact, something completely different - some other kind of technique. Does that therefore follow that all these these techniques (which don't involve connecting with the present moment, and in fact involve deliberately divorcing myself from it, however temporarily) are dangerous?


Is Constantly Mindfulness Necessary (or even Desirable)?

I suspect that at this point, the differences between Rick's worldview and mine move from merely semantic to deep level conceptual. Rick seems to be making an absolute statement: being in a state of mindfulness is always a good thing; and being in a non-mindful state is always a dangerous thing. I did query this, and I'm not totally sure (at what point does disagreeing with someone and questioning them on on their blog become being argumentative?), but the impression I received was that yes, I'd understood Rick's statement correctly.

This doesn't gel as being true for my experience. Absolutely, there are times when it is necessary to be mindful: driving a car or looking after a small child are prime examples. But do we need this level of mindfulness every minute of every day? Is it so dangerous to allow ourselves to rest, to dream, to imagine, to fly, and to explore what's inside us? Aren't our inner worlds every bit as valid as territories to explore as our outer? And assuming, of course, we have taken responsibility for creating a safe spot for ourselves in the real world, in which everything we would usually be responsible for being aware of is being taken care of; isn't it perfectly permissible to let go? If not, surely we're being irresponsible by simply choosing to go to sleep every night?

In my understanding of the way the world works (such as it is), different paths work for different people, and the one that works best for me is one of balance. There are very, very few things I can say work best all the time. For the most part, the biblical concept of "a time for everything and everything in its time" has seemed to make sense to me as 'the middle path'. To move from the general to the specific, this means to me that, like everything else, mindfulness has its time and place, and that there are times when it's not only permissible, it's desirable to switch off.

I'm not sure - I'd love to hear Rick's take on whether I've understood what he was saying correctly - but I think in this case, it's fair to say that my 'balance in everything' clashes fairly solidly with the 'mindfulness in everything' stance I perceive from Rick's post. I acknowledge that not everyone lives in the same kind of 'balance in everything' subjective world that I do, and if Rick's world is one of absolutes where mindfulness is always right, that's fine too. It would be a boring world if we all saw things the same way.

I have to say, though, that concept clash or not, I'm grateful to Rick for prompting me to think hard, not just about the differences between meditation and hypnosis; but about the deeper questions around mindfulness, consciousness and practice, and what's desirable for me.

I'm also curious to know what other readers think. What are your definitions of hypnosis and meditation? In your understanding, are they diametrically opposed to each other, or are they simply different techniques, perhaps techniques that can even support each other? And in your understandings of mindfulness and spirituality, what's the "right" blend of mindful awareness of the world around you, vs awareness and exploration of the worlds within you?

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Blessings




Starfire

This meditation thing's getting kind of popular - I wonder what it's going to mean...

Over at his blog "The Middle Way", Wade reports that the Question "How to Meditate", has made Google's "Top Ten How-to Issues" list.

I'm reflecting on what this brings up for me (and sometimes needing to notice and then let go, as appropriate).

One of the first things is a sense of satisfaction - a feeling of "Huh! See? I was right!" Not the most constructive feeling in the world, I grant you. I've long been a believer in the axiom that you can be right or happy, but you can rarely be both. In this case, it's because I'm used to quote-normal-unquote people thinking I'm kind of weird for wanting to follow a meditative path - for stating openly that if it wasn't for the meditation and exercise routines I've established in the past, I'd never be able to deal with the daily stress of my life. Now these so-called normal folk are starting to see some value in this path...

So, OK, I'll let that need to be right go - let it just float away - and instead, I'll focus on gratitude that more and more people are looking around for techniques that will benefit their lives, and quite possibly the lives of people around them. After all, more self-aware, self-fulfilled, generally happy-with-themselves individuals has got to be good for society as a whole, right?

Next, there's a feeling of hopefulness that comes from a recognition of the forces of supply and demand. See, if huge numbers of people are looking for information on a particular topic, then experience suggests to me that other people are going to be trying to meet that need - which means that information's going to keep appearing. Now, I grant you, some of this information will be faulty, and some of it will be put up for sale by people looking only to cash in on the demand... but the Internet is a big place. There are enough folks out there who *are* honestly looking to met people's needs first and make money second, if at all. (Note: I'm not trying to say that there's anything wrong whatsoever in trying to make a living meeting people's needs for information or anything else for that matter. Making a living at their expense by making promises that don't end up kept, however, is a very different kettle of fish).

So yeah, I guess I could sum up my response there as being one of hopefulness that, with so many people expressing interest in learning how to meditate, we'll start seeing more and more resources appearing that'll help guide beginners who are wanting to learn techniques (and online community for those that theoretically know the techniques but don't practise them).

And finally, there's curiousity. I know why *I* decided to start investigating meditation: I wanted to feel more in control of myself and my thought processes - wanted to be calmer and less drama-driven - wanted to be still enough to connect with Spirit and with my own intuition. As I've trained and investigated and researched and just learned from experience, though, I've realised that reasons for learning to meditate are as individual as the people who are learning.

So now I'm curious about what's prompting this many people to want to learn now. Is it stressful lives? Health concerns? A feeling of emptiness and yearning for Spirit? A tool they can use to give them an edge in their busy on-the-go lives? I don't think there's any reason that's right-er or wrong-er than another - but the kind of resources people are looking for will influence the kind of resources that become available... and it'll be interesting seeing how that develops.

Speaking of curiousity, why did you originally want to explore meditation? What were you looking for when you started searching? If you've been learning for a while now, have your reasons changed as time's gone by?

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Blessings



Starfire