Meditation - Inner Buddha Nature
Self is a miraculous idea created by our concepts but in essence, empty of existence beyond our own mind. We create a package of physical body and a psychological belief in an “I”, held in a subtle energy system of life force, all offering the opportunity for vast sacredness to be recognized by awareness. This experience of subtle energy states is perceived by few and even more rare, is the realization of true and sacred essence. Those beings of true realization can be our guides but we each have the capacity to know this inner essence, often called our inner Buddha nature. The work is within us and can only be done by us primarily through much meditation.
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To travel this path, our body, psyche, and concepts of ego self can also be our teachers and guides. life circumstances are our perfect classroom assignments designed karmically for us in wisdom to grow our natural and true awareness. On this journey, we have the task to try to keep our bodies healthy, heal our psychological obstacles, and to embrace life experiences as the teachings we need in order to eventually know our true and pure essence. And throughout, our guidance is meditation where we delve deeply into awareness of each life challenge and joy, each emotion, each bodily sensation, each attachment to and of self.
Healing Self of its Obstacles
It is helpful not to have to deal with too much physical and psychological imbalance or illness as we begin to travel a spiritual path because such obstacles can divert us before we are strong enough to use them as learning experiences. For example, a migraine headache could, for an advanced practitioner, be a meditation catalyst to practice resting in equanimity without distraction. But for most of us, to meditate with a migraine headache is too much of a challenge and we give up. Remember, a meditation session has no “goal” to be good or bad, and we just rest in what is. But too much pain may be beyond our capacity to merely rest in it. Just sitting down to meditate is often hard even when we feel great. So, we can’t rush anything and there is value in focusing on trying to help our body be comfortable. If possible, we want to heal that migraine headache so our body is under less stress. There is also value in hopefully living a long and healthy life, and if that migraine is a blood vessel threatening an aneurysm, we want to catch that early and do whatever is possible so that we maintain healthy brain function that is crucial on our precious spiritual life journey. So let’s look a little bit this month at healing Self in meditations so that there is someone with sufficient focus and awareness to make the journey.
Be Here Now
By being fully present, we can notice when we are out of balance. To bring balance to our body, heart and mind , it is beneficial to notice imbalance early. If we notice imbalance early, we can often simply take a few deep breaths, relax our body, disconnect from our distressed thoughts and find harmony again. That is, if it is not a deep-seated imbalance. Be Here Now is a great thing to say to our self throughout the day as a meditation to let go of everything else and be with All That Is. Awareness of Now is our key. Delve deeply. This is our meditation 24/7 and maybe for the rest of our life.
Develop an Inner Observer
To develop mindfulness and equanimity is very important so that we do not need a sledgehammer to bring imbalance to our attention. There are many meditation tools to develop an inner observer. The inner observer notices and then kindly helps us to emotionally rebalance or regulate ourselves. When attentive, this observer can say STOP before we do something to throw us out of balance. If we are about to pick up a candy bar full of sugar, or a strong alcoholic drink, inner observer says STOP with the same alarm as if you were about to drink a bottle of poison. If we are about to do a very self-destructive or other-destructive act, inner observer is there to yell STOP just as if we were about to step onto a land mine. For most of us, this caring, self-protective inner observer is yelling him/herself hoarse but there is so much distraction going on with intellectual chatter, we aren’t listening. Many meditation techniques quiet the chatter and strengthen our ability to hear our inner observer so that we take those healthy and balancing actions. Chronic imbalance can eventually lead to illness and disease, so in this way, our inner observer can also both prevent and help heal illness. As inner observer becomes better able to bring about balance and equanimity, it can step back a little. Then we need only to rest effortlessly in NOW, with minimal stirrings or distractions, and with heightened clarity and awareness.
NOW reveals the subtle natural state of all that is. We know Self and Now as empty of all that we had always imagined it to be. Now is only natural, radiant light, clarity and great compassion for all that is.