Excerpt from The book
"The River and the Rock"
Excerpt from upcoming:
Thought Wings;
Making Sense of Meditation
by Maureen
© 2023 ThoughtWings. All rights reserved.
"The River and the Rock"
Excerpt from upcoming:
Thought Wings;
Making Sense of Meditation
by Maureen
© 2023 ThoughtWings. All rights reserved.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF PLACE
“We’re living in a fluid universe, in which the art of faith is not in taking one’s stand, but in learning to swim.”
Alan Watts
“Let us come alive to the splendor of all that is around us, and see the beauty in ordinary things.”
Thomas Merton
Imagine...
You are paddling on the river of life, with or without a boat. Maybe it is a pleasant sunny day, or it is overcast with a slight breeze. As you look around, you take in the view on the bank. There are birds swooping and soaring, singing in the trees. Looking into the water, you see swirls and ripples, fish or turtles moving. Shadows under water and shimmering rocks below hinting of a mysterious underwater world captures your imagination. You are also aware of a gentle current pulling you along.
Take some time to move into the scene, to add colors, shapes and sounds. Explore it with your imagination and make it yours. What else are you aware of? The sounds, the fresh smell, the feel of the water? Spend time with the scene before you read on, enjoy the fullness of the day in your imagination. This type of reflection is the other definition of the word, “meditate,” pausing to move into a scene, yourself in it.
As you continue to travel the river, you notice that the current is getting stronger, moving faster as it pulls you along. The day sparkles, a moment in time to enjoy the water, the sun, and life! But then you slip into an even stronger current, pulling you along at an increasingly insistent speed. How much control do you have; maybe it’s time to head for the shore. You test the current and realize this will not be as easy as you thought, and it’s getting stronger. You now admit to yourself that you are caught in the current. It might settle down again, or you will find an opportunity to slip out of it. Alert now, you focus on reading the currents instead of the idyllic scenery. You also notice the sound of whitewater in the distance. It’s getting closer and it does not sound good.
Now the rushing water is pulling and tossing you into the rushing whitewater. Fun has given way to alarm at the power of the water, concern about the water and rocks ahead. Perhaps you to somehow navigate, ride it out - can you ride it out? Looking for opportunities to escape, up ahead you see a pool sheltered on your side of a rock in the middle of the water. Going with the current, you aim for the quiet pool and slide into it with the rock for balance.
Climbing onto the rock, you experience relief. It’s good on the rock. You can dry out in the sun, catch your breath.
If you are alert to it, there is a brief moment in this experience when a shift occurs. What was increasing fear gives way to a sense of relief. In that moment, you experience a sense of gratitude, of being fully present and at peace with your change in circumstances and this safe haven. As you rest on the rock, your breathing is now fuller, calmer. You look around, seeing more clearly what your situation is. You see the rushing water, the lay of the land, a clearer view of your options for getting back to shore and onto solid land.
Then something strange happens. As you are sitting on the rock, appreciating your new circumstances and this safe place, you notice not only have you calmed down but it seems like the river has calmed down too. It’s still turbulent, but it seems like the pace has slowed, like something you can negotiate.
Has the river calmed down, or do you just see it differently? Is this perception, or is it reality? It’s hard to tell without some other frame of reference. You only know that it now looks like you can get off the rock and angle your way to the shore.
Maybe the current was never that strong, or maybe something has changed during your time on the rock and neither you nor the river are quite the same.
Alan Watts
“Let us come alive to the splendor of all that is around us, and see the beauty in ordinary things.”
Thomas Merton
Imagine...
You are paddling on the river of life, with or without a boat. Maybe it is a pleasant sunny day, or it is overcast with a slight breeze. As you look around, you take in the view on the bank. There are birds swooping and soaring, singing in the trees. Looking into the water, you see swirls and ripples, fish or turtles moving. Shadows under water and shimmering rocks below hinting of a mysterious underwater world captures your imagination. You are also aware of a gentle current pulling you along.
Take some time to move into the scene, to add colors, shapes and sounds. Explore it with your imagination and make it yours. What else are you aware of? The sounds, the fresh smell, the feel of the water? Spend time with the scene before you read on, enjoy the fullness of the day in your imagination. This type of reflection is the other definition of the word, “meditate,” pausing to move into a scene, yourself in it.
As you continue to travel the river, you notice that the current is getting stronger, moving faster as it pulls you along. The day sparkles, a moment in time to enjoy the water, the sun, and life! But then you slip into an even stronger current, pulling you along at an increasingly insistent speed. How much control do you have; maybe it’s time to head for the shore. You test the current and realize this will not be as easy as you thought, and it’s getting stronger. You now admit to yourself that you are caught in the current. It might settle down again, or you will find an opportunity to slip out of it. Alert now, you focus on reading the currents instead of the idyllic scenery. You also notice the sound of whitewater in the distance. It’s getting closer and it does not sound good.
Now the rushing water is pulling and tossing you into the rushing whitewater. Fun has given way to alarm at the power of the water, concern about the water and rocks ahead. Perhaps you to somehow navigate, ride it out - can you ride it out? Looking for opportunities to escape, up ahead you see a pool sheltered on your side of a rock in the middle of the water. Going with the current, you aim for the quiet pool and slide into it with the rock for balance.
Climbing onto the rock, you experience relief. It’s good on the rock. You can dry out in the sun, catch your breath.
If you are alert to it, there is a brief moment in this experience when a shift occurs. What was increasing fear gives way to a sense of relief. In that moment, you experience a sense of gratitude, of being fully present and at peace with your change in circumstances and this safe haven. As you rest on the rock, your breathing is now fuller, calmer. You look around, seeing more clearly what your situation is. You see the rushing water, the lay of the land, a clearer view of your options for getting back to shore and onto solid land.
Then something strange happens. As you are sitting on the rock, appreciating your new circumstances and this safe place, you notice not only have you calmed down but it seems like the river has calmed down too. It’s still turbulent, but it seems like the pace has slowed, like something you can negotiate.
Has the river calmed down, or do you just see it differently? Is this perception, or is it reality? It’s hard to tell without some other frame of reference. You only know that it now looks like you can get off the rock and angle your way to the shore.
Maybe the current was never that strong, or maybe something has changed during your time on the rock and neither you nor the river are quite the same.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
“At first when you begin a practice of meditation, it feels like a place you go to, an inner sanctuary. As this begins to flow out into your life, it is increasingly a place you come from.”
Cynthia Bourgeault
The events, thoughts, and emotions we experience are the river and the current of our lives. Sometimes we paddle pleasantly along and sometimes we get swept up into the rushing current. A meditative practice can be like finding the rock that gives us a new view or reprieve from the rushing waters of life which can be full of challenges that seem to overwhelm us all from time to time. With a regular practice of meditation, we can find that safe place to become calmer and better able to handle challenges when they arise.
But some other interactions occur. The practice may affect our sense of well-being, radiating out into the world. Maybe there is also something about a mediation practice changes our environment, reducing the turbulence around us. Is it because the peace of meditation ripples out into the world, like love and our emotions can affect the world around us? Or is there some other shift in consciousness itself and the ground of our being? Some variation of “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore?”
If you already have a meditative practice, which do you think it is? Are we simply less stressed and calmer? Is this newfound peace also affecting our environment? Or is there also something else occurring? Do we occasionally glimpse a different dimension of reality? One, two, or all three?
In this book, we will explore all these ideas and more, so you can consider this for yourselves and form an opinion. More, we hope it will inspire you to ‘shake your thought-wings,’ taking flight to explore the landscape for yourself.
Quoted:
Cynthia Bourgeault, Episcopal priest and author of Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
Meister Eckhart, 13-14th century German philosopher, theologian & mystic
C.S. Lewis, Author of Mere Christianity and the Chronicles of Narnia
Thomas Merton, 20th century Trappist monk and author of New Seeds of Contemplation
Jalaluddin Rumi, 13th century Persian Sufi poet
Alan Watts, 20th century former Episcopal priest and later Buddhist author of The Way of Zen
Cynthia Bourgeault
The events, thoughts, and emotions we experience are the river and the current of our lives. Sometimes we paddle pleasantly along and sometimes we get swept up into the rushing current. A meditative practice can be like finding the rock that gives us a new view or reprieve from the rushing waters of life which can be full of challenges that seem to overwhelm us all from time to time. With a regular practice of meditation, we can find that safe place to become calmer and better able to handle challenges when they arise.
But some other interactions occur. The practice may affect our sense of well-being, radiating out into the world. Maybe there is also something about a mediation practice changes our environment, reducing the turbulence around us. Is it because the peace of meditation ripples out into the world, like love and our emotions can affect the world around us? Or is there some other shift in consciousness itself and the ground of our being? Some variation of “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore?”
If you already have a meditative practice, which do you think it is? Are we simply less stressed and calmer? Is this newfound peace also affecting our environment? Or is there also something else occurring? Do we occasionally glimpse a different dimension of reality? One, two, or all three?
In this book, we will explore all these ideas and more, so you can consider this for yourselves and form an opinion. More, we hope it will inspire you to ‘shake your thought-wings,’ taking flight to explore the landscape for yourself.
Quoted:
Cynthia Bourgeault, Episcopal priest and author of Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
Meister Eckhart, 13-14th century German philosopher, theologian & mystic
C.S. Lewis, Author of Mere Christianity and the Chronicles of Narnia
Thomas Merton, 20th century Trappist monk and author of New Seeds of Contemplation
Jalaluddin Rumi, 13th century Persian Sufi poet
Alan Watts, 20th century former Episcopal priest and later Buddhist author of The Way of Zen
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SPIRITUAL ORIENTATION
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
C.S. Lewis
On the spiritual journey, no matter how open-minded and inclusive one is, there is always more to learn from picking one tradition and going deep. While all religious and spiritual traditions are recognized and honored, many examples of the interplay between meditation and spirituality are from the Christian tradition because that is what I know best. As judgmental attitudes and preconceptions give way to a more open and receptive mind, one finds the “mystically musical” can see more similarities than differences in the heights and depths of the human heart.
There has never been a great alternative for the word, "mysticism." It implies a type of higher unitive consciousness, and it also implies mystery, things unknown and unseen by the rational mind. The first misstep on any spiritual journey is to assume that one has all the answers in the face of deep mysteries. Accepting mystery and the unknown as part of the experience keeps us open to the new. We will endeavor to avoid that same misstep ourselves by keeping a healthy respect for the vastness of the known Universe and the far greater unknown mysteries of life, while hoping to offer a light to help increase the field of vision to the landscape we are exploring.
C.S. Lewis
On the spiritual journey, no matter how open-minded and inclusive one is, there is always more to learn from picking one tradition and going deep. While all religious and spiritual traditions are recognized and honored, many examples of the interplay between meditation and spirituality are from the Christian tradition because that is what I know best. As judgmental attitudes and preconceptions give way to a more open and receptive mind, one finds the “mystically musical” can see more similarities than differences in the heights and depths of the human heart.
There has never been a great alternative for the word, "mysticism." It implies a type of higher unitive consciousness, and it also implies mystery, things unknown and unseen by the rational mind. The first misstep on any spiritual journey is to assume that one has all the answers in the face of deep mysteries. Accepting mystery and the unknown as part of the experience keeps us open to the new. We will endeavor to avoid that same misstep ourselves by keeping a healthy respect for the vastness of the known Universe and the far greater unknown mysteries of life, while hoping to offer a light to help increase the field of vision to the landscape we are exploring.
BOOK DESCRIPTION & COVERAGE
This book explores meditative practices from three different perspectives: physiology, consciousness, and spirituality. One can meditate just to de-stress and find calm; to work through problems; or, as part of a spiritual journey. By understanding each of these benefits separately and then exploring how they converge and even overlap, the reader can choose their own level of interest and approach for themselves while understanding this in a larger contextual framework. This type of understanding always results in a richer experience. It is intended to inspire interest and curiosity.
Coverage of the book includes five major sections:
Coverage of the book includes five major sections:
- Definition. Meditative practices and review of the major styles and types.
- Benefits. The core benefits shared by most meditative practices on a basic physiological and psychological level. What one can expect to experience regardless of belief systems.
- Personal growth. The relationship of meditation to consciousness, including what is bounded by physical experience and what transcends physical boundaries. This also touches on the uses of meditation in therapy and personal growth.
- Context. The roots of meditation in spirituality. While it is possible to separate many meditative practices from any spirituality, most meditative practices originated within spiritual traditions. The underlying assumptions may be explicit or hidden. Understanding this can help identify these assumptions and choose a simpatico path for deeper study.
- Spiritual Path. The spiritual dimensions of a meditative practice. The last section shows another approach to meditation for those already steeped in a religious tradition through prayer and sacred readings. This can also be thought of as simply taking a different road on the same map with some added attractions. Flipped, the added attractions themselves redefine and transform the landscape.