Think of the energy of the current time as like watching popcorn pop over the sides of the popcorn cooker. More and more falls out over the sides until the whole cooker is covered, and yet it is still popping.
There are many small eruptions, so many that the mind cannot take them all in. This creates both excitement and dread.
Things are happening, and many of those things are not good. Yet people often value things happening more than nothing happening.
Q: You have often talked about the importance of meditation. I understand that. What I would like to know is what is actually happening. What is the process? How does it change us physically, mentally, and spiritually?
Physiologically, systems begin to calm. The autonomic nervous system is told that it is safe to relax. Breathing slows. The heartbeat slows. Thinking slows. Inflammatory activity in the body quiets. Healing proceeds with less interference.
On an emotional level, emotions are no longer on constant alert. They are allowed to exist without immediate reaction. This makes it possible to experience feelings more clearly and without judgment.
For those who have practiced for a long time, meditation moves beyond regulation and into deeper states of awareness. Brain activity settles into slower patterns. Attachment to the physical body loosens. Experience becomes less centered on the personal self.
For a time, the sense of self remains. Eventually, even that recedes, and there is awareness alone.
Q: Sometimes meditation does not feel dramatic. I find that I rarely have unusual experiences.
That is often the case. But healing is still taking place. Mental clarity develops. Well-being increases.
At other times, deeper states may occur. Feelings of great peace, joy, timelessness, or expanded awareness may arise. These experiences are not the goal. They occur naturally when the system becomes quiet.
Q: At first, I thought meditation was mainly about relaxation. I can also just sit by a fire with a glass of wine and relax. Is that the same thing?
It’s not the same thing. Meditation brings clarity. Wine does not.
Substances may temporarily relax the body, but they do not cultivate stable awareness. Deeper states develop through sustained practice.
A common misunderstanding is the belief that meditation requires the absence of thought. Thoughts continue. Meditation is learning to rest somewhere quieter than thought.
Q: Many people feel frustrated because they do not know whether they are doing it correctly.
Mental self-discipline is not widely taught from an early age. People often expect immediate results.
With time, the body learns what a quieter state feels like. There can be a sense of heaviness and lightness at the same time. A sense of being small and vast at the same time. These paradoxes are natural.
Q: So the intention is to move toward awareness that is not centered on thought.
Yes. Meditation loosens the grip on physical reality enough to allow other states of awareness to be experienced.
People accept repetitive bodily activities without struggle. Eating. Sleeping. Eliminating. Yet meditation, which supports regulation and restoration, is often resisted. I think the main reason is that people aren’t sure they’re “doing” meditation correctly, and they don’t like that uncertainty, so they don’t stick with it long enough to realize the benefits.
Q: If we return to the image of the popcorn machine, are we meant to ignore all of this activity?
No. Look at it with presence. Just do not expect it to give you anything.
Don’t deny it. Don’t turn away from it. Do what you can to make a difference where you can. Just don’t build your life around it.