Meditation = Being Friendly

August 5, 2018 Meditation No Comments

Ever wondered why Buddha has a Buddha smile?

‘Friendly’ as in ‘very, very gentle’. [see: ‘Weak, Hard, Strong, Gentle’].

Not straightforward

Being friendly = letting yourself be open to change from inside out. This is not always straightforward. In fact, a great deal of courage may be needed, presupposing an openness within yourself to be touched by what you didn’t expect.

For instance, by the beauty of some little thing, thought, feeling, memory…

This may then suddenly become Beauty.

And there you are, standing, sitting, being before Beauty.

Being friendly to small things.

Then, through these small things, to what lies behind them and what may be most meaningful to you. Generally, you pass by as if they are not relevant. Generally, you may see coarse pictures but not the subtle pictures that are part of the coarse ones.

In meditation, you look straight at the subtle ones. Then you may see that they are most relevant, to you, to others. ‘Relevant’ is an appeal, an invitation. You may not get richer, neither with outside riches nor with inside riches. It’s up to you.

Taking your time to look at small things.

Letting go. Time and time and time again.

Meditation = taking time. Not going from A -> B -> C in quick pace, as if otherwise you would lose something, such as your life. In meditation, you act as if you’re not going to lose your life when staying at A.

You may slow down.

Paradoxically, this can engender another movement of your mind. Another mind-game. One may compare it with a ‘vertical’ movement instead of the usual ‘horizontal’ movement. If you like, it’s a movement from A -> A’ -> A’’… at its own pace, which may be very slow or lighteningly quick. It is a different time. It is ‘meditation time’. This way, one hour of meditation may feel like a few seconds.

This is ‘your’ time. Not the time of mere ego.

Meditate

because it’s the most friendly thing you can do.

Meditate because of humanity.

Meditate because of every single person.

Meditate because of you.

Meditate because of this single moment that you experience while meditating.

Within this single moment: a single thought that may last a lifetime.

Then be friendly to this thought.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Is Meditation Selfish?

Meditation is the opposite of ego-selfishness. Even more, they are incompatible. Theravada, Mahayana These are the two biggest strands in worldwide Buddhism. Mahayana may have been mainly developed historically as a reaction to what people saw as the Theravada monk’s ‘selfish’ attitude: the arhat who meditates especially to reach Nirvana for himself. Of course, this Read the full article…

Mindfulness, Lights and Glow

One can understand ‘mindfulness’ in two different ways, which are distinguishable from each other in the metaphor of the ‘lights’ and the ‘behind the glow.’ These two ways are even opposed at this critical point, although they are two poles that also flow into each other.  • mindfulness with primary attention to the lights The underlying Read the full article…

Meditative Compassion in Challenging Situations

Compassion is often thought of as ‘just’ a warm, positive force ― something that flows naturally when we feel at peace. Yet, the true test of Compassion lies in how we respond when situations or people challenge us deeply. Meditative Compassion, cultivated through profound friendliness toward ourselves, has the potential to meet these challenges with Read the full article…

Translate »