Hi everyone!
I was doing a bit of traveling and did a few audio blogs and for some reason (actually, a specific reason I just can’t seem to figure out. Where is Craig Ernst when you need him!) could not get them into mp3 format and on into my blog.
My apologies for being an absentee blogger. I did put in the work in but…
Anyway…
Now back to our regularly scheduled program! “Pleased to Meet Me?”
When I first started a meditation practice, I thought it would make me calm and peaceful all the time. I thought that I would be in a perpetual state of equanimity and be largely problem free.
And at first, that is what occurred. That is until I met myself!
“Meditation gives you what nothing else can give you…it introduces you to yourself” – Swami Rama (1925-1996)
Wow, what a rude awakening!
As I sat on my black cushion (zafu), I watched my thoughts wiz by, one-by-one, like cars on a busy highway. My mind was the highway and my thoughts were the traffic. Some were Ferrari’s, some mud-covered monster trucks, some were practical and safe, and many were run away eighteen wheelers with no brakes! Some days the streets were quiet and uncrowded and others a full-on traffic jam filled with gun toting, expletive expounding road ragers!
I felt empowered by my ability to not identify with these thoughts and body sensations. In acutality, I was.
I thought that I found the answer and in some ways I did. My body was relaxed and I was much less reactive.
But what I found out was that sooner or later one has to face themselves if they want to get past themselves.
It is that old cliche’ that one has to be their authentic self before they can be their no-self or as Jack Engler put it, “You have to be somebody to be nobody.”
If I wanted to be selfless, I first had to have a healthy sense of self.
Sound confusing? It is and it isn’t.
What it boils down to is this. If you want a life of freedom and authenticity, you have to meet yourself.
Many people approach meditation and other mindfulness/spiritual practices as if they are the cure. They have this belief that once they get a solid practice, everything will be great.
Awakening, enlightenment or whatever you wish to call it does not free you from your shortcomings and idiosyncrasies. It does not solve your problems. It illuminates them.
“There is no way to practice meditation or other any spiritual path that is immune from the anxieties, needs, belief structures, emotional pattens, or dynamics of our own personal history and our own character. At the end of the day, we still have to work with sides of ourselves we perhaps hoped practice would make unnecessary.”
For me it was painfully evident that I was a little more messed up than I thought I was. When I told my Zen teacher this, he just laughed and said that was a good thing. He said, “It’s too late to turn back now. You could, but I know you and once you start seeing this stuff, as painful and embarassing as it can be, you will be determined to face it and send it on it’s way. Your shit will just keep coming up over and over until it burns itself out!”
He was right to an extent but he was also wrong. I would clarify that by saying that your aim should never be to get rid of that stuff. Like it or not, it is what makes you you. But by the time we are past the age of 6 or 7, it is too late anyway. We have complexes and negative emotional charges. We are condtioned, we have the foundation of our belief systems, our values, our defensive styles, etc.
If we are fortunate, we are born with a great biology that is coupled with a great biography. We are shown much love, given much freedom, have safety, are spared from our caregivers neuroses and function well in most parts of our lives.
For most of us, that is not the case. At least for me, it wasn’t.
Regardless of our biological and biographical signatures, the goal should be to raise our awareness and adjust our focus in ways that enable us to put much space around our particular conditioning, emotional charges, etc and what Carl Jung called our “shadows.”
We want to integrate, not eliminate!
That is truly meeting yourself! Once you know who you are, you can understand what makes you tick and how you do you.
From this internal spaciousness arises the freedom to consciously create your life…
Well, that is all for now. Tomorrow, I think I will go a little further into our “shadows” and mybe even do a little “shadow work.” Call it “Shadows 101!”
Until then…
Kind Regards,
A
Cindy
Lisa McLellan
Anthony
Darryl Pace
Keri Eagan
Vegas Boomer Dating Expert
Vicki
Michael D Walker
Peggy Larson
Not to sure if I want to meet the real me, I may not like him.
Bob Kaufer
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Knowing ourselves is hard work. Coming to terms with who we are is even harder still, and the process never ends.
Steve Chambers, The Sales Expert
The Sales Eagle Solution – 6 months to dominate your market
Anthony,
The ultimate purpose of meditation is to re-discover inner peace. But during such a journey, we need to cleanse our mind, heart & body. Hence, we’ll come across filthy junks along the way.
It’s the yogic fire that burns up all our impurities in due course. To sustain that fire, we need chanting to cool down it at the same time. Otherwise, we either burn out ourselves or our progress becomes stagnant.
John Ho
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion (WordPress Blog)
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I have just began a practice of meditation. I’m still not sure what I am doing. I understand thats why it is called a daily practice. If you happen see a Volkswagon Thing drive by while meditating, see if there is a for sale sign on it! Anyway, I can’t wait to meet the new me. The current me get’s it’self into too much mischief.
Jody,
Just keep at it. If things start to make perfect sense for any great length of time before you get a chance to “meet yourself” and there are no paradoxes and contradictions be suspicious. If I do see a V.W Thing pass by and it is for sale…let’s just say I am on the lookout for a fun summer car-ish-type-thing.
Anthony
Steve,
“…and the process never ends.” I think that’s often where people get hung up. Even people who know intellectually. That is one of those things that really needs to go bone deep for people to get it. They will say things like, “It’s not the destination, it it the journey,” but I don’t think they really get it. It’s New Ager’s Disease! Let’s put a happy coat of paint over everything! Fuck reality! That’s too much work.
Anthony
Bob,
You may not like him at first, but you will grow to understand him and his journey and have great love for him. That doesn’t mean he won’t infuriate, frustrate or embarrass you! But you will know why and give him a compassionate smile that comes with knowing. You will learn to cut him some slack while also holding him responsible because you know what greatness he is capable of. You and he will become great friends!
Anthony
you are referring to me (or my new self) as “he”. You are aware of the fact that i have a vagina, correct?
Jody,
That comment was meant for Bob. Tell your vagina I said hi and that I am sorry if I offended it. I have always been a great supporter of vaginas and will continue to do so. Viva la vaginas!
Anthony
It is so true that most everything is built on the foundation our our Inner self. We can never excel for long outside of the boundaries that we have placed on ourselves. good stuff.
Seize the Day,
Rob (no v@gina)
Sales Expert For Small Business Owners
Personal Asset Protection For Small Business Owners
Anthony,
Very cool post. I love this stuff. You mentioned the holosync program in one of your previous posts. Is that a good program to start with for a person just starting the habit of meditation?
Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Fitness Product Review
That is so true man! I thought I was going to freak out when I first started shining the light within and saw that I was, as I think you wrote before, “a walking bag of defenses!”
I grew up in a screwy environment and had to learn to protect myself from an early age. It worked in that context, but as a got older, those defenses got me into trouble. The world was a much safer place than my childhood home but I was programmed to always be on the lookout for danger.
Great post! You really seem to know your stuff. I have worked with longtime teachers that I wish would have taught me this stuff in the easy way you do. How old are you anyway? It is tough to tell. You look very young in your videos but you act very calm and wise!
Joe
HI Anthony,
The man or woman who can truly be at peace with the person inside and know love and trust that person to show them outside that is really to have found out who you are
Very thought provoking visits when I swing by your blog my friend!
Duane
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Awesome Anthony!
Kick-ass post. You make meditation and self-enquiry sound totally badass.
The comments confused me a little though. How am I supposed to connect with my vagina?
JJ Jalopy.
Life Coach, Business Coach
I’ve never tried meditation. I am a hypnotherapist and even have trouble putting myself into hypnosis. If I make myself a recording I can do it fine, otherwise I either fall asleep or my mind wanders off. I do like the relaxing feeling though. will have to try meditation some time.
Lisa McLellan, Babysitting Services – Babysitters, Nannies, and Au-pairs
the vajay comment had me bustin a gut! only the shadow knows…
cool post.
Don Shepherd
Central Oregon Camphiker
Powerful quote -“There is no way to practice meditation or other any spiritual path that is immune from the anxieties, needs, belief structures, emotional pattens, or dynamics of our own personal history and our own character. At the end of the day, we still have to work with sides of ourselves we perhaps hoped practice would make unnecessary.”
It’s hard to escape from ourselves!
Pam
Invest in Your Future
Hi Anthony,
yes, having the help of technology experts is a wonderful gift, isn’t it?
the better acquainted we are with ourselves, truly ourselves, not just our fears, our negative images of ourselves, really empowers us to know what we do well and to give our gives into the world!
Just like you are doing right now.
Best regards,
April Braswell
Single Boomer Dating Expert, Relationship Success Coach
Widow Support and Bereavement Counseling Outreach Workshop Orange County, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, CA
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