Sunday, May 17, 2020

My 60d meditation streak

Inspired by Naval Ravikant's process for meditation, I undertook a 60day, 1-hour a day meditation streak that ended two days ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it and now aiming for 100day.


I'm copy-pasting Naval's thoughts on meditation from his latest twit storm:

Meditation - The Art of Doing Nothing: 
Meditation is your birthright. It's your natural state.
It requires no one, needs no thing, and has no technique.

If something requires a guru, a mantra, or a teaching, it isn't universal, and it won't free you. 
We say that we want peace of mind but what we really want is peace from mind. 
“No technique of the mind will free you from the mind.” 
All chases, whether flow, drugs, beauty, thrills, orgasm, or devotion, are attempts to escape from the mind. Meditation is the direct path. 
In an age of mental gluttony, meditation is fasting for the mind.Before paying a therapist to listen to you, listen to yourself. Before clearing your inbox, clear your mind. 
Just as the sky rains when the clouds are heavy, and the body sleeps when the limbs are tired, meditation arrives when the mind is calm. 
Prepare for meditation by sitting quietly in the morning, with eyes closed and back upright, in any comfortable position that will minimize movement. 
Sixty minutes are easier than thirty, as it takes time for the mind to settle down. Sixty consecutive days are needed, just as it takes time for the body to go from unfit to fit. 
Realize that at this moment, you are the only person in the world and there is no one to instruct you, praise you, or judge you. 
Make no effort for or against anything. Whatever happens, happens. Surrender to yourself in the moment. 

Resist nothing and reject nothing, including the urge to resist and reject. 
Meditation is not going through thoughts but rather letting thoughts go through you. The thought “I am meditating” is also a thought. 
Meditation isn’t holy or spiritual or magical. It’s literally nothing. 
No focus, no mantra, no dharma, no chakras, no Buddhas, no gurus, no gratitude, no scripture, no temple, no music, no gadgets, no apps are required.

Some may be helpful, but eventually all will have to be left behind. Start simply, because that's where this all ends. 
There are many meditation methods, but "no effort" is the universal method. Every creature at all times can choose to do nothing. 
There's no need to get up to record a thought. If the idea was good, it’ll come back. If it doesn’t come back, it wasn’t that good. 
Meditation is a single player game. There is no point in comparing to other meditators or to even your own previous meditations. 
If meditation was easy, you’d do nothing else. 
The point of meditation is not to become "a meditator" - in reality, there's no such thing. If it doesn’t bring lasting and effortless change, drop it, before it becomes another struggle and another chase. 
There is nothing to say and nothing on offer. No one is taking you anywhere, selling you anything, or making you promises. Reading or talking about meditation will do nothing for you. 
You cannot fail at meditation. 
Ignore all advice on meditation, including this thread.

“Meditation is good for nothing. That's why you do it.”
-@amirmotlagh 
The closer you get to the truth, the more silent you become inside. 
The ability to be content and at peace, by yourself, is freedom. 

2 comments:

Vinay Dabholkar said...

Nice. Good to see you are able to persevere at this despite so many pulls from all directions. Hope you will get to integrate this into your daily life by grabbing a few moments here and there. Best wishes.

Sunil Kshatri said...

RamP,

Very nicely written.
Simple and yet so difficult to meditate.
I believe one should be in meditation as much as possible during the day without doing meditation.
Being always present in the 'moment' is also a meditation for me.