Meditation - Life Lessons on the Pillow

Part 3 of 3 in Meditation Series

What would it take to live an evolving, engaged and purposeful life? Some people believe they might be living one now, but most people realize that how they could be living is far from the reality of their life. What exactly does this have to do with meditation? Well, as stated so boldly by my teacher, meditation is training for life. In meditation there are 2 main realizations that occur over time. The first one is that we are all part of an evolving process that has been going on since the beginning of time. Some traditions call this unity consciousness or the realization that we are all part of one movement, a movement that is affected by all of us in some way. Every time we act out of ignorance we affect not just ourselves, but those around us, and the example we set will carry from those closest to us, to those closest to them in a continuous momentum to eternity. In order to break this cycle of ignorance there must be committed individuals who are willing to bear the burden of their own shadows for the sake of something greater; for the sake of developing the process they have the privilege to be a part of. This will only be possible when one realizes that life is not just for himself, herself, my family, my state, my country, but rather for something bigger than we can ever fathom – the development of life itself.

The second realization one gains in meditation is that meditation is a position in relationship to life; it is not an escape from life. The contents of one’s mind are not going anywhere, so the idea that we are going to somehow miraculously stop thinking is a spiritual myth. Most people believe that they are poor meditators because they cannot stop their mental thoughts and images when they sit in meditation. So for those of you who are in this camp this is an important realization, that no matter how many thoughts you are having, no matter how much you want to get up, no matter how much you want to move, you have the choice to stay perfectly still and if you make that choice then the position you take in relationship to life is free. Free not in the sense of I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, but rather free in the sense of making the choice to continue sitting in the face of everything our insane minds are saying simply because we are making the choice not to listen to the insanity. This is a truly empowering and freeing position.

So an evolving, engaged and purposeful life relates to these 2 realizations in that recognizing that one’s duty is to life itself with the simultaneous understanding that one is inherently free if they so choose to do so, allows an individual to act in the world from an entirely different place than ever before possible.


This is the final piece of a 3 part series on meditation by Ryan Diener in which we have progressed from how to begin a meditation practice (Summer 2008), to the differences between certain types of meditation (Fall 2008), to the current piece on how meditation helps us grow as individuals.

• Read Part 2:  Meditation: Can We Go A Little Deeper?
• Read Part 1:  Meditation