"On Trail Ridge Road, CO" photo - Wendy Bradtke 2007 (C)
Learning about what Meditation is, has always been as much part of
the journey as the practice itself. That's because I'm aware of its two
schools, eastern and western respectively. I'll admit its not always been
easy for me as a western person to bridge both ways, in fact its
downright confusing. The eastern way is focused upon breaking down the
personal, whereas the western way is about developing the individual.
One school views physical living as a sphere of suffering to be escaped by
ending the cycle of incarnation. The other welcomes physical life by believing
that divinity can only be truly experienced by living fully. Its hard for
mish mash mind to reconcile these two seeming opposites, and mine tussles
with them frequently. Mish mash likes everything easily cataloged and pat.
It can then loll around with a smug look, thinking yes, I have it all figured!
But the universe itself is a great confounder.
The riddle-maker-who-lives-in-the-sky deals in ambiguity and contradiction,
subtle things that don't fit into neat mish mash pleasing boxes. It can make
a meditator tear at their hair deciding which road, east or west, to skip down.
Its timely to remember as you try to make sense of "meditational rules" that
rules don't define the creator. Its the creation rather that does the defining.
The creator can be observed in its creation.
So the universe can show us our own way of moving through its labyrinth.
We can do it without subscribing to any dogmas', east or west. Its good to note
that the worlds larger religions do not own the skinny on the "right" way to meditate.
Its so worth reminding yourself that minor and lesser know philosophies also have
made major contributions. Its wise to study widely, with a very questioning
mind before investing in any belief system no matter how venerable
it may seem. Too often have I watched people try to pour their lives into set
molds to find none of them fit with great relevance.
What we need to have foremost in our minds is that the universe is paradoxical
by nature. It confounds us to question our conditioned responses, to help us change
our realities in ways that support its own, and our own, evolution. Too often dogma
invites us to repeat the past.
Our aim in meditation should be to flesh out the tools to help us climb our own personal
mountain. That may be to curl up in the bosom of the Divine, or infinitely expand our beings.
Either, or any way we practice, it should support us in finding choice.
Much love, Wendy.
