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~I invite you to listen to the audio version shared above, where a guided meditation is provided that follows what is shared below in the text.
Making a pot of tea.
The water coming from the tap is just that water. It’s neither tea nor any other liquid. Just water. H20. Similarly in life, we must see reality for what it is in the moment in order to turn it into something different, new, or improve upon what is. But if we misunderstand what is, back to our metaphor, coming out of the tap in our kitchen, then we won’t end up with tea.
By accepting water as what we begin with, we choose to put it in a kettle and heat it to a boil. We then apply our knowledge of how to steep tea with a flavor we prefer by adding a tea bag or loose leaf herbs or dried herbs to the hot water. In a matter of minutes, we have tea to sip that just moments ago was merely water. It’s not magic; it’s understanding the process and having the right ingredients, even if the ingredients are new or new-to-us. And it all begins with accepting where we are when we begin.
When we refuse to see what is, we cause suffering, and this is entirely avoidable, as all suffering is (as opposed to pain, as we talked about in No. 21). When we reject life as it is, we may think that we are helping ourselves out, but in reality, we are causing suffering. By accepting what is, what seems at first counterintuitive is actually the beginning of the journey to create the change we seek.
Meditation gives us the tool to be able to observe our mind at all times, and in the instances in which we are not accepting reality, we begin to be able to notice these instances too. Simply by noticing when we refuse to accept anything, we give the mind space to relax, and we begin to feel more at ease. Not because we necessarily like what has happened, but because we are no longer fighting against it. This is how we give ourselves freedom to think with clarity rather than react from a place of emotional suffering, which often is not constructive.
By accepting all that is, even when unwanted, we give ourselves the space we need to gain clarity, so that when we do make a decision, we make one that will assist us well along the journey forward.
Let’s begin . . .
~To conclude each meditation session, I encourage you to recite a mantra of your choosing and design. In the Contentment Masterclass, I share my example, which you are welcome to use, tweak, or look to as a template to design your own. Also provided to enrollees of the course is a free trial of the guided meditation app I use.
Click here to listen/read the previous Méditation in the series.
No. 22 — Why It Isn’t Working . . . Yet
SIMILAR POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY
~Learn more about TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass: Discover the benefits of Meditation, which is included in the detailed syllabus shared here, watch the trailer, and read student reviews.
~Comments will be turned off for Meditation posts as you cultivate a practice guided by what you need and your journey to cultivating inner peace and aligning with your true self.
