5 ideas to keep a sense of newness in your meditation
Fri, 09/28/2007 - 08:48 — Shane Magee
We often begin a meditation practice with tremendous excitement, thrilled at the posibilities for self-discovery and inner peace. However, the novelty factor wears off after a while as we realise that meditation is in fact a slow and steady process of self-improvement, rather than a quick sprint to enlightenment. Here's a few hints how to keep that sense of excitement and joy in your meditation:
1. Change your meditation routine
If you are arriving at your meditation shrine with a sense of 'same-old, same-old', you need to do something about your meditation routine. There are so many things you can do to bring a sense of dynamism: use music, mantras, sing meditative songs or watch a meditative video. Don't be afraid of spontaneously changing your meditation routine if you wake up with a tremendous reluctance to sit down. You could even start with something dynamic and inspiring and then move back to your normal routine.
2. Stay in touch with inspiration
One of the main reasons meditation practice becomes dreary is that our belief in our ability to overcome our imperfections through meditation gets slowly dulled with time. Thats why it is so important to read books written by great spiritual Masters or great seekers of truth who have crossed that bridge and are able to tell us what the view looks like from the other side. Reading these direct accounts surcharges us with new hope and imagination and increases our own determination to reach that very same goal.
3. Change your surroundings.
If you rearrange and add some newness to the space where you meditate, this will automatically bring a corresponding energy into your meditation practise. There are so many inspiring things you can decorate your shrine with: pictures of your meditation teacher, if you have one, inspiring photographs or paintings, statues - anything which when you look at it instinctively reminds you of the spiritual side of your being. It's a nice touch to keep your shrine freshly decorated with flowers, they always add a sense freshness and newness to your space and when you replace them it's almost like you are renewing your own aspiration as well.
4.Do fun stuff with your meditation group
The sangha, or spiritual community, is not considered one of the three main pillars of the Buddhist path for nothing - having friends who also meditate and are on the same wavelength as you can really reinvigorate your own spiritual quest. Ofren in a group, when one person is feeling uninspired, the collective aspiration of the group can lift him back up, and then he can 'repay' the favour when someone else is uninspired. Aside from meditation, it's good to have fun together: go mountain walking, play a game of football, organise a cycling trip, or come together to bring a challenging project to fruition - all these things help bring a spontaneity back into your meditation.
5. A meditation teacher
A genuine meditation teacher is one who has realised his oneness with the ever-new cosmic Source of spontaneity, and every action of his is the spontaneous expression of his true nature. Watching a meditation teacher even as he goes about his daily life is an education of how to live life in the moment. In addition, they consistently try to ensure their students don't become 'fossilized' - my own teacher, Sri Chinmoy, is a classic example. When we visit him in New York where he resides, he adds plenty of variety to the meditations - with singing performances, spiritual theatre, inspiring stories, readings and displays of mystical poetry and art, and sometimes a dollop of plain old-fashioned humour: the only thing we can expect form each meditation function is the unexpected! In fact, I am writing this article as part of a contest to see who can write the most articles in 24 hours, which was only organised a couple of days ago: I owe this kind of spontaneous spirit completely to the meditation training I have received from my teacher.
(Photo: taken by Prabhakar Street, available on Sri Chinmoy Centre galleries)
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