The misconception about meditation is that it requires one to give up everything and sit silently. This is not true in its entirety as it depends on how one interprets the word "meditation".
The meditation does not necessarily require you to give up one thing for the sake of another. The goal of the meditation is to "be in awareness" and you can achieve this same goal by being alert and aware with any activity your find yourself doing at any given moment. For example...
You are washing dishes but you are not really washing dishes because your mind is wandering with thoughts on what you need to do tonight at the place you need to visit. By the time your dishes are done, you have already planned for your future as your mind kept you busy with the thoughts of the future while you forgot what you were doing in the present (which is, washing dishes, which you really didn't).
The meditation is to be-in-present with whatever activity you do and love to do. If you had washed your dishes with full alertness and awareness, you would have achieved the same goal of meditation.
Let's go even further with another example.
You love to play music as your passion (or dance, or paint, or fill in the blank activity here) but you don't get enough opportunity in the day to do what you love to do more with passion. When you dance or sing or play music or run or exercise, you get the opportunity during that activity to forget yourself in the act (the subject merges into the object) and you become one with the reality, or you transcend that favorite activity by merging your self into it. That moment of transcendence is meditation, and you should find more opportunities to be in that meditation, in those moments.
Now, I am not suggesting that the type of meditation mentioned at the source is wrong or ineffective. What I am suggesting however is that people don't need to get stuck with one type of explanation of meditation because ultimately you can achieve the same goal by shifting the focus a bit.
I play a game that I call MIKADO where I do everything in the smoothest way trying to generate the smallest amount of sound (or any kind of wave). It comes from a blend of the child game, taichi, and drumming (drumming ask for fine perception of balance shifts and acceleration) and forces me to focus on everything at everytime. From the object of action, its surroundings, myself and my surrounding. Sound seems quite exponential in nature, to avoid noises you really need to be continuously slow, at any sudden movement you'll have a hint, unless you know a path were you can accelerate freely. I find it very relaxing, body and mind. The unawareness of accumulation of changes/accelerations are often the cause of anger, tireness, physical effort. By going smooth and slow, not slow actually, just at your own pace, things appear to cost far less and to give far more.
Never be embarrassed. I do it all the time ;) I'd be walking home from work, focussing hard not to walk. Just staring blindly ahead, allowing auto-pilot to take me home, and focus on every sensation of every muscle in every part of my body.
Then again, this was in Hong Kong, where you see groups of oldies doing Taichi and what-not in every corner of the city. I still do it occasionally here in Vancouver, the city of Yoga, so it's still fine ;)
In-house the game is to be as stealth as possible while doing any kind of chore. Ninja mode, or 'do not wake women at night' mode. Just moving a cup (even worse, a metallic object) from A to B becomes a challenge, but when you drop the cup on the table without any sound you feel like a magician.
That's cool, I do the same and hadn't considered that others would too. :) I always cringed when my wife and kids crash around making a racket doing everything but I realized they were just making normal noise and my perception was warped from trying to do everything silently.
> "you become one with the reality, or you transcend that favorite activity by merging your self into it. That moment of transcendence is meditation"
I think this is a really interesting takeaway. I'd like to propose another type of activity which I think most people probably wouldn't group together with meditation: video games.
If you're an avid gamer, you'll know where I'm coming from. Whether you're playing an MMO or an immersive story-based game, or even a competitive real-time strategy game, you're well-versed in the feeling of being hyper-focused and "becoming one" with the reality in front of you. I rarely find my thoughts wandering while playing a game because there simply isn't an opportunity to let my brain drift this way, especially if it's a multiplayer game (think StarCraft II, for example).
Video games are, at least for me, an activity that allows me to be in complete awareness and be in the moment, at that helps me relax. Any time I get ridiculed for playing video games as an adult, this is my default explanation.
That's it. You are in meditation when you're playing video games. I believe you should just find more of those same opportunities when you are not playing video games (because you can't really play video games 24x7).
Parent has read "Miracle of Mindfulness," by Thich Nhat Hanh. He explains,
> If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future - and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.
I too have read several of Thich Nhat Hann's books. I don't even know how many times I have referenced the washing dishes story. I do feel that it has added value to my life. I wonder if a statistically significant number of folks here on HN have read his books.
I think you're making a good point. A lot of people reserve the word "mindfulness" for the sort of meditations you're describing here and use "meditation" for something more specific. But they're just names and I don't worry about them too much.
This all also reminds me that there are people who view "true yoga" as a sort of 24/7 meditation of movement, where the person strives to be aware of and deliberate about their movements all the time.
It's that feeling of being in the zone, completely forgetting about tomorrow's worries. But how does one raise awareness of being in the zone? It is that consciousness that I believe is paramount.
Training your consciousness by playing sports vs sitting in lotus is analogous to training your biceps by rowing vs biceps curls. The latter is more targeted, hence more effective.
When you do what you love and you completely emerge in it, yes, you do get in a state of bliss. But are you conscious of it? If not, which is mostly the case when you see a group of people play soccer in the park, then I don't think that is beneficial in the meditative sense. Your mind is still very much active.
The reason why the traditional way of meditation is so effective (and has therefore been used for millennia), is because it is quite hard to just sit still and do nothing. And really clear your mind of any thought whatsoever.
It is this mental challenge that will really train your consciousness and raise your awareness.
An easier way to get started is to combine the two methods, in the form of tai-chi. Get your exercise, while clearing your mind (and raise your awareness). It has helped me a great deal -- my life has been so much smoother after I trained Tai Chi for 4 intensive months in China.
Agree with your comment in general but on this ...
> But how does one raise awareness of being in the zone? It is that consciousness that I believe is paramount.
I believe first, we have to realize that people in general are not aware that they could be aware. What I mean by this is that at first, you have to realize that you can be better, or you can achieve better if you bring the rules, or guides, or signs, into your consciousness. For example, without being aware that your daily activities could be an activity towards self-improvement, you cannot really avail the opportunities to be conscious.
Secondly, and once you realize the above, you can further raise your consciousness level for the betterment of not only yourself, but for the humanity at large (starting from your immediate close-by people in your circle).
So all in all, with the combination as you suggest, people can become more conscious, more ethical, more compassionate....all because they are making an effort to staying in here-now.
>Training your consciousness by playing sports vs sitting in lotus is analogous to training your biceps by rowing vs biceps curls. The latter is more targeted, hence more effective.
Only if your goal is to make your biceps bigger. If your goal is to gain strength, isolation is less effective, as strength involves more than just one muscle, it also involves stabilizing muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc. Who says training your conciousness isn't similar?
To me, consciousness and the mind are but one thing.
In the context of my meditation practice I have come to think of consciousness more like awareness — where I am the observer of the mind and all of its random, discursive activity. Tara Brach has referred to this aspect of mind as the “survival brain” — an evolutionary vestige that is always looking for a threat, or a problem to solve. And if it can’t find an actual threat it will often create an imaginary one.
Sorry, this is hard for me to understand. You seem to be saying--and I apologize if I misinterpret you--that it is better to focus on dishwashing than to use otherwise idle mental time to plan one's future.
Is that really the case? What gains could one expect from focusing on dishwashing, only to take time away from some other activity to plan one's future?
I don't want you to think that I am suggesting that you shift your "focus" from one activity to another, because that is ultimately is as same as a typical meditation routine. You are shifting your focus from whatever you were doing, to your focus on sitting idle and doing typical meditation.
That's not what I am suggesting with the dishwashing example. The meditation I am describing does not ask for you to focus .... instead, it asks for you to be "aware" and "be in present".
Here's the difference and here's what you can potentially gain:
When you are in the present washing dishes, you are training your mind to not be in the past and/or future. So now, if your mind is in present, than it does not matter if you are washing dishes or singing or dancing. The point is, that in present, you are closer to your true self and in present, you are more alert to the reality.
The mind constantly makes you wander either in the past or in the future and we generally don't and cannot stay in the present.
The example of doing your favorite activity (like running, exercising, singing, dancing etc) is important here because it is in these activities where you derive a whole lot of satisfaction and contentment for yourself. It has also been established that athletes usually find loosing themselves in their games at the moment of transcendence and we (the audience) have seen above-human or super natural acts come out of those moments (there is another subject of what audience derives out of watching such events, be that sports games, a movie, a concert etc, etc).
In my experience, the sort of effort you put in and the work that you do in planning in this multitasking, unfocused mode is not nearly as immediately urgent or productive as it feels at the time. If you are able to cultivate a degree of concentration and mindfulness, then when the time is appropriate you are able to consider whatever matter actually demands your consideration, and respond with sound judgment and openness.
EDIT: Perhaps more to the point, many of the useful decisions or notions that might have arisen from thinking about the future or the past while washing dishes tend in my experience to arise more or less of their own accord, in their own time. Much of the mind tends to think itself once you let it.
It’s better to let yourself to be swallowed whole by your current activity (be it just doing the dishes) than to continue in the endless chatter of your mind. Doing the dishes can be fun if you pay attention to the textures, temperatures, smells and sounds. You can plan your future later, giving it full attention again. That’s the idea.
It's harder than it sounds. Your subconscious will continually try to interrupt your mindfulness of the dish washing. The main trick of meditation is to be able to gently push those idle thoughts away and refocus on the dish washing (or whatever it is you are meditating on). Even if you don't end up enjoying dish washing more, meditating like this is an excellent workout for your focus and concentration and can be a real stress reliever as well.
It can get frustrating when you really try and yet constantly fail to maintain focus. It helps to remember that the purpose of the exercise is not to succeed in maintaining a laser-like focus, but instead to practice noticing your failures. That is how you level up your self-awareness into a skill that carries over into activities beyond dishwashing.
It helps to remember that the purpose of the exercise is not to succeed in maintaining a laser-like focus, but instead to practice noticing your failures.
Right, and I would suggest that there are no failures here — just notice what is going on in your mind, without judging it, and then gently bring your attention back to the breath. As we practice this over time the mind will more easily quiet down. Be the patient observer of your mind and know that you are not your thoughts.
I highly recommend some of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s books, and/or some of his videos on YouTube. These have been very helpful to me.
Try the same when taking shower, or brushing teeth, or anything else that we do mundanely on daily basis. It is indeed easier said than done but the point is that life provides several opportunities to stay-in-present but the mind has been trained for ages to wander in past or future.
Absolutely. Try the same when reading HN. Are you conscious while you are reading these words? Were you conscious 10 seconds ago? When you're not conscious, are you really 'alive'?
Why wait for the dishes? The beauty of mindfulness can manifest itself wonderfully in office work. Shut out the distractions from your mind; then the clack of the keyboard, the feel of your desk, and the flow of code, can fill your senses as well.
There are times when you certainly need to put the dishes down and think something through and solve it, but often we should just finish what we started one by one.
I don't have a link handy right this moment, but I understand that there is research indicating that the kind of multitasking you're describing is associated with a negative effect on mood, whereas acting mindfully is associated with an improved mood. Everyone is different, but I have also found this to be the case in my own life.
On a more practical note, I just find that I make more mistakes when I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. And as for planning for the future, how much extra time would it really take if you saved it for after the dishes? A couple minutes?
All that said, I still listen to podcasts while doing chores...
Let's phrase it another way: Is it good to make decisions about your future while 60% of your brainpower is focused on cleaning dishes?
You'll do both things more efficiently if you give them your all rather than having your attention constantly flit between them. Imagine if, while programming, you had to switch between projects every five minutes. You'd never get anything done! Yet we expect our brains to perform well under the same harsh circumstances.
Of course, if you don't care about what you're doing, it doesn't really hurt to let your mind wander. You'll probably do a sloppy job, but you don't care anyway. But the real payoff to concentrating on something like washing dishes is that your mind gets better at concentrating, so you'll instinctively do it when it really matters. It's like muscle training — you don't want to wait until you need to heft a couch to start doing it.
> Is it good to make decisions about your future while 60% of your brainpower is focused on cleaning dishes?
Brain doesn't work like that. You can actually do stuff in parallel without performance penalty as long as the tasks you are doing use different types of mental resources. I find it easy to wash dishes well while simultaneously planning my future / thinking about whatever. Quite often the thinking I do while washing dishes or in the shower is much better in quality than the thinking at my desk or near the whiteboard.
Yes and no. It could be that there's a misunderstanding of what meditation is, or is good for.
Sometimes it's best to use your time to actually practice your football skills, go out on the field and play; or else spend that time planning the next game, doing strategy and stuff like that.
But other times it's best to go to the gym and lift weights. That may seem like a waste of time for a football player, but it actually makes him stronger, so he gets better results in the game - because he engaged in a seemingly unrelated activity. Strangely enough. ;)
Same with washing dishes. Sometimes you use that time to draw plans for the future, advance the theoretical side for the projects you're working on ("play actual football with your team mates in the field"). Other times it's best to use those moments to meditate ("lift weights at the gym"). Both are useful, and in fact it's best if you practice both, at different times.
one of the most difficult principles of zen to understand and follow is "no gaining mind". this is an extension of the notion that attachment is the root of all suffering.
The idea behind meditation is not that difficult to understand. However, it is watered down quite a bit, especially if you learn it in a New Age environment. If you go back to the old schools of meditation, the techniques are very clear and straight forward and can be applied in daily life. It is really helpful though to know some meditation principles:
This is exactly how I lift weights / exercise, with complete focus and mindfulness.
While working out it is all I think about. I put on headphones with fast, heavy music and focus on the exercise I'm doing at that moment. I don't think about email in my inbox, I don't think about the errands I need to run, I don't talk to the other people around me. I think about my muscles contracting. I think about the extra 5 lbs I just added to the bar. I think about my form. I think about my breathing.
It is meditation as much as sitting on a pillow with legs crossed and eyes closed.
> The misconception about meditation is that it requires one to give up everything and sit silently. This is not true in its entirety as it depends on how one interprets the word "meditation".
That's right. There are prayer or mantra techniques that could be practiced anywhere, any time. In the Indian culture, there are people who say their mantra (sometimes silently, with no external sound or movement of the tongue) when they go about their daily business. In Orthodox cultures in Eastern Europe, there are people saying the Prayer of the Heart, again, during their daily routine (often silently, without any external sign of the practice).
There are also techniques of focusing your mind on various psycho-physiological aspects (breathing, various "energy centers", etc), but those may be a little harder to do while engaged in your normal routine.
There are also ways of maintaining a meditation-like, or "prayerful", state of mind and feeling during normal activities. This may require some prior experience.
In any case, yes, meditation does not mandate sitting down either on a chair or cross-legged, with eyes closed. Some techniques may actually require that posture, but others don't. It depends.
Excellent point! Be-in-present is the essence of some sects of Zen, especially in Japanese Zen. Sweeping the yard is not only to clean the yard. It is a practice, a meditation, to sweep the distracted thought of one's brain. Same as arranging flowers, etc. In this sense, it is the same as any other everyday manual work, like washing dishes, walking, etc.
Yes, indeed. But when you add the phenomena of activity humans love to do and excel in, you can see that those transcendent moment occur when the mind is in here-now.
If you are into watching movies and when you watch an exceptionally good movie, you are most likely staying in present in that moment where the mind is not there to distract. It could be a great scene or it could be the whole movie, the experience one gets out of watching good movie, is as same as the experience one gets out of being-in-present. But obviously the moment passes leaving the taste in your mouth, but the point is ... that one can find and cultivate those moments further in life in other situations.
"The misconception about meditation is that it requires one to give up everything and sit silently."
How I think it, giving up everything and sitting silently is a form of practice. You cannot be in-present with whatever activity you do if your mental muscle isn't toned for it.
"Meditation in action" is usually supported by "sitting meditation" like the author in the link above suggests.
In my own practice, I've noticed that when I skip sitting meditations, my attempts at staying aware through out the daily activities is harder than usual.
The meditation does not necessarily require you to give up one thing for the sake of another. The goal of the meditation is to "be in awareness" and you can achieve this same goal by being alert and aware with any activity your find yourself doing at any given moment. For example...
You are washing dishes but you are not really washing dishes because your mind is wandering with thoughts on what you need to do tonight at the place you need to visit. By the time your dishes are done, you have already planned for your future as your mind kept you busy with the thoughts of the future while you forgot what you were doing in the present (which is, washing dishes, which you really didn't).
The meditation is to be-in-present with whatever activity you do and love to do. If you had washed your dishes with full alertness and awareness, you would have achieved the same goal of meditation.
Let's go even further with another example.
You love to play music as your passion (or dance, or paint, or fill in the blank activity here) but you don't get enough opportunity in the day to do what you love to do more with passion. When you dance or sing or play music or run or exercise, you get the opportunity during that activity to forget yourself in the act (the subject merges into the object) and you become one with the reality, or you transcend that favorite activity by merging your self into it. That moment of transcendence is meditation, and you should find more opportunities to be in that meditation, in those moments.
Now, I am not suggesting that the type of meditation mentioned at the source is wrong or ineffective. What I am suggesting however is that people don't need to get stuck with one type of explanation of meditation because ultimately you can achieve the same goal by shifting the focus a bit.