Achieving peace through meditation

WHAT IS MEDITATION?

The aim of meditation is the ability to experience the world peacefully, without the intervening presence of too much thought.  Normally, we spend excessive energy thinking up models of the world as it should be according to us, and trying to mould life to our wishes.  When we meditate, we do the opposite, accepting the world just as it is, and maintaining an attitude of openness and love.

ANGER

Anger is the main obstruction to peace.  Anger is our inability to reconcile the world, as it is, with our own wishes, as to how it ‘should’ be.

We become like a dog, barking angrily when we see unexpected events as another ‘dog’ encroaching on our territory.  Territorial dogs feel that other dogs should not be there, so they bark and bare their teeth until all enemies are gone.

The trouble is, the supply of unexpected events and potential enemies is so great that the fight can turn into a never-ending process that burns us out.

THE ORIGINS OF ANGER

Anger has a constructive evolutionary basis: we have long had a need to chase away invaders.  It has helped us to survive.  Not only our mind, but also our body does this.  Our immune system gets ‘angry’, and uses a system of irritation, detection and ejection to repel ‘foreign bodies’.

A SURPLUS OF ANGER

In modern society, the urge to eject irritants has gone way beyond its evolutionary usefulness.  Doctors’ surgeries and hospitals are full of patients suffering from extreme anxiety, burnt out through constant attempts to change uncomfortable situations.

For the sake of our health, there comes a point where, to live happily, we should set limits on our worry and irritability.

HOW MEDITATION HELPS

To illustrate how meditation helps us live more happily, we can use a practical example.  We have all had the experience of living with a difficult person, whether a boss, a family member, a friend, or an enemy.  In their presence we can feel profoundly upset or irritated.

If we treat the person’s presence as a hostile environment, and are always fighting them, the constant battles can damage our psyche, and cause mental illness.

In contrast, when we meditate, we are taken out of our usual ‘allergic’ system, and into a more accepting, tolerant way of living.  We can see the damage someone is causing, and it doesn’t affect us too much (although we may still wish to limit the damage).

A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE

When we are peaceful, the irritants around us do not get better – we do.  We live in the same world as we did before.  What has changed is our attitude to the world around us.  People and things that used to wind us up, because they didn’t fit our views, become objects of compassion and curiosity.

A BASIC FORM OF MEDITATION

To meditate:

1. Take a pause from whatever you are doing.
2. Stay where you are, without the need to go and get something, consume something, or achieve something.
3. Notice the sights and sounds around you.
4. Turn your attention to what is within you; to how your body feels.
5. Adjust your body position if you need to.
6. Become aware of just your breathing.
7. Relax.
8. Distance yourself from the need to intervene in events or please anyone.
9. If you feel angry, irritated or anxious, just observe that, without needing to change it, but not adding to it.
10. For the moment, just remain quietly aware.
11. Smile inside if you want to.
12. Consider how big the universe is, far bigger than your concerns.
13. Stay in the present, as if you are dreaming.
14. Let everything go.
15. Maintain an attitude of peaceful benevolence towards others.

With practice, you will become less dependent on your surroundings or moods, and feel more peaceful in your own quiet awareness.  You won’t need to express irritation, or correct others.  You will feel balanced and moderate.

SUMMARY

Our lack of peace is cause by irritation and anger.  In the past, angry feelings helped us to survive.  Nowadays, most anger is surplus to requirements. By practicing patience, we step away from our fight-and-flight response, and preserve our energy.  We become more flexible, aware but not reactive.

We become peaceful, warm and appreciative towards others, without needing to correct everything.