Which End of the Pencil - Part 2 of 3

Breathe Deeply

Before dealing with breathing head on, let me fire one warning shot across the bows.

Whilst I have no doubt that meditation can have many benefits for ‘you’, that is not, I believe, the ultimate purpose of meditation. In the West we have arrived at a highly developed sense of values that uphold freedom of the individual, the rights of man. At the extreme end lies ‘it’s my life and I’ll do with it what I want’, the cult of personality, and self-centred, ‘self-for-self’ framework within which we expect to experience happiness and an integrated personality. I am as much part of and affected by this cultural scene that would manipulate everything ‘for me’ as if I always need something more. If this article feeds into the idea that meditation is about gaining something purely for ourselves, I will have yielded to the all-pervading consumerist culture that inevitably leaves us dissatisfied with our lot, always needing more, but, If I can, somehow, tilt us away from a ‘striving’ mentality and more towards ‘grace’ an understanding that all we have is freely given - it will have been worth writing.

When Jesus challenged an educated man, a lawyer, about the commandments, he replied ‘First….love the Lord your God with all your heart…and, second, love your neighbour as yourself’ Mat 22 v 34-39

Here’s my very amateur starting point on meditation: everyone does it. It’s a universal human experience.

Imagine you’re in a cinema: before you know it, you become completely unaware of those around you, unaware, really of yourself, you have been absorbed into the film. It’s difficult to know if you’re in the film or if the film is inside you. Or you find yourself daydreaming. One moment you’re engaged in a conversation and the next your mind has wandered and landed on something quite unrelated. Like in the cinema you find yourself transported somewhere else.

Of course, where you go can often seem to be trivial, just a series of jumbled-up gibberish tumbling through your mind but sometimes we are gripped by a thought so that we become deeply quiet, our heart rate slows, and we become aware of a peace that has eluded us for maybe weeks, months, years even. We leave these times refreshed and renewed, ready to face whatever circumstances we are in, with the love of God in us and a new capacity to love ourselves and our neighbours.

Are not these experiences meditation?

Meditation is daydreaming with a purpose.

The question is, can we meditate deliberately? Routinely? Can we include meditation in our daily routines just as much as getting dressed, having coffee, or brushing our teeth?

The second question is what to meditate on.

The answer to Q1. Is a definite ‘Yes’ we can include meditation as part of our daily routine.

The answer to Q2 is more open-ended: a criminal might find meditation very useful in planning a bank-robbery or a preacher a sermon, or a surgeon before an operation. Meditation is not in essence morally good any more than weightlifting, it’s a means to an end.

But if we have Jesus’ vision of a humanity restored to its true purpose and fulness, we’re unlikely to indulge in using meditation for nefarious purposes…in fact, it can be a good antidote when our emotions take us places normally reserved for violent and illegal rage…like if someone puts just a little too much milk in your tea…Arghhh! Count to ten!

Meditation is daydreaming with a purpose

If the image of meditation is more East than West, more Buddhist than Christian we might be surprised to find that the Bible often speaks about meditation and what to meditate on: Isaac went out to meditate into the field; the Lord spoke to Joshua ‘…meditate in the Book of the Law day and night’; meditate on God, meditate on creation, in God’s word, ‘whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue, praiseworthy…meditate on these things’.

I should also mention Peter on the roof ‘…he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened…’. St Paul, also, whilst praying, ‘fell into a trance’. The Greek word translated ‘trance’ is ‘ekstasis’ from where we get ecstasy. But this is misleading, ek-stasis, translated ‘trance’ really means ‘to stand outside oneself’, this may or may not be associated with an emotional reaction whereas we understand ‘ecstasy’ to be an experience of sheer pleasure. I would argue when you are lost in a film or lost in your thoughts you are in some sense in a ‘trance’ – standing outside yourself - and are meditating. The word trance is too closely associated with handing over the control of one’s mind to hypnosis…that’s another subject!

OK breathing. And deliberate meditation.

Step One: find somewhere without undue distraction. Sit comfortably or lie on the floor, prostrate or on your back. Some like calming music in the background. (NB sometimes a very noisy environment can work just as well).

Step Two: slow your breathing down, breathe deeply, in out…not too deeply to feel lightheaded.

Step Three: meditate on something; daydream with purpose. the biblical list is a good hunting ground. I’m currently meditating on the following verse from Psalm 73. I’m on day three. I can see this lasting a few more days.

My heart was grieved
And I was vexed in my mind.
I was so foolish and ignorant
I was like a beast before You
Nevertheless, I am continually with You
You hold me by my right hand
You will guide me with Your counsel

Step Four: stopping. Sometimes meditation can take more than an hour – think back to watching a film or reading a good book. My experience is that generally, the deliberate form can finish quite naturally after a few minutes. No need to berate yourself, better to trust that you can meditate for longer, and may well do at times. Think coffee and biscuits v. three-course meals…you can do both.

Next I want to double back to ‘spirituality’…Part III.