Meditate for a better life!

"The type or particular method of meditation isn't important, rather it's developing patience and persistence... The results will come, just keep practicing, and above all stay calm."
​- Master Feeman Ong

My personal view is that Meditation is the process by which we shape our mind to rest in the Way and create the life we desire to be reflected in the world. Meditation for me is three fold. Without honesty, action and reflection in all three pursuits meditation lacks objectivity and falls into self-proclaimed 'enlightenment' which in actuality is a delusion.

3 folds of meditation.

• discernment
• facing existence
• preparing yourself for right action

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Therefore training (the mind, and in turn the body) to follow 'The Way' is how we go on the path to our better life, a path of success regardless of the endeavour. We'll start exploring these folds by elaborating on what they specifically mean and how I apply them...

In short practicing meditation helps to uncover root causes for our deepest emotional imbalances and traumas. It forms a great tool to better health by smoothing out our emotional changes. If you want to read more on how emotional states can affect our health read: Smooth Emotions BETTER HEALTH! ... then come back =)

Lets start off with some quotes from Chuang Tzu

• "The torch of chaos and doubt - this is what the sage steers by... but relegates all to the constant. This is what it means to use clarity."
• "Therefore understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest. Who can understand discriminations that are not spoken, the Way that is not a way? If he can understand this, he may be called the Reservoir of Heaven. Pour into it and it is never full, dip from it and it never runs dry, and yet it does not know where the supply, comes from. This is called the Shaded Light."
  
• "If the Way is made clear, it is not the Way. If discriminations are put into words, they do not suffice. If benevolence has a constant object, it cannot be universal. If modesty is fastidious, it cannot be trusted. If daring attacks, it cannot be complete. These five [clarity, discrimination, benevolence, modesty, daring] are all round, but they tend toward the square."
  
• -Chuang Tzu

"The torch of chaos and doubt - this is what the sage steers by. So he does not use things, but relegates all to the constant. This is what it means to use clarity."

The torch of chaos and doubt can be seen as a euphemism for discernment. Chaos and doubts come from a lack of understanding and/or acceptance of something. This torch steers the sage by constantly looking to clarify the root of chaos and doubt. To use the metaphor constructively, the sage burns chaos and doubts to light their way looking at specific events in how they have come to unfold into personal outlooks and specific ideas which constantly affect their lives. This clarifies their underpinning motives and using empathy they can come to use this clarity for and toward others.

​Master Ong used to call it... ​"Seeing through the red dust."

In the practice of meditation I simply outline it this way. Sit quietly without any expectations. Listen to your breath, when thoughts arise let them go. If they pull you emotionally and refuse to go away ask yourself why that thought preoccupies you?

... Continue asking yourself clarifying questions, and answering them until you have no more questions to ask. Then it will be clear to you and you will be more still... gradually this process brings more and more clarity. With proper planning action and reflection this unfolds into a way better and more stable life by gradually chipping away at personal problems and seeking to use this knowledge to uplift help and build on others experience.

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"Therefore understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest. Who can understand discriminations that are not spoken, the Way that is not a way? If he can understand this, he may be called the Reservoir of Heaven. Pour into it and it is never full, dip from it and it never runs dry, and yet it does not know where the supply, comes from. This is called the Shaded Light."

I call this facing existence or in traditional chinese parlance wu wei. This fold of meditation to calm the mind and body by resting in our being. We all have our ups and downs, some days are better than others. We can be sure of this more than all other things. The definition of life can be, as Jim Rohn said, "Life is opportunity mixed with difficulty... it's been that way for the last 600,000 years of recorded history, it's not likely to change!"

Meditation is how we train ourselves to be resilient to this flux by observing and understanding the most important thing of all, the roots of our attitudes and our thoughts. Resting in wu ji is the root, it requires a daily return to be useful and gradually unfold.

"If the Way is made clear, it is not the Way. If discriminations are put into words, they do not suffice. If benevolence has a constant object, it cannot be universal. If modesty is fastidious, it cannot be trusted. If daring attacks, it cannot be complete. These five are all round, but they tend toward the square."

"These five are round but tend to be square" means virtue and truth are solid things, however, context dictates to an extent what they are.  This stable flexibility must be sought out in the mind to have a totality of application. One way to do this is: "Learn the way. Know the way. Refine the way."


Discernment- Learn the way.
Facing existence- Know the way.
Refine the way- Reflect and adjust your way.

Reflecting and adjusting will help a lot with application of what you get from your meditation sessions. I recommend journaling to help with this. Journalling is the only way to truly reflect on what you accomplish in meditation and how well you apply it to your life over time. It's impossible to map progress without regular reflection. There's also no way to reflect on this stuff if you personally don't write it out.

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Daily practice:

1. Set a timer and sit down silently breathing with your eyes closed listen to what comes up for you, w/o expectations. Start with 15 minutes daily working up to 30 minutes a day. No need to do more than 30, never do less than 15.
2. ​Take time periodically writing out what came up for you during that time. Especially if there was a breakthrough, also take into account your emotional state, etc. Don't stress if it felt like forever, or nothing happened.
3. Why? ... What did I learn? What am I going to do about it?
4. Remember the 5 phases of the mind:
   1. More agitation little stillness
   2. Equal agitation and stillness
   3. Little agitation more stillness
   4. Stillness until something moves you.
   5. Stillness even when something comes up.
5. Cultivate resilience with a general happiness in all existence.​

In your practice of meditation, regardless of system or style remember:
Master Ong's 3 Keys to meditation

1. Be patient
2. Practice all the time
3. Don't worry about it