We have a saying in Tibetan: “gom pa mayin goms pa yin”. This means: “It
is not about meditation, what it is about is to become familiar”. We
become familiar with the nature of ourselves, both wholesome and
unwholesome, and with the nature of reality. We become familiar with the
stream of our consciousness and with its function, and we develop a
quality of heart and mind that is able to perceive unfamiliar
perceptions or situations without reacting with ignorance. And we become
more and more familiar with the qualities of our true nature:
compassion, generosity, openness, equanimity, joy, and innate purity.
When we develop these qualities of heart and mind, our suffering is
reduced. This will bring ease and joy into our lives on the physical,
mental, and emotional levels.
When we take time away from external influences to be quietly by
ourselves, we get to know ourselves in an intimate way. We become
familiar with ourselves. We become familiar with our stream of
consciousness and the way that our emotions are produced. We become
familiar with the way that we live our lives. We become familiar with
the process that happens in us when we become agitated, and with our
weaknesses and strengths. We become familiar with what it is to be
sitting with strength in the face of depression. We become familiar with
our ego, our attachment to our physical body, our afflicted emotions,
and our fear of death. And we become familiar with our addiction to our
fear. Through becoming familiar with what causes us pain and suffering,
we will be able to see what is subtly exhausting and killing us
internally through jealousy, anger, fear, sadness, insecurity,
embarrassment, or loneliness. Through this process we can develop the
heart and mind to distinguish between what to renounce and what to
accept. And we become familiar with our innate healing wisdom and our
own potential of awakened nature. We become familiar with the Buddha
within.
The Buddha said that you are your own best friend and your own worst
enemy. The practice of meditation can give us the strength to see the
qualities of a friend and of an enemy within ourselves. This can help us
to observe the stream of our consciousness and its contribution to our
physical, mental, and emotional distraction and instability. Also,
meditation can help us to calm our minds. The practice of sitting still
is essential.
In our lives, there is calmness and joy on the one hand, and arousal of
anger, depression, sadness, passion, and desire-attachment on the other.
There is so much chaotic energy coming in and out of our mind and body.
This is why we need to learn to coordinate the calmness or stability of
mind that we cultivate in our meditation with the movement of our
energy. Sometimes we may think that meditation will take care of all our
problems if we can generate enough calmness. Yet, this is not possible
unless we learn how to integrate this calm state of mind with the
chaotic movement of our energy. Just sitting by itself does not bring
ease and eternal joy, although it helps to settle this monkey mind that
constantly moves from here to there. The calming of our mind is not
realization in itself. Our actual realization is of liberation from the
cyclic continuum of suffering. This is only possible if we become
familiar with our afflictions and know how to integrate our calmness and
our concentration with the chaotic movement of energy of these
afflictions.
Our meditation has the power to familiarize us with the qualities of our
true nature. Through our steady, dedicated practice we become
accustomed to its qualities, we become familiar with generosity, with
the mind of compassion and awakening, and with our pure nature. The
practice imprints itself onto mind and body in the form of qualities
such as patience, openness, and acceptance. A beautiful gift of
meditation practice is that it keeps us connected with the miracle of
each moment. It allows us to see the beauty in each thing and in every
moment, and how these small things affect us. It helps us to release our
attachment to the projected idea of a result. It brings us closer to
the reality of life by allowing us to use both suffering and happiness
as part of our practice toward the realization of awakened heart and
mind.
Read more at : http://www.olmoling.org/contents/meditation