Meditation is a Sanctuary Where Non-religious and Religious People Harmonize

By Ben Zoltak

Meditation is a topic I never thought I’d care for, much less envelope much of my life around. But I’m glad I did, and I’m happy to report that both types of classic meditation were introduced or reintroduced to me primarily by my daughters.

My first daughter urging me to read Eckhart Tolle for over a year…so glad I finally read “The Power of Now” as per her suggestion… quite an abundance of human suffering relief in one book… and honestly a life-changing collection of observations. My youngest daughter accidentally introducing me to Transcendental Meditation, as I spent a few months learning Tolle’s quiet-the-mind to ease the pain-body, style of meditation. Where essentially you try not to think of anything and if you do, look at it briefly then go back to trying not to think of anything, a kind of peaceful inversion of “mindfulness” whereby you look to naturally relax, in Tolle’s word, our accumulated pain-body. Long story short, my youngest daughter couldn’t do it, and after about a half dozen tries, she revealed to me that she would repeat a word, instead of trying not to think of anything, which was impossible she said, and others have told me the same. Inadvertently she was practicing a casual form of Transcendental Meditation: a classic Vedic tradition meditation brought down to earth for everyone to employ and enjoy by none other than Maharishi Mahesh Yogi… also made popular by one of his many acolytes, visual artist and filmmaker David Lynch recently and further back by those four guys from Liverpool with the funny haircuts.

I’m just going to say a few brief words today, but I foresee authoring a lot of verbiage on the topic in the coming years.

I asked some friends awhile back, by way of social media, what their favorite meditation was, and one of my friends gave a pleasantly insightful answer. He said his favorite meditation was eating, he went on to say that he meant intentionally enjoying and thoroughly chewing each bite. If I recall, he also mentioned having gratitude for the meal, and I agree on all accounts. His answer also illustrates that true meditation is as open and varied. As a lovely friend of mine puts it, “the world is full of infinite possibilities”, I see meditation in all its forms, as a way to realize those possibilities. Further, as David Lynch advocates, it’s a way to bring nothing short of peace on Earth and a positive way of life. Whether it’s hiking, biking, walking, singing, doing the dishes, eating, dancing…all of these and more can work as a sort of meditation, but the centeredness and calmness that comes with quiet meditation should be realized somehow, to bring a quiet rest in a world that’s oftentimes harried.

In particular, as mentioned in the title, I find that meditation works for everyone, and does not need to be regarded in a religious form, although for some it certainly is, and for me it is to a degree as well. As a parent, I think many of us hand-over the agency that quietude provides to a church and expect prayer to bring our children there. There’s room for both. Although my experience, and that of many, many of my friends, is that prayer is sometimes abused, and used as a tool of manipulation. Still other friends I have advocate for prayer and standby its ability to bring them peace of mind. Therein lies the elegant beauty of meditation, its simplicity means no gate keepers, it’s available to everyone freely.

I recall taking my two youngest children for one of our usual hikes after reading The Power of Now. We were all sugared-up as is often the case, talking over one another at a million miles an hour, probably twice pumped up on coffee for me and soda for them. We found a log to sit on, deep in the woods, and I asked my children to stop talking for a moment. The contrast between the silence and the twenty-minute hike-in was palpable. But we did it, we sat there for a minute. The birds may have occasionally chimed in, and likely there was the ubiquitous grey noise of an interstate roaring nearby, but we were still successful. I could see it in their faces, away from screens, and quieting their minds. We went on to try two minutes and more eventually. Each of us sharing how we thought it helped us to calm down and gather our thoughts.

Thanks for reading with me today, feel free to leave your thoughts on meditation below, I plan to write more soon! Mainly I wish that I had taken meditation more seriously earlier in my life, it would have helped me and those in my circle to live kinder lives, that’s why I’m writing this today so that you may take it a little more seriously, if you’ve been stressed-out or feeling dread and anxiety, it can pull you out of it.

It’s been slow-going getting momentum for writing about Art, Nature and All the Other Things, but I’ve been making progress little by little, and finding just enough encouragement from friends and family to keep on going, to not stand still and give up. I do plan on monetizing these posts eventually, but for now I’m just going to keep writing, making art and of course, meditating. Like meditation, working on this website/blog has turned out to be surprisingly fun.

Peace,

Ben Zoltak