Many people do not understand the art of meditation. I have had people tell me that “just siting around and sleeping” is not going to help the world. They do not see any good that can arrive from doing nothing. The reason that these people are blind to the concept of meditation is because they do not understand the true meaning of nothingness.
The idea is that if there is complete silence, truth has nothing to hide behind. By silence, I do not mean the area in which you are meditating, but instead one must silence the noise in your mind. All of those little voices that you hear telling you that you cannot live without something or telling you that you should do something, but you do not know why. When you have reached a state of pure nothingness, you will see the correct path.
This reminds me of a quote from Morihei Ueshiba, the great O-Sensai of Aikido, “Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts.” I know that this may seem like a very difficult task to accomplish, but it seems less so if you liken yourself to an ocean of water. The water in the ocean has no shape unto itself. If the wind is blowing the water will be rough, but if the sky is calm the you may be able to see your own reflection. This is how our mind should be, we can think about the task at hand, but as soon as the weather changes we should be able to see our face reflecting back at us. Meditation helps us achieve this.
To meditate is to look to ones self and silence everything so we may see our true essence. This is a skill and as with all skills it takes practice. We can get good enough at it that we can meditate at anytime, anywhere. Eventually, you might be able to live life in a state of meditation. This might be liked to enlightenment or nirvana. For some people this may never happen, and for others, it happens right away. This just depends on how free your ind is now.
Once you embrace the idea that meditation is “just sitting around and doing nothing,” then you will realize how powerful it is. So, ready . . . set . . . DO NOTHING!
