Wednesday 21 December 2011

How to Meditate Effortlessly by Aimee Cavencia



Meditation & love are the same thing.

Meditation is nothing more than an unconditional state of being.
So is love. It's nothing more than an unconditional state of being.

Whatever you heard about "how to" to meditate; meditation techniques, methods, teachings, trainings, forget them. You don't need them.
Whatever you read about how to love, forget it, because you are it.

Why would you ever need something that you already are?

You are awareness.
You are beingness,
You are love.

It's under all the layers of learned imaginings you've been trained to see as real.
It's under all the busy-ness & doing-ness you force upon yourself each & every day.

If you want to know what divine meditativeness is, this blissful state of nothing, this powerful unconditional love,
this all knowing awareness -- just stop, stop trying to make something happen.

This doesn't mean that you are still like a rock. Or that you are silent. It just means that you are not trying to manipulate the present moment.
It means that you are not-over thinking & run by your thoughts based the past or future. Instead, you are coming from the heart & fully embracing this moment, as it is.

Unlike structured meditation, you don't need hand mudras, or a fancy seated position, or flexible legs, or a meditation cushion, or a special mantra, or prayer beads, or a bell, or a bowl, or gong, or a teacher, or a guru, or a religion, or a quiet space, or to be alone, or to be with others, all you need is nothing. Nothing to repeat, nothing to think, nothing to hold, nothing to do, nothing to expect.

Think of it this way; when you are sleeping or when you are dead, what do you need? Can you think of anything?
This is the kind of nothingness & completeness I am taking about.

But don't think of it in a negative way. Know that you need nothing because you already are Everything!

Can you imagine how powerful your life would be if you lived like this?
All the fear, all the lack, all the busy-ness, all the anger, all the jealousy, all the hate, all the confusion, all the work, all the desires, all the frustration, would just fall away.

Being in a meditative state & loving unconditionally is like falling, it's like falling awake.
There is nothing you can do to get there. There are no steps, there are no methods, it just is.

It's as gentle & sudden as falling asleep. One minute you are awake, & the next day you have no idea at what point you feel asleep or for how long.

Imagine meditation & love as a combination of those two states: you are at ease & relaxed & effortless (just as you are when you are sleeping),
but you are fully present & fully aware (just as you are when you're awake).

If I could describe how I meditate, or how I love, or how it feels when I am just being, it's a little like this: let's say that I am in a community swimming pool.
I am floating on the water. In order to float, I have to relax, I have to lean back & I have to trust the water will carry me.
So I am there, just trusting, & the only thing I am doing is being awake & aware, that takes no effort. So really, I'm just being.
I'm not swimming, I'm not kicking, I'm not looking around, I'm not even trying to float, I'm just being.

Now, just like in meditation or in love, thoughts can arise. But imagine the pool scenario again.

There I am, just being, but now I notice that outside circumstances have stirred-up certain thoughts.
There is now a bunch of children in the pool splashing each other, & their splashing could make its way over to me. -- Can I be with that?
If I just love it & be with it, it'll be temporary. Either they will stop splashing after a while, or their splashing will no longer be a concern for me.

Now here is another pool scenario, imagine that there is a 400 pound man that recklessly jumps off the diving board.

This has now generated waves in the pool. These waves are now making it harder for me to trust that I can just relax & float. It's a little challenging, even scary.
Can I be with that? Can I love that man & continue to trust that the water will support me even though the waters are rocky?

Eventually the man will stop diving, & the waves will settle. Or they won't. But it won't matter because it will no longer be a concern for me because I won't even notice it.

This is love, this is meditation, this is being, this is awareness, this is life!

Don't worry about thoughts when you meditate, just love them, allow them & accept them.

Don't worry about people who act unloving or unkind, just love anyway.
Love without needing to be loved back. You don't need their love, because you are already love itself!

Just float & be supported, just be aware & be carried, just relax & trust. Just know.

Let go of everything. Stop trying to be someone doing something.
Think of how silly it is, I'm going to say it again, stop trying to be someone doing something.

All this effort to be someone trying to love, trying to meditate, trying to be, trying to float.

There is nothing to do. You can't force these states with a rigid set of rules or a to-do list.

It happens on its own when you surrender & allow yourself to be.

You are the answer to every want you've ever had & the way to access this is to stop resisting, to stop fighting.

Love has no agenda, it has no needs, it has no past, it has no future. It just is.

Same with meditation, it has no agenda, no needs, no past, no future. It just is.

Beingness has no agenda, no needs, no past, no future. It just is.

So the next time it feels hard to love, or you struggle to meditate, or you don't know how to be, just know that there is nothing to do & there is no way you can achieve it. All you can do is realize it or better yet, allow it. Because it's already there!

But if you still feel you need to do something in order to get something, just practice letting go.

Practice relaxing & exhaling fully.
Practice smiling for no reason when you feel the urge.
Practice following your feet & seeing where they take you.
Practice having nothing to do & nowhere to be.
Practice loving everything & everyone, as is.
Practice seeing yourself as whole, as complete, as perfect.
Practice focusing on the present, & accepting that the past & the future do not exist.
Practice listening to your heart & following its advice.
Practice acknowledging that you are the answer to all of your questions.

Then, after that feels effortless, just love, just meditate, just realize.

Aimee Cavenecia (also known as AimeeLovesYou) has an extensive background as a professional artist. Her current work is becoming an expert in Seeing, Loving, and Being (SLB). Aimee has dedicated the rest of her life to studying this field and sharing her insights on the topic.

1 comment:

  1. "Can I love that man & continue to trust that the water will support me even though the waters are rocky?"

    Great line. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete