Words From The Master: 18 Feb 2008

Entering into Meditation
(continuation from earlier post)

b) Focus on your positive emotions

What is your normal day like? Just think.

Throughout the day, you are flooded with different emotions. When you wake up, you are feeling joyful – or at least normal. Then your wife comes in with your coffee, and while putting it down on the table she spills some of it – and immediately,
you are angry.

After a good breakfast, you are back in a good mood. Then you get caught in traffic on the way to work – and you are ready to kill someone! At the office you have a project that’s not going well – again, you experience stress. And so on.

Every minute, you are being bombarded by emotions. You are living your life on a roller coaster of emotions. How long can you cope?

Fortunately, all our emotional experiences are not bad. For most of us, there will be some moments during the day when we are silent, joyful, meditative.

It could be a simple, everyday thing.

Sipping a cup of tea in your garden.

Taking a shower.

Listening to music.

Playing with your children.

There are moments like this in each day, for each of us. But how many of us focus on these moments?

When someone asks us, How did your day go?, we only remember the traffic, the spilt coffee, the incomplete project.

For a change, why not focus on the positive experiences, the positive feelings in each day?

Try this experiment.

For 24 hours, continuously recollect ONLY the good things that have happened that day. Be grateful for even little things: that it wasn’t raining when you had to leave for work, that the marigolds in the garden are in bloom. Be thankful to your housemaid for not taking the day off. See, these are things we forget! On the day when the maid doesn’t turn up, we never forget her – but when she does come, do we
notice? Do we remember to thank her in our minds?

So when I say remember every positive thing, actually do it. Do it with complete sincerity. Just for 24 hours! You will see how your life feels transformed. Once you have tasted the joy of staying with positive feelings, you will never allow yourself to fall into depression again.

This exercise is not for fun. It is a survival technique! When you throw stones at life, life is going to throw stones back at you. If you greet life with flowers, you will get flowers in return. Later, you will receive a meditation technique that
focuses on welcoming life with Gratitude.

(to be continued)
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This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation