Well.. This is going to be something else.. I just came from the Apple Store where they decided that my laptop should stay for the night.
This means that I am typing this from my phone, with my right thumb only. The fact that this option is given to us by contemporary technology is still stunning to me. But it is also somewhat uncomfortable.
This morning the 100 Day Warrior group had it’s 4th meditation session. From today onwards sitting meditation will be an important ritual in every day. It fills me with pride and gratitude when secretly open my eyes during their first ‘real’ 20 minute period of zazen (sitting meditation) to check on their posture and see them sitting perfectly upright and breathing quietly and peacefully.
Not very long ago the idea of sitting still and observing thoughts and sensations while sitting together with other people on black cushions with legs folded like pretzels seemed pretty unlikely. Now it has become reality. Not only are meditating people estetically beautiful to watch in their serene practice but it also touching because I know I am witnessing their first steps on a potentially profoundly life-changing journey.
I sometimes wonder how these words are perceived by non-meditators. I would have probably thought ‘yeah, whatever. How can something boring and uneventful be ‘inspiring’ in the first place?’ It takes quite a bit of patience and perseverance to keep looking at a place that seems to look and behave perfectly normal.
Meditation is like The Truman Show, which is of course an allegory of the way the human mind functions. Every thing looks completely normal in Truman’s world until he finds out that everything he ever believed to be real is an illusion.
Precisely like Truman we have a director in our heads that wants to prevent at any cost that we will find out the truth. Because if we find the end of the dome he will be without a job and without power over us.
It takes courage to make an attempt to travel towards the boundaries of the dome. Just like Truman we are conditioned to fear the sea enormously. Quite few people have that courage. Most people focus on keeping themselves entertained and busy inside the dome, thus avoiding the questions that undoubtly will come up if the space would be created.
It is easier to be a coward that to be a True (Hu-)Man. At least, that is what we will find when we become really honest with ourselves.
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This is episode 22 in a series of 100 blog posts that will be published daily during the 100 Day Warrior, a unique program around physical strength, inner wisdom and meaning. All posts are written by Atalwin Pilon, founder of Basic Goodness and creator of the 100 Day Warrior. For requests for motivational speaking, in-company workshops, online coaching and mindfulness training click here. If you would like to join our international community of brave and inspiring human beings or just follow this blog and receive updates, please click here of sign up on the right side of the page. Atalwin specializes in coaching smart and creative people, both groups and individuals. If you are interested in a free coaching session click here.
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