Meditation: How to Embrace the Waves
by Mark Van Buren
As a mindful living trainer and yoga instructor, I teach many people meditation and mindfulness techniques. Unfortunately, most view these practices through a mind conditioned by our American culture. What’s that mean, you ask?
The most common conditioning I see is the desire to gain or attain something – the what’s-in-it-for-me attitude. I can’t tell you how often I am asked, “What will I get out of meditating every day?” My answer to them is generally (with a great big smile), “Absolutely nothing.”
In meditation, the self isn’t supposed to gain anything. In fact, it’s the attachment to this self and all its views and desires that blocks us from the very thing we are searching for. Paradoxically, once we let go of the desire to gain or attain something, we are left with the natural, open awareness we were born with – a peaceful awakened state beyond the conditions of our lives.
Besides the desire to gain something, I often see people using great effort in their practice in order to better themselves, while trying to get rid of parts of themselves they don’t like. The point being, meditation and mindfulness are not self-help methods to become a better person or to get rid of aspects of ourselves we dislike, but rather…
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