We talk a lot about “there is no way to happiness , that happiness is the way”, meditation, yoga, but what do these things really mean?
Social change in the 21st century is happening very quickly primarily driven by the under 40s who have a growing interest in meditation, yoga. fresh food. healthy lifestyle and conscious living.
Yoga and meditation were introduced to the West at the turn of the 20th Century by Vivekananda at the World Religion Conference. There was tremendous interest in these teachings but little understood how it affected individuals, society or what they really meant. Up until the 20th century little was known or understood and the search for mystic teachings was largely left to a handful of intrepid adventurers and seekers of knowledge.
Tibet where Tibetan Buddhism flourished, was closed for centuries to visitors, meant that development of meditative practices was relatively unknown to the rest of the world. When these teachings became known in the West, many different schools and gurus emerged offering different types of meditation, yoga and ways to enlightenment. In the 1960s another major wave of social change emerged with the hippie movement. They were interested in esoteric teaching, rock ’n roll and experimentation.
However yoga, meditation were profound Eastern teachings, often difficult to grasp, understand or follow. This didn’t deter people from seeking knowledge but answers were elusive. Added to this complexity was another layer of meaning given through the cultural norms of the day. Much has changed since then.
While the essence of these teachings appear to remain constant, teaching methods and culture norms have changed. People want to adapt to the changing environment and conditions of the 21st century. There are different delivery methods emerging in contemporary yoga, self- improvement through yoga and possible enlightenment.
Yoga of Meditation
In the West people are frequently time poor. This adds to their stress levels and expectations to accomplish many things. This hectic pace makes it difficult for people to detach from their activities and thoughts. Their minds become so busy and distorted with so many distractions to deal with, they find it difficult to relax and unwind. Mindfulness meditation and yoga have become popular to help people quieten their minds.
When the mind is always busy, all over the place, people are usually not aware of that, and they begin to accept that everything is normal. If they begin to believe every thought that comes into their head, it leads them to react to every situation that they have in life. As a result their energy becomes fragmented in many different directions which leads to them becoming distracted by their circumstances, tired and overwhelmed.
Meditation helps to slow down and focus.
According to Yoga teachings, the idea is to detach from the thoughts in your mind and begin to watch the mind and the thoughts. As you do this you begin to quieten the mind, let go of attachment and rationalising thoughts to become the observer of the experience.
From a yogic perspective just thinking how you would like the world to be becomes another attachment or obstacle to work through. This is where meditation and concentration practice is beneficial. Developing the practice of observation and mindful meditation practice, you strengthen the mind by getting the mind to one point. Visualisation also takes on greater power as you center your mind you don’t scatter your energy on distractions, you become focused.
As your mindful meditation practice deepens you get calmer, clearer in your actions, and better in your relationships. You start to be less concerned with the way it should look just going with what is happening rather than trying to impose your attachments or desires onto others.
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