There can sometimes be a pretty fine line between solid coaching and New Age rhetoric. As someone who routinely becomes furious at the sight of hippies, I’m really the last person to want to get all airy-fairy and wave some kind of conceptual crystal wand around. As such, I don’t always know how to approach things that might appear a little . . . less than scientific. Then again, I am always a fan of sucking it up, so let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?
There are a bunch of different approaches to meditation. The one I’m going to tell you about will not take you to far-off astral planes or help a magical serpent wind its way up your spine. It will help you with day-to-day stuff. It will help you with sucking it up.
I first learned a version of this approach in a book on Zen Buddhism when I was a far more idealistic high school student. I later came across it again, when I was a far more jaded adult. It works for both types of people.
Imagine there’s a point of light way in the distance. Maybe there is one . . . Who knows . . . (not you, because your eyes will be closed). It could be anything – it’s just something to focus on – but we’re going with a point of light here. Ready? Look at it.
That’s it.
Here’s the deal: most people (certainly myself) will not spend much time on that point of light. Instead, they will spend time being distracted by the things that happen in their brains. That’s to be expected. So, when it happens, your job is to return to looking at that point of light.
I taught this process to a client today – more to make a point than as a spiritual exercise (ugh). His issue was nutrition. He told me that he was an “all or nothing kind of guy” and that when he was on-track, he ate really well, but when he was off-track, he ate horribly. After hearing this type of explanation so many times, I no longer believe it. While there may be nothing people, I have yet to meet an all person.
For “all or nothing” people, getting off-track provides them with a rationale for bad behaviour. “I’m not on-track,” they tell themselves. “Therefore, I must be off-track.” And then they order a Quarter Pounder with heroine and extra mayo. “Someday I will get on-track again,” they tell themselves.
Let’s get back to meditating.
When you notice that you’re doing anything other than looking at the point of light, your job is to come back to it; it’s to look at the point of light. However, a lot of people don’t. Instead, they think about how they should be looking at the point of light . . . about how they shouldn’t be getting distracted. This is not the same as looking at the point of light. When you think about it, it’s the fucking opposite.
