INTRODUCING MEDITATION TO LIFE IN THE 21st CENTURY

What if a monastery perched high in the mountains, was magically relocated to your home or office? What if we forgot about the monastery, and just relocated the monks who lived there?

What if we forgot about the monks, and just transported their lifestyle? Or, what if we forgot about the lifestyle, and just adopted their meditation practice? Better yet, what if we forgot about the quasi-religious bits of their practice, and adopted a more secular practice that is relevant to-- and respectful of-- everyday demands of the 21st century world in which we live, today?

What if…? Why not? Secular Meditation has little to do with the magic of the moment, enlightenment or nirvana. Rather, it is dedicated to recognizing and training to better manage our thoughts, feelings, moods and emotions-- training ourselves to minimize reaction, and maximize more reasoned response, to the stresses and strains that assail us at home and in the office.

Don’t get me wrong-- I learned meditation the old-fashioned way, and have the utmost respect for both the tradition and those who continue to embrace it. But realistically, things change. Everything.

As a father of 3, and a lawyer who practiced 40 years in conflict resolution and commercial litigation (from which I am now retired), I experienced more than my share of moments when self-awareness and self-regulation were seriously tested. Unfortunately, neither meditation nor mindfulness were made available to me and I was left to figure things out, for myself.

Figuring things out for ourselves will never likely become passe, and I remain a fan of the old-fashioned “school of hard knocks”. But I now know just how lucky I was to have survived my earlier years, more or less intact. I also know it doesn’t have to be that way.

The thing that got me through the most difficult days (and still does) is/was the practice of meditation. What I have learned, however, is that many others-- even those who are curious—are still skeptical about meditation. And skepticism is a powerful barrier to entry that is difficult to overcome-- particularly on an institutional level.

For years, I considered the why to be the most compelling fact to address in talking about meditation. As a result, my advocacy was largely committed to educating others about meditation and its many benefits. Recently, however, it has occurred to me that the why of meditation is no longer as much of a challenge as the how.

Can an ancient practice that is demanding, rigid and time-consuming be transformed in a way that is more readily adaptable by those of us living centuries later, without corrupting the essential purpose of meditation? I believe the answer is, “yes” and the practice I have identified is Secular Meditation.

The concept of Secular Meditation and the specific practices it entails (plural, not singular) are briefly described in a previous piece. If readers are interested in learning more, please contact me through The Mindful Law Coaching & Consulting Group website.

Secular Meditation can be readily incorporated into everyday life-- both personally and professionally. I can make that claim with confidence, because I have been a living, breathing, human guinea pig and I know from personal experience that it is so.

Self-awareness can inform self-regulation, and self-regulation can inform better management of thought, feeling, mood and emotion. The ankle bone (as they say), is connected to the leg bone.

Secular Meditation is the evolution of meditation, in a way that is both accessible and relevant to those of us living in the 21st century. Check it out!