What Meditation is not?
Nitesh Pandey
Founder-Director- Enterprise Sales, Marketing, Go-To-Market Strategy, Strategic Alliances
Once convinced about meditation and after a decent run with the practice, one can certainly acquire a new operating system for the brain.
The benefits are numerous and a mindful approach makes it nigh impossible not to see the difference. One becomes more patient, less reactive, and less addictive ( to social media, food, ego, cigarettes, etc.). One also learns to deal with life with equanimity, not reacting to situations but simply learning to reflect on how things are.
Amidst the many benefits, there is also a danger of falling into hubris, after all, meditation can offer a sense of control and a superiority complex. I am doing my best to list things Meditation is not about:-
1) Meditation is not about being arrogant about the power of one's own mind but the realization that we become powerful by engaging with other people's minds to enhance our own and in isolation we stand to lose.
2) Meditation is not just about having the power to not identify with thoughts but also realizing that bad behavior among others is nothing but identification with negative thoughts and so we should be less judgemental about the behaviors of others.
3) Meditation is not about harboring ambitions to become a leader of the masses but rather the realization that everyone is good enough to lead themselves when they stop identifying with thoughts.
4) Meditation is not about the superiority of one but the superiority of a mind that is comfortable with diversity and accepting of differing opinions.
5) Meditation is also not about standing out in the crowd but about standing in with them as one. Standing out is more about the ego and less about meditation.
6) Although Meditation is mostly about introspection it also promotes outrospection where one can put oneself in other people's shoes to get a better understanding of them as opposed to sitting in judgment of them.
The ego works in mysterious ways, from lacking confidence to becoming overconfident and cocky within one identification with thought is very much par for the course, being mindful of such a trap should not be lost on meditation practitioners.