A Meditation Revelation

I was reading from my Foundations Class materials through Creative Living Fellowship when I came upon a revelation about meditation, and by default, about spirituality in general. In one of the articles I read, the writer, Rev. Marlene Oaks, argues that a light switch works for everyone the same way, “…but they really do respond more favorably to those who understand them.”

I didn’t think a light switch was a very effective metaphor. After all, how can someone who understands a light switch make in work more effectively? So I tried to think of a better one. The best representation I could come up with was a car, or, for those of you who don’t drive, a bicycle. For the purposes of this blog entry, I am going to use a car.

When we first begin to think about the possibility of driving a car, I suspect that we are still children. I know that I started thinking about how cool it would be to drive around eight or nine years old. My father had this cute little brown Honda Civic Hatchback with manual transmission. It was a fun car to be a passenger in, so I imagine it was a fun car to drive. Now, my father knew absolutely nothing about fixing cars; that was always handled by the mechanic. But it was clear to me from early on that my father was, at minimum, a more effective driver than those around him. For him, driving was very much a mental exercise. I started learning about driving by watching the way he drove. Now, when I was a kid, there were no airbags, so we rode in the front passenger seat from a very early age. I know this gave me a bit more insight than if I’d had to be in the back seat.

Some of the best advice my step-mother gave me was, “Always drive like the other person is crazy.” That advice has served me well in my 25+ years of driving. My worst accident that was my fault has been a minor fender bender that didn’t even merit repair (knock on wood!). Even the accidents that weren’t my fault were relatively minor. I attribute this in part to just plain old luck, but mostly, I credit my success to being a very defensive driver. My father, however, had this alternate theory – “The other person doesn’t want their car damaged, so sometimes you can take advantage of that.” My method of driving is somewhere in between what my step-mother and my father believe, I drive like the other person is crazy, but occasionally, if I must merge, or if I just need enter traffic, I will test how much the other driver cares about their car! It is a basic understanding that I have developed about human nature.

My point? I’m getting there!

So, my first car was an automatic transmission 1971 faded yellow Dodge Dart. It was a good car to start with, especially since I had this insane fear of cars parked along the side of a road. This fear led me to straddle the lane line for about the first two or three months of my driving “career.” I always thought I was accidentally going to scrape the side of the parked cards with my side mirror. Gradually, I learned to eyeball the lane line correctly, and became a much more confident driver when driving next to parked cars.

I liken this stage to when I first started meditating, and I just couldn’t seem to stop having this tickling or itching sensation somewhere on my body. Every time I thought I was reaching a stage of deep meditation, I would feel a tickle or an itch that I would have this overwhelming urge to scratch. What I eventually realized was that if I just tried to ignore it, sometimes it would go away. Sometimes it wouldn’t, but at least now I knew that I could give it a chance to go away on its own.

As I practiced driving more, my confidence increased. As my confidence increased, I developed the ability to do things like change the radio station while driving. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to do that very often because I was a huge fan of the world famous KROQ in Los Angeles; the best alternative rock station on the planet. That was all I listened to!

As I learned to ignore my itches and my tickles, I was able to go deeper and deeper into my meditative states. I had read about the sensations I would develop in many New Age type books I’d read, and I honestly believed that most people who meditated were able to feel the same things I was feeling. They were wonderful feelings. But in talking to others who “meditated,” I came to find that it was rare to find someone who had. “Isn’t it great when you reach the point where you feel like you are floating?” I would ask.

“What do you mean?” they would ask.

“You know, when you are getting deep into the meditation feeling heavier and heavier and all of a sudden, you feel like you are floating.”

I would get puzzled looks, “I have never felt that,” they would say.

Not only did this shock me, but it also made me realize that some people were looking at me as some kind of whacked out New Age freak. I started to keep my meditative experiences to myself.

You see, I had read in my books that this is the way that meditation was supposed to be. I believed it, and I just expected that it was a feeling that I would eventually experience. In my mind, I already knew that I would feel this way. Without even realizing it, I was practicing the Law of Attraction (For more on the power of The Law of Attraction, see the documentary, The Secret). I wanted to feel that meditative state, so I did.

I also wanted to be a driver who never got into a serious accident, so that is what I have been. I cannot tell you the number of accidents I have avoided because I decided, when making a left turn, to wait for the cars coming from the other direction to stop before proceeding. Or when approaching an intersection where the light turns green just as I am arriving, I slow down anyway and check both ways because I don’t want to get broad-sided by a car going through a red light.

It is because of my understanding of human nature that I have been able to avoid horrific accidents. It is because I listen to that still, small voice in me that sometimes says, “Hey Dave, slow down a bit,” that I have been able to avoid unnecessary roll overs. It is because I also listened to that same voice when it said, “Stop, and take a short nap,” that I haven’t fallen asleep at the wheel.

With meditation, it is because I believed it was possible, that I am able to meditate effectively. Admittedly, though I do it well when I try, I don’t meditate enough. Fortunately, it is kind of like riding a bike – or driving a car – once you get the technique down, it doesn’t take much to get your confidence back.

The meditative state is real. It is not some made up thing. But it takes time to feel its greater benefits. Don’t get me wrong, any meditative attempts are going to take you to a better place. Just as anytime you get behind the wheel of the car, no matter your experience, you are going to be able to get from point A to point B, how you get there, and how you feel about it, is mostly going to depend upon your experience.

This realization has made me cognizant of a negative belief that I hold in my own mind. I have never been a big believer in the power of affirmations. I believe, now, that lack of belief has been a huge stumbling block for me. I have recently spoken with many people who have harnessed the power of affirmations through the Law of Attraction. It is my intention to harness this power for myself. For what? Well, I am going to take the advice of a good friend of mine and leave that between God and myself.

Namaste