The Folly of Escapist Meditation

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Tips on Meditation and the Spiritual path - idea #172
from your Buddhism expert



Stress sucks, doesn’t it? Is there any suffering that
can’t be made worse by it’s presence? There are the
things in our lives that trigger stress and then
there are the bone-headed things we can do in the
name of alleviating it.






Every collage student knows about the stress of
mid-terms. They know about:
• the sour stomachs,
• the nervousness,
• the sleep depravation,
• the questionable hygiene
• and the very bad hair days.


Yep, stress can be bad; but just ask some collage
kid, who’s spent his spring break in jail; if the
consequences of foolishly blowing off steam could be
even worse.


Likewise meditation is like a running chainsaw; good
for chopping down trees, bad if you drop it on your
foot. If you choose to use meditation to increase
your love, peace, insight and happiness then… Bravo!
However, if you decide to use meditation to run and
hide from your problems, if you decide to use
meditation as if it were just a mental Margarita,
then it might not work out so well for you.


Is concentration a component of meditation? Yep, it
sure is. But if you think that is all there is to
it, you will be in for a very unpleasant surprise.


A friend of mine practiced Concentration without
Contemplation all the while sincerely believing that,
that was the “Zen” way. But when he found himself in
a situation that was:
• difficult,
• stressful, and
• infuriating
he did not now what to do with him self. He found
himself utterly unarmed and totally at a loss with
how to diffuse his anger, sorrow and fear… and so
he trashed his apartment.


I’m not sure if you know this or not, so I’ll give
you the scoop. Trashing your apartment is not a
spiritually constructive course of action.


What then are we to do? Shall we simply point our
fingers at this fellow and laugh? Not so much.
Couldn’t it be better to simply learn from his mistake
so we won’t have to repeat it ourselves?


Yes, meditation can be used to: still the mind,
increase peace, and disassociate from the world
around us, but is that really Buddha’s intention?
Not so much.


What then? What was Buddha’s goal? Buddha taught us
to use meditation not as an end, in and of itself,
but as a tool, to increase our love, peace, insight
and happiness. How much more happiness do you want
to feel? Then turn off the T.V., get off the couch
and practice at least one of the spiritual exercises
from “Quick Path to Happy Peace” every morning and
every evening. You can make arrangements to download
it for FREE by going to http://www.lamajigme.com


Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso
Tibetan-Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika


P.S. You have read my essays and downloaded my free
materials. Now you can set yourself up for success
by mastering the fundamentals of pronouncing,
comprehending and meditating upon the mantra: “Om
Mani Padme Hum.” To make that happen, and truly
set yourself up for success on Buddha’s path of love,
peace, insight and happiness go to
http://www.lamajigme.com/Mastering-The-Mani.html






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