A Real Cool Hand

I’ve said in other posts that I am a five on the Enneagram, the Investigator. I live in my head, always thinking and taking things apart mentally. I’ve hacked a lot of things about life through research and thought. That being said, people who know me well might be surprised that I reached the point of surrender, which I have written about in my last four posts. For me there is a critical practice that makes this possible, meditation. Other names are Centering Prayer, Contemplative Prayer and Mindfulness Practice. It takes me places and improves me in ways that thought never could.

Meditation has been a well established practice in many religions and philosophies. The bible mentions Jesus going off to pray for long periods of time. I think he was meditating. I heard about the health benefits of meditation decades ago. I tried it off and on through the years with no success. When I retired I had more time to devote to the process. I used an app called Insight Timer which provided some guided meditations that were helpful. I was able to go deeper into the mediation practice. 

Starting meditation isn’t easy. The mind by its nature wants to be busy. Producing thoughts is what it does. This post isn’t about how to meditate. I’m not a meditation instructor. It’s about what meditation has done for me. A line from My Front Porch Looking In comes to mind. “I see what beautiful is about, when I’m looking in, not when I’m looking out.

Many studies have been done on meditation. The physical, mental and emotional benefits are well documented. It has been proven to change the brain. It’s not as mysterious as I thought it was before I started. Very simply, I am a better person because I meditate regularly. I am happier and more flexible, mentally and emotionally. The best way for me to describe the benefit is a cycling metaphor. It’s like having the wind at my back all day long. It is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself and the others with which I interact. I will continue to meditate for the rest of my life.

In meditation there is a state I often achieve that I call the void, where thoughts stop and it’s just me. It’s hard to describe because a human’s reference point is thought. This is beyond thought and a wonderful place. The after effects from it are even better. It reminds me of a line from the movie Cool Hand Luke. “Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.” https://www.google.com/search?q=sometimes+nothing+is+a+real+cool+hand&rlz=1CALAYK_enUS986US986&oq=some&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDggAEEUYJxg7GIAEGIoFMg4IABBFGCcYOxiABBiKBTIGCAEQRRg5MgcIAhAuGIAEMg0IAxAuGIMBGLEDGIAEMg0IBBAAGIMBGLEDGIAEMg0IBRAuGIMBGLEDGIAEMgoIBhAuGLEDGIAEMg0IBxAuGIMBGLEDGIAEMg0ICBAuGK8BGMcBGIAEMgcICRAuGIAE0gEJNDI4OGowajE1qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0e8ae036,vid:zDYyg0QskRo,st:0

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.